You and I left for basically the same reasons, CS, so I'll share my thoughts with you.
A few weeks back I reinstalled the game to start the Vanilla PvP channel for fun, and it went kinda well from there. I never really got back to the level of play I had been at before, though. VPvP was/is really the only thing, very tenuously, holding me to the game. Of course, thanks to Delta Rising I can barely log in between crash to desktops, so... I haven't moved from Ker'rat in sector space since before the patch hit, essentially.
It's really depressing to see the things that drove me off before pushing me away now, especially these Captain sepcialization BS things threatening to collapse VPvP, and some behind the scenes stuff. Geko's generated more facepalms from me, the expansion brought no excitement for me since it was just a cash grab grinder laced in voiceovers, and I'm just watching the game careen down a horrible path profitable enough to keep it going, while most of the playerbase feeds it, wearing the rose-tinted glasses.
Of course, that's all just in my opinion. I hope it enlightens you a bit.
imo story wise yes want to be fleet admiral yes but after that it becomes the same old game it always has been rep grind and now the new upgrade gear grind
You and I left for basically the same reasons, CS, so I'll share my thoughts with you.
A few weeks back I reinstalled the game to start the Vanilla PvP channel for fun, and it went kinda well from there. I never really got back to the level of play I had been at before, though. VPvP was/is really the only thing, very tenuously, holding me to the game. Of course, thanks to Delta Rising I can barely log in between crash to desktops, so... I haven't moved from Ker'rat in sector space since before the patch hit, essentially.
It's really depressing to see the things that drove me off before pushing me away now, especially these Captain sepcialization BS things threatening to collapse VPvP, and some behind the scenes stuff. Geko's generated more facepalms from me, the expansion brought no excitement for me since it was just a cash grab grinder laced in voiceovers, and I'm just watching the game careen down a horrible path profitable enough to keep it going, while most of the playerbase feeds it, wearing the rose-tinted glasses.
Of course, that's all just in my opinion. I hope it enlightens you a bit.
There is not enough in Delta Rising to (re)install the game. If you uninstalled it (rather than just didn't play) then I'd imagine there was a specific reason for that. Delta Rising doesn't offer anything ... new, it only offers more of the same.
More Story Content (some 10-15 missions)
Another Rep System
Another Set of Marks
Another (two) Sectors
A HUGE drain on resources (you pay more for everything)
A HUGE drain on the reward system (you get rewarded less for your troubles)
All STF/PvE content is a lot tougher (see above also)
On the plus, this has more voiceover work than past seasons, and from some trek regulars, but I'm not sure that would be enough for anyone to (re)install the game.
worth it! jsut for the story they tell its worth it!!
Barely ... .:o
The ground / interior art is top notch as usual .
The new ship art is ... in the eye of the beholder ... -- for me the Hazari lobi ship is a nice retro 50's era ship .
But both types of art hide some pretty problematic issues , with some new ones thrown in for good (bad) measure .
... I am at a loss currently and have retreated into my safe zone ...
^^^ tagging Eppohs ... , the STO metaphor for the fetal position ... .
I see this quite a bit, and in truth, it isn't. Some would argue that for a decent build, you need some rep equipment, and the only way you can get that is to play the game and acquire the marks. You can't buy Rep Marks, and you need them for the Rep equipment (and that's after you've achieved Tier #5 of suggested Rep), so that argument, quite frankly, is BS.
I see this quite a bit, and in truth, it isn't. Some would argue that for a decent build, you need some rep equipment, and the only way you can get that is to play the game and acquire the marks. You can't buy Rep Marks, and you need them for the Rep equipment (and that's after you've achieved Tier #5 of suggested Rep), so that argument, quite frankly, is BS.
You are correct about everything else however.
It is amazing to me what people will argue about... I don't know how someone could argue that STO is not pay to win. I have not played a game that is more pay to win than STO.
If you don't think that a Jem'Hadar Escort or other ships only obtainable through Lockboxes is pay to win.... Oh, sure you could grind out 250-300 mil + credits... sure sure. Not pay to win at all.
