It IS about control. Hence the term "Playing as Intended" People REALLY need to let this sink into their skulls.
Yep,
When they program these games they program to get a desired "expected pattern of behaviour". I bet that even with the vendor nerf drops, there's a still an odd one or two drops that pop up here and there that are actually a usuable piece of kit or that will sell for good EC in the exchange.
This practise keeps players playing repetitively just on the chance that they'll get a decent drop. Sort of like a rat in a cage who gets a feed pellet every time that it hits a button. When you stop providing feed every time the button is pressed, the rat will still keep pressing on the off chance it gets some feed, even if the drop rate is like 1 in 50. But you...oh sorry, I mean...the rat just keeps pressing that button.
You want to blame someone, blame the devs, not the players for playing the fkn game. The Devs changed it for some mysterious reasons (ostensibly financial considerations).
I wasn't trying to blame the players....sorry if it came off that way
That was more pointed at the Dev's, kinda saying WTF!!! I only had one more system to get my marks for the day, then I was moving on to dil farming....It just frustrates me that this is the type of solution the Dev's come up with because some players have been using the game as intended (when the patrols were first introduced, anyway) to level quickly. The Dev's basically just said f-it and shut the whole thing down instead of trying to work a fix that would keep the patrols open into the patch that should be coming out in two days.
So, sorry if it seemed like I was blaming the players, it wasn't intended...
They do read the forums especially the gigantic Q and A team, all 6 of them will spend HOURS watching players' youtube videos and "heavily rely" on the forums.
Same people who will tell you they cannot play at the same level as the top players.
True that some developers would probably rather forget about the 11,000 negative threads up but of course they heard it from the forums.
They can nerf it all they want, joke is still on them when their content is so terrible they have to delete everything they can to force you to what they want
Hilarious, what happened to just making content that can carry itself so you don't have to delete doff upgrinding, tour the galaxy, console fabrication, nerf colonization chains, vendor trash - am I forgetting any?
/edit.
exploration, mirror even and reputation passives that people earned
They do read the forums especially the gigantic Q and A team, all 6 of them will spend HOURS watching players' youtube videos and "heavily rely" on the forums.
Errr...do you write for the SyFy channel, because this sounds blatantly bogus. :P
The fact they are focusing on addressing this whilst allowing the real bugs to continue says more, IMHO
Except bug fixing, like creativity, isn't always an exact process - or an easy one. Unless they can reproduce the issue, step-by-step (preferably consistently), even professionals are just muddling in the dark as to how to fix without affecting everything else it's connected to... and that's not getting into how fickle either process can be.
Being a writer, I can tell you that much.
Was named Trek17.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
Best part is this is whats coming next --->Cryptic: "Due to the massive use of a in-game exploit all players will have their Specialization points and ship masteries reset" (not an officla post but my prediction)
Fix what? there it was nothing broken! Ppl were playing missions on ELITE dificulty and finish them off. What is broken about that?
They took it down for a reason. So therefor they are fixing it. Players was using it to power level or something that wasn't intended. Either cause they didn't have it set right for exp or enemies being not set to that setting. Either way, I'm sure they was exploiting it some how.
To me once I'm done with the Romulan Rep I tend to stay in the current area. So I have no need to go back. Specially since I got all I wanted from there. Unless you decided to go back and do those Reps if you hadn't. Just to have something to do. And going by the forum's response. They are using it to power level, not to do the Rep for the story or gear.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
lmao, people were enjoying playing game and fun police had to step in. Nice fail. If it is an attempt to force to play those disgusting feautured episodes than nope, won't play this TRIBBLE still.
__________________
[Combat (Self)] You lose 6549 (7572) Cold from the torment of the underworld.
You know, y'all are reading a lot into the words "the sector is under quarantine".
Apparently, it got shut down to fix something. What was the something? Who knows? Maybe Romulan rep stopped adding up, or epohhs were showing up aboard ships, or something. Point is, without more data, y'all are guessing - and like most pitchfork-waving mobs, you're guessing the very worst things you can think of.
