Hi Charles!!!
I like this idea for Borg Disconnected, I cant ever finish that. I do LOVE the level of difficulty now in Infected Conduit Advanced. I think that one is just perfect for me! (But I have never had to PUG it). I hope you have a great day!
I don't mind the failure of the optional quests. What I do mind is the failure of an entire stf due to the failure of the optional quest. Optional = Optional.
As someone had previously pointed out, the problem may be as simple as tweaking npc hit points, lowering the number of elite npcs, and slightly extending the length of timers.
STFs have to: (1) be challenging, (2) have motivational objectives, and (3) contain logical reward systems. Overall, they also have to be 'do able'.
When I spent several months on obtaining gear, I didn't say, "Hey! Let me waste time and money, so I can buy stuff that doesn't do anything." I worked toward Omega MK XII gear, so I can use it to increase my success rate. I now have MK XIII ground gear, and I am getting my but kicked.
If Cryptic's goal is to make a series of 'no win scenarios', I might as well find a completely different game to play.
Now, I am going to give Cryptic the time they need to fix the issues. I am going to strive to be patient with Cryptic's timetable.
I just don't find the current state of the game to be fun.
'Star Trek: Online' is 'currently' not worth the effort.
you can't adjust difficulty based on the top 10% winboat-scimitar setups. well I suppose you can, it seems like you did, but you shouldn't.
you know, some people minmax this game but many more enjoy trying to get something out of something they feel connected to. Like when I saw there were tholian ships I had to have them, and I even upgraded a thermal torpedo (it's meh, should be better) because it's cool! why? because I connect to it. I still remember watching the original series as a little kid with wide eyes of wonder.
you start giving people good experiences in these different things, that will get peoples attention
It's also because they can't grasp that this is a video game and differs from Actual Star Trek Lore and what they saw on screen.
You may be right...
On a different note, I think the designer for Borg Disconnected did a real good job with it. I now have every accolade for it on my torp, beam and pet toons. I know a lot of people hate it but I think if the following changes were made it would be a good sell for everyone so hopefully without giving away anything:
1. The spawn points for the OPFOR should be about 5km more dispersed.
2. The "special incoming torps" should come from different directions randomly and various elevations.
3. The general timer for the "freemen" should be decreased about 15%
4. The spawn points for the "freemen" should be more dispersed as well and have staggered spawn times - maybe 10 second intervals instead of groups.
5. The overall timer should be increased about 3 minutes.
6. The "boss kill" should be increased about 30 seconds.
7. The rifts should be staggered in elevation as well as spawn points.
8. The individual OPFOR spawn times should be varied between each area and within each area the groups should spawn about 15% slower.
9. The "big group kill" should also be increased about 30 seconds.
Anyway, those are my ideas for it presently for whatever they are worth.
If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
Former member of the Cryptic Family & FriendsTesting Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
I hope you will be fixing the Gekli part of Viscous Cycle Elite, which currently seems impossible to complete, as there is no indication of where to guide the Gekli and so on. The last time we took a team in for this, I could see a green circle on the map, but there was no interaction point there, the Gekli would not cooperate so we could get it to that point, and this is not the first time we've had this issue. Indeed, every effort we have made to do Viscous Cycle Elite with the Gekli bonus since DR went live has failed. My boyfriend says it might be possible to do the Borg bonus for that mission, but I myself haven't gotten that in Viscous Cycle Elite since DR went live. We have concluded that the Gekli bonus for Viscous Cycle Elite is bugged.
The time limit for a success in the Viscous Cycle Elite mission itself is also ... well, simply unrealistic.
The same applies to the bonus in Azure Nebula Rescue Advanced.
Moreover, the R&D Queue Boxes are not giving what is advertised in the PvE Queue list info for Advanced or Elite missions (and sometimes not even close), even on those occasions when we have succeeded in doing the bonus in the Crystaline Catastrophe Advanced mission.
People have to get this idea out of their heads that all ships and abilities and equipment and weapons are created equal. There is absolutely no reason why a ship with 8 turrets all different energy types should be anywhere near as good as a FAW beam boat using all the same weapons. You just want your ship to work your way because that's how you've had it forever and by god why should you have to change anything to be better at the game?