Yeh, STO is pay to win. I will not be convinced otherwise.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is more pay to win than ever thanks to the upgrading system on gear and the new R&D.
It is amazing to me what people will argue about... I don't know how someone could argue that STO is not pay to win. I have not played a game that is more pay to win than STO.
If you don't think that a Jem'Hadar Escort or other ships only obtainable through Lockboxes is pay to win.... Oh, sure you could grind out 250-300 mil + credits... sure sure. Not pay to win at all.
Yeh, STO is pay to win. I will not be convinced otherwise.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is more pay to win than ever thanks to the upgrading system on gear and the new R&D.
No, STO is pay to win if you're PVP. Right now, it's just borked.
No, STO is pay to win if you're PVP. Right now, it's just borked.
STO is pay to win if you want a ship, almost any ship. You can grind and grind and grind... consuming all of your time, or pay.
I have spent hundreds of dollars on STO... I know what it takes to get what people want in the game.
Monetization in STO affects:
Ships
Character Slots
Character Races
Bridge Officers
Duty Officers
Ship Equipment
R&D
Ship Upgrades (Tier)
Ship Upgrades (Fleet)
Equipment Upgrades
Inventory Slots
Bank Slots
Account Bank Slots
Energy Credit Wallet
Character Traits
Ship Traits
Ship Slots
Ship Costumes
Tailoring Costumes
Consoles
Pets
Bridges
and more...
Heck, I think over 95% of the overall gameplay is monetized in some way. Not every game on the market goes to this extent to monetize gameplay. This is the reason why so many people exploited Dilithium gains from the Foundry and pre-made PVP. Even then, the time investment was massive to get what people wanted for 'Free.'
Some of this stuff that I listed must be unlocked PER CHARACTER.
So either you grind all your time away on top of the grind that you HAVE to do for reputation bonuses/fleet upgrades, or you pay. It's almost like extortion. For me, this is known as Pay to Win.
I know for a fact that even people with Lifetime accounts are often paying more money to get some of the stuff that they want in STO. Seriously, a lifetime account and still having to put money in to the game just because it went 'Free' to play. It's a tad insulting. I will also mention the shoddy rewards that lifetime subscribers are getting, and that new rewards haven't been added to for quite some time.
All of this investment just to compete in a game that hasn't seen optimization for over a year, maybe more than two years? A game that has a client that was out-dated prior to the game's release. A game that insults the Star Trek name by having virtually every single mission concluded in war-fare. A game that isn't even close to as good, but makes a heck of a lot more money than several of the single player Star Trek games that have been released in the past.
Its more accurate to say that high-level content is pay-to-play, and that PVP is pay-to-win
Only F2P part of the game anymore is low-level content with low-level toon
There are more 'Star Trekky' games than Star Trek Online that are on the market... you seem to have a couple in your signature.
I just find it totally sad, and insulting to fans, that a game from the Star Trek franchise is out Star-Trekked by other games. It's as if the devs aren't even trying, imo. Well, enjoy peeps.
If you don't think that a Jem'Hadar Escort or other ships only obtainable through Lockboxes is pay to win.... Oh, sure you could grind out 250-300 mil + credits... sure sure. Not pay to win at all.
It's all find and dandy owning a Jem Hadar Escort, but if you don't have the equipment to put on it, the ship isn't going to be a whole lot of use to you, is it?
I would imagine that to get the best out of a Jem Hadar Ship, we'd use the Jem Hadar Set (which you need to play for), atop that, a player would be wise to consider Protonic Polaron; something else that you need to play for. In addition to that, you'd want Fleet Consoles to better your build, and guess what, in order to obtain Fleet Consoles, you need Fleet Marks. How do you get them? That's right, you play the game.
It's all find and dandy owning a Jem Hadar Escort, but if you don't have the equipment to put on it, the ship isn't going to be a whole lot of use to you, is it?
I would imagine that to get the best out of a Jem Hadar Ship, we'd use the Jem Hadar Set (which you need to play for), atop that, a player would be wise to consider Protonic Polaron; something else that you need to play for. In addition to that, you'd want Fleet Consoles to better your build, and guess what, in order to obtain Fleet Consoles, you need Fleet Marks. How do you get them? That's right, you play the game.