Now, if it comes back up and has been nerfed in the fashion you fear, I'll bring the torches. Until then, mob rule is a lousy way to run an interstellar empire.
Best part is this is whats coming next --->Cryptic: "Due to the massive use of a in-game exploit all players will have their Specialization points and ship masteries reset" (not an officla post but my prediction)
I realize you were just saying this in jest (you were, right?!). But if they ever did something like this, I'd be walking away directly, without ever looking back.
I think it is their mistake they did not alter Tau Dewa before Delta Rising.
I think because it was their mistake and lack of foresight, that they should leave Tau Dewa alone since it was their mistake to begin with to have this system in place.
I think by having this 'quarantine' on Tau Dewa, they are railroading people into playing buggy, glitched, not-working-as-intended content because too few people wanted to test it on Tribble, or too few decisions were made on Cryptic's end to act on that feedback.
I think none of our opinions matter, since Cryptic is smart enough to know this is exactly the kind of response they would get in regards to their decision on Tau Dewa.
This is the kind of bonehead game development decision I'd expect out of Gozer. I thought we had evolved past that.
lmao, people were enjoying playing game and fun police had to step in. Nice fail. If it is an attempt to force to play those disgusting feautured episodes than nope, won't play this TRIBBLE still.
Aside from people off-roading their level progression, as an above poster pointed out, there may be a Dil connection in regards to Crafting accelerators, etc. having a better drop rate for easier content.
Touching their Dil Dough is where the oil hits the an** (well, you know) for Cryptic.
lmao, people were enjoying playing game and fun police had to step in.
Too bad they can't look at it that way. I mean people were teaming up, working together.
Having fun. Spending time in the game.
It says a lot about what kind of content the players want vs what they have been providing.
Gotta make it a grind, gotta make it tedious as all hell. Monetize, monetize.
The queue's are showing what the masses want and what they don't want.
I say, better listen before players abandon more than just the content you want them to grind through.
Aside from people off-roading their level progression, as an above poster pointed out, there may be a Dil connection in regards to Crafting accelerators, etc. having a better drop rate for easier content.
Touching their Dil Dough is where the oil hits the an** (well, you know) for Cryptic.
I have to agree. I get the feeling it's the crafting mat drop that they'll be nixing. I got two from four 5 man Japori Elite runs.. that's not going to make Cryptic happy bunnies because as you say, it messes with the dilithium gate..
Too bad they can't look at it that way. I mean people were teaming up, working together.
Having fun. Spending time in the game.
It says a lot about what kind of content the players want vs what they have been providing.
Gotta make it a grind, gotta make it tedious as all hell. Monetize, monetize.
The queue's are showing what the masses want and what they don't want.
I say, better listen before players abandon more than just the content you want them to grind through.
We cannot have people having fun now can we?
MY fleet and crew were doing these missions. But not as much for XP but for loot. It was not great compared to before the cut values on most items by 75%. I am surprised at the shear desperation everyone has to return to the good old days. We love this game so much and don't want to leave. But it is changing bit by bit in very negative ways.
A challenge out to forum moderators? Show us information or a thread that explains the benefits to the harder STFs. etc. What is the reasoning behind all the changes to a game the does not seem to be listening to its gamers anymore?
Yes, that means an actual grind. They have right to implement one, just because some people don't like it doesn't mean it's wrong. I'm kinda tired of having to hear about how everyone wants everything now, and how the slightest change is the end of everything.
They made is quite clear they did NOT want us to power through the current phase of DR story content, which means they know some of you were done a week ago...
Everywhere I look, people are screaming about how bad Cryptic is.
What's my position?
That people should know what they're screaming about!
(paraphrased from "The Newsroom)
I realize you were just saying this in jest (you were, right?!). But if they ever did something like this, I'd be walking away directly, without ever looking back.
Yeah, that would pretty much do it for me too.
I've earned those points with hard work, NOT in the Dewa sector.
Taking those away from me would really pizz me off!