This type of advise, above, is better suited for the Academy section. If anyone has been in this game very long, this would have already been learned about proper weapons loadouts.
I agree that players need to try to adjust to the new levels with new tactics, and as teams, before saying that it's too difficult. I would have agreed with them until recently. Thanks.
Star Trek Battles Channel - Play Star Trek like they did in the series!Avatar: pinterest-com/pin/14003448816884219Are you sure it isn't time for a "colorful metaphor"? --Spock in 'The Voyage Home' SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
I agree with a lot of what is said here. With normal, advanced, and elite level STFs, the theory is that 'everyone' can find something to have fun with.
What I DON'T agree with are people who pull the 'Casuals want to have fun, too' card, and complain about how bad/tough/tedious Advanced and Elite are. There is already an STF for you: it's called 'Normal', and it's a fairly simple level of play. If I can do it, anyone can.
Casual players who want to be able to waltz through Advanced (or even Elite) content are contradictory, in my opinion. Like most MMO's, time/effort invested should equal greater reward. Those hard-core folks who sink hours into playing/improving/leveling SHOULD have advantages over those who pop on for an hour or two every now and then.
Luckily, there are 'Normal' level STFs for those folks, and expecting Advanced/Elite level content to be watered down seems very counter-productive.
I agree with a lot of what is said here. With normal, advanced, and elite level STFs, the theory is that 'everyone' can find something to have fun with.
What I DON'T agree with are people who pull the 'Casuals want to have fun, too' card, and complain about how bad/tough/tedious Advanced and Elite are. There is already an STF for you: it's called 'Normal', and it's a fairly simple level of play. If I can do it, anyone can.
Casual players who want to be able to waltz through Advanced (or even Elite) content are contradictory, in my opinion. Like most MMO's, time/effort invested should equal greater reward. Those hard-core folks who sink hours into playing/improving/leveling SHOULD have advantages over those who pop on for an hour or two every now and then.
Luckily, there are 'Normal' level STFs for those folks, and expecting Advanced/Elite level content to be watered down seems very counter-productive.
So you're just gonna whip out the "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy an' I wanna HardCore Game!" card in response?
Brilliant risposte.
I have no problem at all with the epeen crowd getting to keep the Elite level STFs 'as is'. Enough people asked for it to be that way and their points were and still remain valid.
However, those casuals you so disparagingly refer to went into the Normal and Advanced STFs expecting them to be less challenging. Further, the rewards for all of the STFs are still the merest fraction of what they ought to be. When I first started playing this game one had to use teamwork, not just DPS, to be successful. And nearly everyone I've ever seen around here who plays the "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy!" card merely has a re-donk-culous amount of DPS and little else. No concept of teamwork. No idea at all about anything other than simply parking their OP GodBoat right next to the target and hosing it down with DPS.
Wonder how well some would play the game if the Devs actually nerfed A2B/Marion/BFAW like they said they were going to way back when? I also wonder how many "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy!" people are really "Imma P2W Guy!" people? Anyone can play this game well when they throw enough money at it.
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
I disagree that advanced queues shouldn't have 100% success rate. Completion should always be possible but rewards should be based on how successful. This is how the old elites were. People aren't going to waste their time if they know some troll can come in and cause them to walk away with nothing.
I agree with this. Any content that can be trolled to force a failure is a bad design in this kind of game.
I agree with a lot of what is said here. With normal, advanced, and elite level STFs, the theory is that 'everyone' can find something to have fun with.
What I DON'T agree with are people who pull the 'Casuals want to have fun, too' card, and complain about how bad/tough/tedious Advanced and Elite are. There is already an STF for you: it's called 'Normal', and it's a fairly simple level of play. If I can do it, anyone can.
Casual players who want to be able to waltz through Advanced (or even Elite) content are contradictory, in my opinion. Like most MMO's, time/effort invested should equal greater reward. Those hard-core folks who sink hours into playing/improving/leveling SHOULD have advantages over those who pop on for an hour or two every now and then.
