- exploration and the mission Explore strange new world
- my alts, most of them are now in a black hole
- the old stfs
- fun
- no dil sink
- no upgrade system
- have i wrote already, fun?
Now you have to have to wring every last DPS out of a character to not be a liability. Now everything you do with regard to character progression or RnD is just a long grind. And you can fix some of this if you just throw stacks of money at it. Yea, it generates income for them, but for every whale sitting in queue, how many people don't join that queue because they gave up on the grind. If people can't just play the game, and have to follow a set formula (DPS) they're not going to have fun for long. And if they log out each day, barely any closer to progression goals than when they started, they're going to quit. Add in the feeling that Cryptic is just hiding in the shadows trying to fleece them for every last dollar they can get, and it's easy to see why people quit.
And I can't see them changing any of this. I think, as a company, they are so pig-headed that even when they are going down in flames they're going to blame the players. If Cryptic captained the Titanic, they would have backed up after hitting the iceberg, rammed it several more times, then blamed all the dead people floating in the frigid water.
I miss the old level grind. I thought it was done well for what it was. Having all the story arc content at your finger tips as a F2P player is wrong in my opinion. There should be more of a challenge to play through the content. A F2P player can burn through it in less than a week of casual 2 to 3 hours a night. Then thrown head fight against the 51+ leveling wall. Granted that is PW's model to get you pay, but it's ugly and even after you do pay, the reward is not wroth it.
I also miss the exploration maps. To me they were 'acceptable' go to grind locations. My ideal mechanic for them would to populate them with foundry missions...
Lastly, there is no reason to visit the systems in the sectors. I would recommend to put the patrol missions back in. At least that way it would provide hours of needed XP grinds. And make the sectors level locked. So you need to level in order to visit them, provide a need to explore. If only the leveling scheme wasn't so broken.
1) Not being broke when I level up.
2) Playing for the Fun, not gear because you could get by just fine with default equipment.
3) The old story arcs and missions that are now gone. I'd like to see them in the Foundry or accessible somewhere. Heck I'd even pay $$$ for some of them.
4) Lifetime sub meant something.
5) A helpful community where you wouldn't get sent to the booth for asking a question.
6) Grinding or paying for cosmetics...not premium gear.
I miss the lottery system of getting gear drops. The new system (rep) ensures everyone can get the gear regardless of their qualifications or skill using it.
I didn't like the randomness of the stf drop; however, I did like hanging around with everyone. Whenever you needed to build a stf team, the only thing you had to do is ask in chat.
Sure, you can do something similar in ESD's chat; nevertheless, the Omega office made reaching level 50 'special'. You felt as though you belonged to something.
Pick-up Groups. Back before the game got forced auto-teaming (and also forced auto-disbanding of teams at the end of queued events), one had to manually form the team after entering the instance (unless one had already queued as a full group). While this was cumbersome, it allowed for the thing I miss: staying together with some of the players for more matches. If the team worked well together, often some players would remain teamed and queue again. Friendships formed, teamwork improved. Good times.
Pick-up Groups. Back before the game got forced auto-teaming (and also forced auto-disbanding of teams at the end of queued events), one had to manually form the team after entering the instance (unless one had already queued as a full group). While this was cumbersome, it allowed for the thing I miss: staying together with some of the players for more matches. If the team worked well together, often some players would remain teamed and queue again. Friendships formed, teamwork improved. Good times.
I miss the adventure of what the next sector block held, the excitement and thrill of a community and a company that was in sync, at least for a little while.
I miss the anticipation that my faction, the Klingons would finally have their wished and hopes answered.
I miss the lost opportunities of what Territory Controlled PvP could be.
I miss Foundry Spotlights.
I miss the community articles, the podcasts etc.
Most of all.... I miss the war. I want the factions to stop hugging and start fighting.
When AtB was on the Battery CD.
When EPtX didn't cleanse everything.
When using Teams required choice.