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
If the leveling curve wasnt so fubared where we had to go out of new content in order to reach another level just to play the new content this would not be an issue. You guys over there at Cryptic and PWE need to get your heads out of your a** and stop counting your profits and give us the f*****g game we have paid you to play and stop taking s*** from us.
Aside from people off-roading their level progression, as an above poster pointed out, there may be a Dil connection in regards to Crafting accelerators, etc. having a better drop rate for easier content.
Touching their Dil Dough is where the oil hits the an** (well, you know) for Cryptic.
Off-roading?! Didn't know I was required to level up using the story mission road! Last time I checked I could freely patrol, PUG, or whatever, to level up the way I wanted.
on the contrary, i believe they're not making enough money. instead of players grinding and spending EC, Zen and Dil to upgrade their ships for the new content in hopes that it will speed up the leveling proccess. The players found a short cut in Tau Dewa however, which in turn allowed them to rack up levels and specialization points. MK12 gear at 60 with full spec trees can put out 15k easy on ISA.
Too bad they can't look at it that way. I mean people were teaming up, working together.
Having fun. Spending time in the game.
It says a lot about what kind of content the players want vs what they have been providing.
Gotta make it a grind, gotta make it tedious as all hell. Monetize, monetize.
The queue's are showing what the masses want and what they don't want.
I say, better listen before players abandon more than just the content you want them to grind through.
Heck ... I made several new friends in just the last two hours before they shut it down. Friends I will likely work with again in the future in game.
Comments
When they program these games they program to get a desired "expected pattern of behaviour". I bet that even with the vendor nerf drops, there's a still an odd one or two drops that pop up here and there that are actually a usuable piece of kit or that will sell for good EC in the exchange.
This practise keeps players playing repetitively just on the chance that they'll get a decent drop. Sort of like a rat in a cage who gets a feed pellet every time that it hits a button. When you stop providing feed every time the button is pressed, the rat will still keep pressing on the off chance it gets some feed, even if the drop rate is like 1 in 50. But you...oh sorry, I mean...the rat just keeps pressing that button.
I wasn't trying to blame the players....sorry if it came off that way
That was more pointed at the Dev's, kinda saying WTF!!! I only had one more system to get my marks for the day, then I was moving on to dil farming....It just frustrates me that this is the type of solution the Dev's come up with because some players have been using the game as intended (when the patrols were first introduced, anyway) to level quickly. The Dev's basically just said f-it and shut the whole thing down instead of trying to work a fix that would keep the patrols open into the patch that should be coming out in two days.
So, sorry if it seemed like I was blaming the players, it wasn't intended...
Co-Founder of TOS Veterans and TOS Qan Mang
Same people who will tell you they cannot play at the same level as the top players.
True that some developers would probably rather forget about the 11,000 negative threads up but of course they heard it from the forums.
They can nerf it all they want, joke is still on them when their content is so terrible they have to delete everything they can to force you to what they want
Hilarious, what happened to just making content that can carry itself so you don't have to delete doff upgrinding, tour the galaxy, console fabrication, nerf colonization chains, vendor trash - am I forgetting any?
/edit.
exploration, mirror even and reputation passives that people earned
The fact they are focusing on addressing this whilst allowing the real bugs to continue says more, IMHO
Errr...do you write for the SyFy channel, because this sounds blatantly bogus. :P
Being a writer, I can tell you that much.
Been playing STO since Open Beta, and have never regarded anything as worse than 'meh', if only due to personal standards.
GREEDY PWE EXEC: Make that 1 pitchfork for 700 Zen; 4 for 2,000 Zen!
They only patch bugs like this when it's convenient for them. The annoying bugs, they let fester in the game for years.
What no torches this time? No accelerant ? I am disapoint, how else will I light my molotov cocktails? :rolleyes:
They took it down for a reason. So therefor they are fixing it. Players was using it to power level or something that wasn't intended. Either cause they didn't have it set right for exp or enemies being not set to that setting. Either way, I'm sure they was exploiting it some how.