Luckily, there are 'Normal' level STFs for those folks, and expecting Advanced/Elite level content to be watered down seems very counter-productive.
The issue here though, isn't that Advanced should be a walk in the park, but that people need gear better gear in order to do advanced, and a lot of the BNPs or Advanced Marks or whatever you want to call them... you need to do Advanced, meaning your gear is meh unless you're doing Advanced... or going in with a full pre-made team with people that can cover for your dismal DPS.
Add BNPs to Normal... even one... and then go ahead and make Advanced harder... just not as hard as elite.
But as long as to get my BNPs I need to go into Advanced queues, and as long as while in Advanced queues one Troll or Leecher or horrible player can fail the entire Advanced queue for you, it needs to be somewhat easier.
Now a walk in the park easier, but easier.
And no the answer isn't "get a fleet or join a channel". People PUG because they just want to get in, get out, with minimal fuss.
The issue here though, isn't that Advanced should be a walk in the park, but that people need gear better gear in order to do advanced, and a lot of the BNPs or Advanced Marks or whatever you want to call them... you need to do Advanced, meaning your gear is meh unless you're doing Advanced... or going in with a full pre-made team with people that can cover for your dismal DPS.
Add BNPs to Normal... even one... and then go ahead and make Advanced harder... just not as hard as elite.
But as long as to get my BNPs I need to go into Advanced queues, and as long as while in Advanced queues one Troll or Leecher or horrible player can fail the entire Advanced queue for you, it needs to be somewhat easier.
Now a walk in the park easier, but easier.
And no the answer isn't "get a fleet or join a channel". People PUG because they just want to get in, get out, with minimal fuss.
+1
Glad someone gets it. People who say casual players need to stick to Normal mode have absolutely no clue how the game works.
The way the game is currently set up, players should use Normal only to learn how the mission works before moving to Advanced. There is no reason for anyone to run a normal que more then 1-3 times just to learn the mission. The low rewards for Normal make them nothing more then 'one off' training missions. 90% of the player base will be in Advanced.
Which is exactly why Advanced shouldn't require top level gear. They have to either add BNP to Normal mode or scale Advanced back considerably.
additional info on an entirely separate matter : at this time , it is not possible for new or moderate players to learn advance ige.
the adv ige stf requires perfection.
while that is a fine and perhaps welcome change , there must be a way for people to learn. at present there is no good way to do so.
At present, the only alternative is to yell at people and send nasty messages to all of their guild mates for their member TRIBBLE up the stf (because they were not trained?). i.e. they shouldn't be joining (even though the stf does not work in boss room (above).
How else to get better groups? but to attempt to exclude everyone who is not already 100% on the stf?
The required change is to provide a way for people to learn.
Well Dev, to be fair your fail criteria as in former optionals dont really kick in for just about anybody in my opinion.
Why is that?
- Elite premades dont experience a challenge through them at all. They can just ignore them and still beat or grind ISA in 3 mins.
- New players unfamiliar with core rules sabotage the match with no chance for the others to correct.
- Under geared players sabotage the match because of strict DPS timers.
The only thing they accomplish is that everybody in STO will have to ask himself how much worth is my gaming time to me? I really think much more than you have anticipated because your queue lists still remain empty. Unfortunately without the queues your game does not have much to offer at endgame except some very repetitive grinds one only does to gather recourses in the hope to have fun later on. I highly advise to restore that fun aspect to your game as soon as possible. You had that b4 DR and it worked for every STO player.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Well Dev, to be fair your fail criteria as in former optionals dont really kick in for just about anybody in my opinion.
Why is that?
- Elite premades dont experience a challenge through them at all. They can just ignore them and still beat or grind ISA in 3 mins.
- New players unfamiliar with core rules sabotage the match with no chance for the others to correct.
- Under geared players sabotage the match because of strict DPS timers.
The only thing they accomplish is that everybody in STO will have to ask himself how much worth is my gaming time to me? I really think much more than you have anticipated because your queue lists still remain empty. Unfortunately without the queues your game does not have much to offer at endgame except some very repetitive grinds one only does to gather recourses in the hope to have fun later on. I highly advise to restore that fun aspect to your game as soon as possible. You had that b4 DR and it worked for every STO player.