When TT didn't redistribute.
When VM could take out shields.
And well, the list could go on - but it starts to get depressing...
She is doing well and still works on PWE's Marketing Team (she always did, even when she was on "On Screen!") She was at my wedding a few months ago, and we talk often.
I can't believe I read though this entire thread. I also can't believe how depressed I feel after doing so.
I agree with everything said so far but there are a few I miss more than others... The hourly events. I miss going to Defera with my friends and fleet mates and killing borg all evening, completing all the missions and tuning them in when the marks hourly event came around. Now there is no reason to do anything more after you get the daily bonus.
The exploration clusters and unique doff missions they offered.
DOFFing before it was ruined by integrating it into the crafting UI.
Level 50. I will never start a new serious toon ever again because I will never want to put in the effort needed to get it to level 60.
The biggest thing that I miss is hourly's. This weekend even TRIBBLE with over a month before something rolls back around again was the beginning of the end for me. DR was the final nail in the coffin.
Deja Q, the original STF's, T5 being the top level ships, Mk XI gear being the best, Dan Stahl running the game, 5 mission long Feature Episodes, and pre-F2P. The most important of all.... Retro Gorn skins!
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Looking for a new fleet? Drop by the in-game chat channel, "tenforwardforum", and say hi to the members of A Fleet Called Ten Forward (Fed) and The Orion Pirates (KDF). If you already have a fleet you are happy with, please feel free to drop by our chat channel if you are looking for a friendly bunch of helpful people to socialize with.
I miss a lot of things. Some greatly, some not so much.
* I have a fond memory the morning the MVAM was released. It was the same time as one of the Romulan missions iirc; I remember the parties that would form at the NPC contacts: it was hilarious, people chatting, dancing, party poppers, all waiting for the contact to offer the mission. So much fun and friendly. Good stuff.
That seems so long ago, but it was only like what - 2+ years ago? almost 3?
* I miss Starbase 24 being an open instance that would reset. I liked this model. What I PARTICULARLY liked was the scoreboard that would pop up at the end which was further proof that fleet actions are STILL measured on the basis of damage/DPS.
* I am mixed about the exploration clusters. I feel that the Genesis engine simply needed re-jiggering instead of deletion. In fact, the exploration clusters should have drawn from the Foundry database. Now that would be silly - like the best say, non farming 100-200 missions could be the ones that happen. I dunno, just spit-balling here...
* I particularly miss the old Doffing UI. The current one is STILL inferior to the old one. Period.
* Relating to Doffs: I miss Heretic. Heretic is the reason we have Fleets, we have Rep, we have all this stuff - they are ALL building on his brainchild, his framework: the DoFF system. He took pride in it, and the DoFF subforum was the most mature, interesting forum for the longest time because he listened. If he couldn't do something he told us the *why* he couldn't. It was respectful, and took a lot of our suggestions to heart. Now, the interaction is minimal at best.
* I miss playing Breaking the Planet. I played the KDF-side a couple of weeks back in a private Queue...let me tell you, it's still a FUN mission. But the trigger threshold requires too many peeps. I think they need to look at these and make them more accessible.
* I miss getting random loot at the end of STFs.
* I miss the positive interaction with the devs. I miss everything NOT being a fight. I feel like everything that helps out QoL now are just baby steps to probe our pain threshold. It just sucks. It creates a toxic environment where nobody wins.
My favourite place was always Defera. I know, the City area of Hards missions was bugged since forever, but at least it would auto-complete after a while. But then Delta Rising broke that to where every run will have at least one Fully-Assimilated Deferi who forgot how to use an alcove. So much for auto-complete, since that doesn't even work anymore.
At this point, I have already seen and done nearly everything there is to see and do in STO. Defera Invasion is what kept me logging in on a daily basis. Now I don't even have that anymore.
I miss the old Cure, some of my fleet called the 3th gate the gate of tears.. It was a part of the STF were you needed to use tactic's and team-play.