You *grind* the game. Fixed.
Grind, grind, grind, mandatory grind... oh wait I want a ship... ah dang more grind... every mission is combat... even for "Engineers," and "Science Officers." Grind for the fleet. Grind for reputation. Grind for ships. Grind for dilithium. When does the Star Trekking begin?
Sweet, I have finished the grind and now I have a full gold ship of my favorite type... what to do now? Is there a cool PVP mode to test my ship in or maybe some other cool mode to play with my full gold ship? Nope? Grind moar....
You've just completely changed the context of the discussion we were having.
We were on about Pay-to-Win, and now you've just jumped into a discussion on the grind - something that I never commented on before. What is your purpose for this?
You've just completely changed the context of the discussion we were having.
We were on about Pay-to-Win, and now you've just jumped into a discussion on the grind - something that I never commented on before. What is your purpose for this?
Grinding is what makes players decide to pay instead of grind... I'm done here... STO is the perfect game.
Well the 10 Story Missions are fun, so that might be a reason to reinstall ... on the other hand it's a real pain to get there ... smartest move might be to login once a day, for the next 2-3 months, do some DOFF Missions (if you have the patience) so you can play them ...
... is it worth it ? that's up to you ...
Patch Notes : Resolved an Issue, where people would accidently experience Fun.
Comments
A few weeks back I reinstalled the game to start the Vanilla PvP channel for fun, and it went kinda well from there. I never really got back to the level of play I had been at before, though. VPvP was/is really the only thing, very tenuously, holding me to the game. Of course, thanks to Delta Rising I can barely log in between crash to desktops, so... I haven't moved from Ker'rat in sector space since before the patch hit, essentially.
It's really depressing to see the things that drove me off before pushing me away now, especially these Captain sepcialization BS things threatening to collapse VPvP, and some behind the scenes stuff. Geko's generated more facepalms from me, the expansion brought no excitement for me since it was just a cash grab grinder laced in voiceovers, and I'm just watching the game careen down a horrible path profitable enough to keep it going, while most of the playerbase feeds it, wearing the rose-tinted glasses.
Of course, that's all just in my opinion. I hope it enlightens you a bit.
If you like farming queues for riches then it's been nerfed to hell and you'll hate it.
If you like shiny toys and Tron, you'll probably enjoy the new ships and boffs.
If you don't have solid, high damage builds you'll find normal difficulty slow and needlessly grindy past 55.
If you like science builds you get your day in the sun making beam/cannon escorts/scimitars look like season 7&8 cruisers.
Maybe possibly. Depends on how much you love to grind. :P
This is how the thing goes.
Do an new episode mission - grind grind
Have enough xp to get the next episode mission in - grind grind grind
Have enough xp to get the next new episode - grind grind grind grind
have enough xp for the next new episode - grind grind grind grind grind
Notice a pattern yet?
You could always uninstall it again, the magic of computers
system Lord Baal is dead
Well that's disappointing. See you all again in six months! Tah-tah!
/10char
More Story Content (some 10-15 missions)
Another Rep System
Another Set of Marks
Another (two) Sectors
A HUGE drain on resources (you pay more for everything)
A HUGE drain on the reward system (you get rewarded less for your troubles)
All STF/PvE content is a lot tougher (see above also)
On the plus, this has more voiceover work than past seasons, and from some trek regulars, but I'm not sure that would be enough for anyone to (re)install the game.
But wait... getting advice on the forum is never a good idea? What sort of advice is that?
Barely ... .:o
The ground / interior art is top notch as usual .
The new ship art is ... in the eye of the beholder ... -- for me the Hazari lobi ship is a nice retro 50's era ship .
But both types of art hide some pretty problematic issues , with some new ones thrown in for good (bad) measure .
... I am at a loss currently and have retreated into my safe zone ...
^^^ tagging Eppohs ... , the STO metaphor for the fetal position ... .
Client very buggy, unresponsive, and a struggle to play with? yes
Missions still at the quality that can be provided by players using Foundry? yes
Every mission lacks the feel of Star Trek whereas every outcome is a battle of some sort? yes
Cryptic still TRIBBLE over players who have invested time in previous content? yes
You are correct about everything else however.