For some of the exact reasons, I purchased Kerbal Space Program and waiting two weeks for Space Engineers and Star Citizen.
1. The Elite premades aren't that hard. It's more about teamwork and finding a competent team to complete no matter what ship you have. It can be even a T5 or T5U ship.
2. I do not want to risk losing a queue optional with a new player in advance or elite queue not knowing what they are doing. Also, if they don't know what they are doing, they might not want to listen to how to beat some content.
3. That's self explanatory.
At least with those games, I will get more challenges that simply will scale to player or team. Additionally, there is some exploration and some foundation in teamwork. I'm still supporting my STO fleet. This is not a I quit message.
But this month shown what could be the possible direction of STO.
refer to original post. ok lead content designer, do you have balls. are you ruled by idiot pencil head ****s ? it has been one week since my last post . does adv ige work ? additionally , is there a way for anyone to learn adv ige ? please forward to your masters before you quit. I want an answer.
To be fair they have attempted several times to re-balance the content. Sadly, they didn't have the courage to go far enough to fix it.
As has been said: what made STO fun is the casual friendly end game (except PvP) and easy pugging. Old STF Elite were just about perfect for gathering resources. Yeah, they were super easy for the experienced player with skill / gear. But those people make up a small % of player base. So what ... they were quick / fun way to spend 10-15 minutes ... or even 5.
Devs can ignore our advice forever if they like. What they can't ignore is the collapse in the number of people in queues. That's pure stats there ... and undeniable evidence that their new approach is killing PUGing and the casual friendly nature of the game.
I guess they decided that the whales and hard core player is their focus ... and they are going to squeeze them for every penny. Good luck with that zynga strategy ... look at that company now.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
To be fair they have attempted several times to re-balance the content. Sadly, they didn't have the courage to go far enough to fix it.
As has been said: what made STO fun is the casual friendly end game (except PvP) and easy pugging. Old STF Elite were just about perfect for gathering resources. Yeah, they were super easy for the experienced player with skill / gear. But those people make up a small % of player base. So what ... they were quick / fun way to spend 10-15 minutes ... or even 5.
Devs can ignore our advice forever if they like. What they can't ignore is the collapse in the number of people in queues. That's pure stats there ... and undeniable evidence that their new approach is killing PUGing and the casual friendly nature of the game.
I guess they decided that the whales and hard core player is their focus ... and they are going to squeeze them for every penny. Good luck with that zynga strategy ... look at that company now.
You are completely correct with your assessment.
For the moment I think removing the annoying fail criteria would do the trick and fill up the lists again. Quiet frankly those criteria and the way they are designed made nice optionlas but hardly provide a challenge for anybody. The queue lists are a perfect indication if a community appreciates endgame or rejects it. Whatever reasons each individual may have the are empty.
As far as RL money investments into a video game are concerned I took some over the years as I saw fit. It has stoped a moth ago out of principle simply because I did not pay cryptic for empty queue lists. And this comes from a harcore player/whale who is not the only one with that attitude. All the new stuff isnt exciting anyway so Im very glad STO is f2p. I would have tried out some of it just for fun like I always did. But not under these circumstances.
Considering how the Devs seem to struggle with balancing average STO player vs. average contend this entire difficulty restructure must be a total embarrassment for them and I hope many other developers see this and learn from it. We had a well running system till 4 weeks ago, something enjoyable by anybody. A harder optional setting to run would have been welcome but not at the cost of what we had.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
not sure if this applies to other stfs . but , at this time it seems , for ige , the optional fail criteria must be applied to normal ige stf. how else are people to learn? the advance ige ends as soon as someone not 100% on the stf joins the q. can you make this change immediately please ?
What I DON'T agree with are people who pull the 'Casuals want to have fun, too' card, and complain about how bad/tough/tedious Advanced and Elite are. There is already an STF for you: it's called 'Normal', and it's a fairly simple level of play. If I can do it, anyone can.