To me once I'm done with the Romulan Rep I tend to stay in the current area. So I have no need to go back. Specially since I got all I wanted from there. Unless you decided to go back and do those Reps if you hadn't. Just to have something to do. And going by the forum's response. They are using it to power level, not to do the Rep for the story or gear.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
[Combat (Self)] You lose 6549 (7572) Cold from the torment of the underworld.
In-game handle @Janetza
Apparently, it got shut down to fix something. What was the something? Who knows? Maybe Romulan rep stopped adding up, or epohhs were showing up aboard ships, or something. Point is, without more data, y'all are guessing - and like most pitchfork-waving mobs, you're guessing the very worst things you can think of.
Now, if it comes back up and has been nerfed in the fashion you fear, I'll bring the torches. Until then, mob rule is a lousy way to run an interstellar empire.
I realize you were just saying this in jest (you were, right?!). But if they ever did something like this, I'd be walking away directly, without ever looking back.
I think it is their mistake they did not alter Tau Dewa before Delta Rising.
I think because it was their mistake and lack of foresight, that they should leave Tau Dewa alone since it was their mistake to begin with to have this system in place.
I think by having this 'quarantine' on Tau Dewa, they are railroading people into playing buggy, glitched, not-working-as-intended content because too few people wanted to test it on Tribble, or too few decisions were made on Cryptic's end to act on that feedback.
I think none of our opinions matter, since Cryptic is smart enough to know this is exactly the kind of response they would get in regards to their decision on Tau Dewa.
This is the kind of bonehead game development decision I'd expect out of Gozer. I thought we had evolved past that.
Apparently not.
Aside from people off-roading their level progression, as an above poster pointed out, there may be a Dil connection in regards to Crafting accelerators, etc. having a better drop rate for easier content.
Touching their Dil Dough is where the oil hits the an** (well, you know) for Cryptic.
This vid clip from GoodFellaz might sum up the overarching pathos at PWE HQ (nsfw language)
Too bad they can't look at it that way. I mean people were teaming up, working together.
Having fun. Spending time in the game.
It says a lot about what kind of content the players want vs what they have been providing.
Gotta make it a grind, gotta make it tedious as all hell. Monetize, monetize.
The queue's are showing what the masses want and what they don't want.
I say, better listen before players abandon more than just the content you want them to grind through.
I have to agree. I get the feeling it's the crafting mat drop that they'll be nixing. I got two from four 5 man Japori Elite runs.. that's not going to make Cryptic happy bunnies because as you say, it messes with the dilithium gate..
We cannot have people having fun now can we?
MY fleet and crew were doing these missions. But not as much for XP but for loot. It was not great compared to before the cut values on most items by 75%. I am surprised at the shear desperation everyone has to return to the good old days. We love this game so much and don't want to leave. But it is changing bit by bit in very negative ways.
A challenge out to forum moderators? Show us information or a thread that explains the benefits to the harder STFs. etc. What is the reasoning behind all the changes to a game the does not seem to be listening to its gamers anymore?
Yes, that means an actual grind. They have right to implement one, just because some people don't like it doesn't mean it's wrong. I'm kinda tired of having to hear about how everyone wants everything now, and how the slightest change is the end of everything.
They made is quite clear they did NOT want us to power through the current phase of DR story content, which means they know some of you were done a week ago...
What's my position?
That people should know what they're screaming about!
(paraphrased from "The Newsroom)
Yeah, that would pretty much do it for me too.
I've earned those points with hard work, NOT in the Dewa sector.
Taking those away from me would really pizz me off!
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Off-roading?! Didn't know I was required to level up using the story mission road! Last time I checked I could freely patrol, PUG, or whatever, to level up the way I wanted.
just my thoughts though.
Wow they blocked the patrol missions now in this sector - message reads couldn't get map names from map manager!
Time will only tell!
Heck ... I made several new friends in just the last two hours before they shut it down. Friends I will likely work with again in the future in game.
U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)