It is amazing to me what people will argue about... I don't know how someone could argue that STO is not pay to win. I have not played a game that is more pay to win than STO.
If you don't think that a Jem'Hadar Escort or other ships only obtainable through Lockboxes is pay to win.... Oh, sure you could grind out 250-300 mil + credits... sure sure. Not pay to win at all.
Yeh, STO is pay to win. I will not be convinced otherwise.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it is more pay to win than ever thanks to the upgrading system on gear and the new R&D.
No, STO is pay to win if you're PVP. Right now, it's just borked.
STO is pay to win if you want a ship, almost any ship. You can grind and grind and grind... consuming all of your time, or pay.
I have spent hundreds of dollars on STO... I know what it takes to get what people want in the game.
Monetization in STO affects:
Ships
Character Slots
Character Races
Bridge Officers
Duty Officers
Ship Equipment
R&D
Ship Upgrades (Tier)
Ship Upgrades (Fleet)
Equipment Upgrades
Inventory Slots
Bank Slots
Account Bank Slots
Energy Credit Wallet
Character Traits
Ship Traits
Ship Slots
Ship Costumes
Tailoring Costumes
Consoles
Pets
Bridges
and more...
Heck, I think over 95% of the overall gameplay is monetized in some way. Not every game on the market goes to this extent to monetize gameplay. This is the reason why so many people exploited Dilithium gains from the Foundry and pre-made PVP. Even then, the time investment was massive to get what people wanted for 'Free.'
Some of this stuff that I listed must be unlocked PER CHARACTER.
So either you grind all your time away on top of the grind that you HAVE to do for reputation bonuses/fleet upgrades, or you pay. It's almost like extortion. For me, this is known as Pay to Win.
I know for a fact that even people with Lifetime accounts are often paying more money to get some of the stuff that they want in STO. Seriously, a lifetime account and still having to put money in to the game just because it went 'Free' to play. It's a tad insulting. I will also mention the shoddy rewards that lifetime subscribers are getting, and that new rewards haven't been added to for quite some time.
All of this investment just to compete in a game that hasn't seen optimization for over a year, maybe more than two years? A game that has a client that was out-dated prior to the game's release. A game that insults the Star Trek name by having virtually every single mission concluded in war-fare. A game that isn't even close to as good, but makes a heck of a lot more money than several of the single player Star Trek games that have been released in the past.
I just have to sigh.
Is STO worth reinstalling? In my opinion, no.
Only F2P part of the game anymore is low-level content with low-level toon
There are more 'Star Trekky' games than Star Trek Online that are on the market... you seem to have a couple in your signature.
I just find it totally sad, and insulting to fans, that a game from the Star Trek franchise is out Star-Trekked by other games. It's as if the devs aren't even trying, imo. Well, enjoy peeps.
I would imagine that to get the best out of a Jem Hadar Ship, we'd use the Jem Hadar Set (which you need to play for), atop that, a player would be wise to consider Protonic Polaron; something else that you need to play for. In addition to that, you'd want Fleet Consoles to better your build, and guess what, in order to obtain Fleet Consoles, you need Fleet Marks. How do you get them? That's right, you play the game.
You *grind* the game. Fixed.
Grind, grind, grind, mandatory grind... oh wait I want a ship... ah dang more grind... every mission is combat... even for "Engineers," and "Science Officers." Grind for the fleet. Grind for reputation. Grind for ships. Grind for dilithium. When does the Star Trekking begin?
Sweet, I have finished the grind and now I have a full gold ship of my favorite type... what to do now? Is there a cool PVP mode to test my ship in or maybe some other cool mode to play with my full gold ship? Nope? Grind moar....
Dat STO tho.
We were on about Pay-to-Win, and now you've just jumped into a discussion on the grind - something that I never commented on before. What is your purpose for this?
Grinding is what makes players decide to pay instead of grind... I'm done here... STO is the perfect game.
This. It's not Pay to Win. It's pay or grind for a literal year.
... is it worth it ? that's up to you ...