Casual players who want to be able to waltz through Advanced (or even Elite) content are contradictory, in my opinion. Like most MMO's, time/effort invested should equal greater reward. Those hard-core folks who sink hours into playing/improving/leveling SHOULD have advantages over those who pop on for an hour or two every now and then.
Luckily, there are 'Normal' level STFs for those folks, and expecting Advanced/Elite level content to be watered down seems very counter-productive.
I agree based on one condition; add BNP to Normal STFs. Previous to this, I could go into one of the Advanced STFs and have a solid challenge. Now, and keep in mind I have no knowledge of how to gauge my DPS, those same loadouts are doing next to nothing to the bad guys. I'm running Mk XII Very Rare AP with Fleet AP consoles. I'm not sure what I can do to increase the damage even further. I'll check around. Point is that I tried two Advanced STF missions today and soundly got my rear end handed to me by the most basic of bad guy ships
If people want some sort of insane difficulty level, I am fine with them being able to play that way. Just don't deprive me of something that I consider a basic part of the game because I would rather play in the Casual sandbox.
Comments
I like this idea for Borg Disconnected, I cant ever finish that. I do LOVE the level of difficulty now in Infected Conduit Advanced. I think that one is just perfect for me! (But I have never had to PUG it). I hope you have a great day!
yes, keep working on it!
and please rotate different pve-que into "featured" from time to time, give them a bonus, variety is the spice of life, people would really enjoy that
I've both enjoyed the tweaks (when they work) and cursed them (when they don't)
solo tau dewa sec patrol on high level is really quite tough
keep tweaking
I don't mind the failure of the optional quests. What I do mind is the failure of an entire stf due to the failure of the optional quest. Optional = Optional.
As someone had previously pointed out, the problem may be as simple as tweaking npc hit points, lowering the number of elite npcs, and slightly extending the length of timers.
STFs have to: (1) be challenging, (2) have motivational objectives, and (3) contain logical reward systems. Overall, they also have to be 'do able'.
When I spent several months on obtaining gear, I didn't say, "Hey! Let me waste time and money, so I can buy stuff that doesn't do anything." I worked toward Omega MK XII gear, so I can use it to increase my success rate. I now have MK XIII ground gear, and I am getting my but kicked.
If Cryptic's goal is to make a series of 'no win scenarios', I might as well find a completely different game to play.
Now, I am going to give Cryptic the time they need to fix the issues. I am going to strive to be patient with Cryptic's timetable.
I just don't find the current state of the game to be fun.
'Star Trek: Online' is 'currently' not worth the effort.
I hope things change.
I want us all to be happy.
Its now up to Cryptic.
you can't adjust difficulty based on the top 10% winboat-scimitar setups. well I suppose you can, it seems like you did, but you shouldn't.
you know, some people minmax this game but many more enjoy trying to get something out of something they feel connected to. Like when I saw there were tholian ships I had to have them, and I even upgraded a thermal torpedo (it's meh, should be better) because it's cool! why? because I connect to it. I still remember watching the original series as a little kid with wide eyes of wonder.
you start giving people good experiences in these different things, that will get peoples attention
On a different note, I think the designer for Borg Disconnected did a real good job with it. I now have every accolade for it on my torp, beam and pet toons. I know a lot of people hate it but I think if the following changes were made it would be a good sell for everyone so hopefully without giving away anything:
1. The spawn points for the OPFOR should be about 5km more dispersed.
2. The "special incoming torps" should come from different directions randomly and various elevations.
3. The general timer for the "freemen" should be decreased about 15%
4. The spawn points for the "freemen" should be more dispersed as well and have staggered spawn times - maybe 10 second intervals instead of groups.
5. The overall timer should be increased about 3 minutes.
6. The "boss kill" should be increased about 30 seconds.
7. The rifts should be staggered in elevation as well as spawn points.
8. The individual OPFOR spawn times should be varied between each area and within each area the groups should spawn about 15% slower.
9. The "big group kill" should also be increased about 30 seconds.
Anyway, those are my ideas for it presently for whatever they are worth.
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
The time limit for a success in the Viscous Cycle Elite mission itself is also ... well, simply unrealistic.