The dozen fleet-mates that are playing other games...
I guess you imagine the developers sitting around all day, goofing off and joking about how they could fix some bugs, or look at cat pictures instead?
It's not "Laziness". It's "This feature costs x manhours, we could also do this other feature(s) with x manhours, what gives us the most bang for our buck".
What gives the most bang for their buck is FUN.
IMO, it's not when people spend hours and hours playing that they are more willing to spend money, but when they are having fun ... at least, this is how it works here in the West, not in Korea, AFAIK.
Grinding millions of XP is pure boredom, grinding some rep points to get cool consoles is fun.
Timegating and gambling mods are frustrating, instead grinding dil to get THAT SPECIFIC fleet gear that you want is an incentive.
And, then, if you don't have hours and hours to play, like most players I guess, you'll buy with real cash that new shiny ship where you'll put that gear.
Cryptic way ? Don't know ... I think that smart players who have plenty of free time will survive this walk in the grinding desert and find a shortcut, while casuals will get scared and leave, as it is happening.
And mega-sale super-discounts altogether all at once are just a quick fix.
Comments
The queues are always empty now. I think I've been in one Mine Trap PUG in the last year.. can't remember if it was pre or post DR though..
- my alts, most of them are now in a black hole
- the old stfs
- fun
- no dil sink
- no upgrade system
- have i wrote already, fun?
Now you have to have to wring every last DPS out of a character to not be a liability. Now everything you do with regard to character progression or RnD is just a long grind. And you can fix some of this if you just throw stacks of money at it. Yea, it generates income for them, but for every whale sitting in queue, how many people don't join that queue because they gave up on the grind. If people can't just play the game, and have to follow a set formula (DPS) they're not going to have fun for long. And if they log out each day, barely any closer to progression goals than when they started, they're going to quit. Add in the feeling that Cryptic is just hiding in the shadows trying to fleece them for every last dollar they can get, and it's easy to see why people quit.
And I can't see them changing any of this. I think, as a company, they are so pig-headed that even when they are going down in flames they're going to blame the players. If Cryptic captained the Titanic, they would have backed up after hitting the iceberg, rammed it several more times, then blamed all the dead people floating in the frigid water.
I also miss the exploration maps. To me they were 'acceptable' go to grind locations. My ideal mechanic for them would to populate them with foundry missions...
Lastly, there is no reason to visit the systems in the sectors. I would recommend to put the patrol missions back in. At least that way it would provide hours of needed XP grinds. And make the sectors level locked. So you need to level in order to visit them, provide a need to explore. If only the leveling scheme wasn't so broken.
2) Playing for the Fun, not gear because you could get by just fine with default equipment.
3) The old story arcs and missions that are now gone. I'd like to see them in the Foundry or accessible somewhere. Heck I'd even pay $$$ for some of them.
4) Lifetime sub meant something.
5) A helpful community where you wouldn't get sent to the booth for asking a question.
6) Grinding or paying for cosmetics...not premium gear.
I didn't like the randomness of the stf drop; however, I did like hanging around with everyone. Whenever you needed to build a stf team, the only thing you had to do is ask in chat.
Sure, you can do something similar in ESD's chat; nevertheless, the Omega office made reaching level 50 'special'. You felt as though you belonged to something.
Cryptic: If you think the bugs are bad, wait until you see our fixes!
and in some cases fleets formed from those PUGs
The camaraderie, the competition, the fights.
I miss the adventure of what the next sector block held, the excitement and thrill of a community and a company that was in sync, at least for a little while.
I miss the anticipation that my faction, the Klingons would finally have their wished and hopes answered.
I miss the lost opportunities of what Territory Controlled PvP could be.
I miss Foundry Spotlights.
I miss the community articles, the podcasts etc.
Most of all.... I miss the war. I want the factions to stop hugging and start fighting.
Branflakes! We need more of that hot chick too that used to be with him in the videos!!