The same applies to the bonus in Azure Nebula Rescue Advanced.
Moreover, the R&D Queue Boxes are not giving what is advertised in the PvE Queue list info for Advanced or Elite missions (and sometimes not even close), even on those occasions when we have succeeded in doing the bonus in the Crystaline Catastrophe Advanced mission.
This type of advise, above, is better suited for the Academy section. If anyone has been in this game very long, this would have already been learned about proper weapons loadouts.
I agree that players need to try to adjust to the new levels with new tactics, and as teams, before saying that it's too difficult. I would have agreed with them until recently. Thanks.
SCE ADVISORY NOTICE: Improper Impulse Engine maintenance can result in REAR THRUSTER LEAKAGE. ALWAYS have your work inspected by another qualified officer.
What I DON'T agree with are people who pull the 'Casuals want to have fun, too' card, and complain about how bad/tough/tedious Advanced and Elite are. There is already an STF for you: it's called 'Normal', and it's a fairly simple level of play. If I can do it, anyone can.
Casual players who want to be able to waltz through Advanced (or even Elite) content are contradictory, in my opinion. Like most MMO's, time/effort invested should equal greater reward. Those hard-core folks who sink hours into playing/improving/leveling SHOULD have advantages over those who pop on for an hour or two every now and then.
Luckily, there are 'Normal' level STFs for those folks, and expecting Advanced/Elite level content to be watered down seems very counter-productive.
So you're just gonna whip out the "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy an' I wanna HardCore Game!" card in response?
Brilliant risposte.
I have no problem at all with the epeen crowd getting to keep the Elite level STFs 'as is'. Enough people asked for it to be that way and their points were and still remain valid.
However, those casuals you so disparagingly refer to went into the Normal and Advanced STFs expecting them to be less challenging. Further, the rewards for all of the STFs are still the merest fraction of what they ought to be. When I first started playing this game one had to use teamwork, not just DPS, to be successful. And nearly everyone I've ever seen around here who plays the "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy!" card merely has a re-donk-culous amount of DPS and little else. No concept of teamwork. No idea at all about anything other than simply parking their OP GodBoat right next to the target and hosing it down with DPS.
Wonder how well some would play the game if the Devs actually nerfed A2B/Marion/BFAW like they said they were going to way back when? I also wonder how many "Imma HardCore Gamer Guy!" people are really "Imma P2W Guy!" people? Anyone can play this game well when they throw enough money at it.
I agree with this. Any content that can be trolled to force a failure is a bad design in this kind of game.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Campaign: The Battle of Neverwinter - NWS-DOQXFA4ZD
Prologue: A not so simple plan - NW-DCJG75B9D
The issue here though, isn't that Advanced should be a walk in the park, but that people need gear better gear in order to do advanced, and a lot of the BNPs or Advanced Marks or whatever you want to call them... you need to do Advanced, meaning your gear is meh unless you're doing Advanced... or going in with a full pre-made team with people that can cover for your dismal DPS.
Add BNPs to Normal... even one... and then go ahead and make Advanced harder... just not as hard as elite.
But as long as to get my BNPs I need to go into Advanced queues, and as long as while in Advanced queues one Troll or Leecher or horrible player can fail the entire Advanced queue for you, it needs to be somewhat easier.
Now a walk in the park easier, but easier.
And no the answer isn't "get a fleet or join a channel". People PUG because they just want to get in, get out, with minimal fuss.
+1
Glad someone gets it. People who say casual players need to stick to Normal mode have absolutely no clue how the game works.
The way the game is currently set up, players should use Normal only to learn how the mission works before moving to Advanced. There is no reason for anyone to run a normal que more then 1-3 times just to learn the mission. The low rewards for Normal make them nothing more then 'one off' training missions. 90% of the player base will be in Advanced.
Which is exactly why Advanced shouldn't require top level gear. They have to either add BNP to Normal mode or scale Advanced back considerably.
at this time the adv ige is not able to complete.
Personally , have declined to play past month , however , in the 4 times have made it to boss room, the corners do not work.
cap a corner, it comes back up.
not able to complete.
have not been able to do it with a really good group except once or twice , but , have No reason to believe it is possible to complete.