You mean captain kiki right?
i think that was her name
When EPtX didn't cleanse everything.
When using Teams required choice.
When TT didn't redistribute.
When VM could take out shields.
And well, the list could go on - but it starts to get depressing...
I agree with everything said so far but there are a few I miss more than others...
The hourly events. I miss going to Defera with my friends and fleet mates and killing borg all evening, completing all the missions and tuning them in when the marks hourly event came around. Now there is no reason to do anything more after you get the daily bonus.
The exploration clusters and unique doff missions they offered.
DOFFing before it was ruined by integrating it into the crafting UI.
Level 50. I will never start a new serious toon ever again because I will never want to put in the effort needed to get it to level 60.
I've been here since beta
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* I have a fond memory the morning the MVAM was released. It was the same time as one of the Romulan missions iirc; I remember the parties that would form at the NPC contacts: it was hilarious, people chatting, dancing, party poppers, all waiting for the contact to offer the mission. So much fun and friendly. Good stuff.
That seems so long ago, but it was only like what - 2+ years ago? almost 3?
* I miss Starbase 24 being an open instance that would reset. I liked this model. What I PARTICULARLY liked was the scoreboard that would pop up at the end which was further proof that fleet actions are STILL measured on the basis of damage/DPS.
* I am mixed about the exploration clusters. I feel that the Genesis engine simply needed re-jiggering instead of deletion. In fact, the exploration clusters should have drawn from the Foundry database. Now that would be silly - like the best say, non farming 100-200 missions could be the ones that happen. I dunno, just spit-balling here...
* I particularly miss the old Doffing UI. The current one is STILL inferior to the old one. Period.
* Relating to Doffs: I miss Heretic. Heretic is the reason we have Fleets, we have Rep, we have all this stuff - they are ALL building on his brainchild, his framework: the DoFF system. He took pride in it, and the DoFF subforum was the most mature, interesting forum for the longest time because he listened. If he couldn't do something he told us the *why* he couldn't. It was respectful, and took a lot of our suggestions to heart. Now, the interaction is minimal at best.
* I miss playing Breaking the Planet. I played the KDF-side a couple of weeks back in a private Queue...let me tell you, it's still a FUN mission. But the trigger threshold requires too many peeps. I think they need to look at these and make them more accessible.
* I miss getting random loot at the end of STFs.
* I miss the positive interaction with the devs. I miss everything NOT being a fight. I feel like everything that helps out QoL now are just baby steps to probe our pain threshold. It just sucks. It creates a toxic environment where nobody wins.
Darren has recently resurfaced on the STO reddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/sto/search?q=darren+kitlor&restrict_sr=on&sort=relevance&t=all
And Branflakes has been spotted here on the forums recently as well .
At this point, I have already seen and done nearly everything there is to see and do in STO. Defera Invasion is what kept me logging in on a daily basis. Now I don't even have that anymore.
My Ship Builds: USS Conqueror, HMS Victorious, HMS Concord, ISS Queen Elizabeth, Black Widow III
Click here to view my DeviantArt.
The dozen fleet-mates that are playing other games...
I had it now i don't.
What gives the most bang for their buck is FUN.
IMO, it's not when people spend hours and hours playing that they are more willing to spend money, but when they are having fun ... at least, this is how it works here in the West, not in Korea, AFAIK.
Grinding millions of XP is pure boredom, grinding some rep points to get cool consoles is fun.
Timegating and gambling mods are frustrating, instead grinding dil to get THAT SPECIFIC fleet gear that you want is an incentive.
And, then, if you don't have hours and hours to play, like most players I guess, you'll buy with real cash that new shiny ship where you'll put that gear.
Cryptic way ? Don't know ... I think that smart players who have plenty of free time will survive this walk in the grinding desert and find a shortcut, while casuals will get scared and leave, as it is happening.
And mega-sale super-discounts altogether all at once are just a quick fix.