Recently I played, cannot find members who used to run ige daily.
I would just give up , but wondering if there is someone I can yell at.
this would be someone 'above' a dev. **** them.
seriously, **** them.
did I mention to **** them till they cannot walk or breathe or otherwise live ?
additional info on an entirely separate matter : at this time , it is not possible for new or moderate players to learn advance ige.
the adv ige stf requires perfection.
while that is a fine and perhaps welcome change , there must be a way for people to learn. at present there is no good way to do so.
At present, the only alternative is to yell at people and send nasty messages to all of their guild mates for their member TRIBBLE up the stf (because they were not trained?). i.e. they shouldn't be joining (even though the stf does not work in boss room (above).
How else to get better groups? but to attempt to exclude everyone who is not already 100% on the stf?
The required change is to provide a way for people to learn.
fix.
Why is that?
- Elite premades dont experience a challenge through them at all. They can just ignore them and still beat or grind ISA in 3 mins.
- New players unfamiliar with core rules sabotage the match with no chance for the others to correct.
- Under geared players sabotage the match because of strict DPS timers.
The only thing they accomplish is that everybody in STO will have to ask himself how much worth is my gaming time to me? I really think much more than you have anticipated because your queue lists still remain empty. Unfortunately without the queues your game does not have much to offer at endgame except some very repetitive grinds one only does to gather recourses in the hope to have fun later on. I highly advise to restore that fun aspect to your game as soon as possible. You had that b4 DR and it worked for every STO player.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
For some of the exact reasons, I purchased Kerbal Space Program and waiting two weeks for Space Engineers and Star Citizen.
1. The Elite premades aren't that hard. It's more about teamwork and finding a competent team to complete no matter what ship you have. It can be even a T5 or T5U ship.
2. I do not want to risk losing a queue optional with a new player in advance or elite queue not knowing what they are doing. Also, if they don't know what they are doing, they might not want to listen to how to beat some content.
3. That's self explanatory.
At least with those games, I will get more challenges that simply will scale to player or team. Additionally, there is some exploration and some foundation in teamwork. I'm still supporting my STO fleet. This is not a I quit message.
But this month shown what could be the possible direction of STO.
As has been said: what made STO fun is the casual friendly end game (except PvP) and easy pugging. Old STF Elite were just about perfect for gathering resources. Yeah, they were super easy for the experienced player with skill / gear. But those people make up a small % of player base. So what ... they were quick / fun way to spend 10-15 minutes ... or even 5.
Devs can ignore our advice forever if they like. What they can't ignore is the collapse in the number of people in queues. That's pure stats there ... and undeniable evidence that their new approach is killing PUGing and the casual friendly nature of the game.
I guess they decided that the whales and hard core player is their focus ... and they are going to squeeze them for every penny. Good luck with that zynga strategy ... look at that company now.
- Judge Aaron Satie
You are completely correct with your assessment.
For the moment I think removing the annoying fail criteria would do the trick and fill up the lists again. Quiet frankly those criteria and the way they are designed made nice optionlas but hardly provide a challenge for anybody. The queue lists are a perfect indication if a community appreciates endgame or rejects it. Whatever reasons each individual may have the are empty.
As far as RL money investments into a video game are concerned I took some over the years as I saw fit. It has stoped a moth ago out of principle simply because I did not pay cryptic for empty queue lists. And this comes from a harcore player/whale who is not the only one with that attitude. All the new stuff isnt exciting anyway so Im very glad STO is f2p. I would have tried out some of it just for fun like I always did. But not under these circumstances.
Considering how the Devs seem to struggle with balancing average STO player vs. average contend this entire difficulty restructure must be a total embarrassment for them and I hope many other developers see this and learn from it. We had a well running system till 4 weeks ago, something enjoyable by anybody. A harder optional setting to run would have been welcome but not at the cost of what we had.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
If people want some sort of insane difficulty level, I am fine with them being able to play that way. Just don't deprive me of something that I consider a basic part of the game because I would rather play in the Casual sandbox.