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sto review of the year 2014

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  • geckoisalizardgeckoisalizard Member Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Did season 9 come out this year? Because that was fantastic, especially the Feature Ep. Also, enjoyed the Summer and Winter Events. This was a great year for the Foundry, with lots of new assets to work with.
    However, this year also had its setbacks. 9.5's R&D and DOFF "improvements" were a joke, and Delta Rising's story arc was spoiled by grindy patrol missions we were forced to play and the ridiculous amount of XP that was required to progress in the storyline.

    Don't forget the condescending and passive-aggressive posts from geko and d'angelo, basically insulting the player base.
  • dylantrinidydylantrinidy Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    2014-disaster, who are we kidding next year will bring the same crappy adventure zones more rep and grind with a few story missions this is what STO has become no real reason to gear up or build up a ship, oh wait yes there is so I can do STF's faster next time woohoo
  • hojain2020hojain2020 Member Posts: 417 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    It's funny but I've been playing a few months but this game seems to hit new lows every week. the incessant gambling prevelant under the ruse of equipment upgrades ship acquisitions etc etc made sure that this game is banned for my kids and nephews!
    Added to the gambling is the incessant nerfing to the point that there is no surety on anything of value. ive already come across quite a few reports by mmo reviewers giving this game horrid reviews ...sadly. Since I'm an editor for a gaming magazine I have acces to a few unpublished reports and dare I say they are not complimentary. However I'll give sto a little more time let it cook in the oven a little more.
    STO NPC AI LEVEL--->
    bollywood15_zpskyztknwo.gif
  • olliereportolliereport Member Posts: 721
    edited December 2014
    hojain2020 wrote: »
    It's funny but I've been playing a few months but this game seems to hit new lows every week. the incessant gambling prevelant under the ruse of equipment upgrades ship acquisitions etc etc made sure that this game is banned for my kids and nephews!
    Added to the gambling is the incessant nerfing to the point that there is no surety on anything of value. ive already come across quite a few reports by mmo reviewers giving this game horrid reviews ...sadly. Since I'm an editor for a gaming magazine I have acces to a few unpublished reports and dare I say they are not complimentary. However I'll give sto a little more time let it cook in the oven a little more.

    that's why we stay, hope for a turn around, new management and/or directions, less cash being siphoned from the game

    that, and the previously developed content, which was adequate to the task

    what baffles me is all they had to do was implement mk 13 and 14 drops, they didn't even have to be purple, just blue. that way all the scads of people who came to check out the expansion could participate in the ques and give life to the game.

    And tons of them (since they were happy) would be ecstatic to use this cool new upgrade system to bump up select bits of their gear and set items. People would still be upgrading MK 2 stuff to get just the right gear. people would still upgrade stuff to purple.

    but no, they had to force-feed people through the upgrade system for EVERYTHING. not only that, it's fueled by a currency (dilithium) that was already 90% leveraged and monitized!!!

    granted, I'm glad it's not fueled by EC, the last thing the game needs is goldvendors. regardless, it sucked the life right out of the game,
  • staq16staq16 Member Posts: 1,181 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    It's been a year of highs and lows IMO.

    S9 was excellent and actually got me back into STO after an absence. I'll refer to an earlier post for the reasons why:

    Season 9 Appreciation Thread

    Suffice to say - good missions, efforts to address powercreep, good gear choices.

    Then came DR. The level cap raise was actually not too badly handled and the T6 / T5U split had a decent idea at its core - balance improved 'conventional' capabilities on old ships against the new powers of newer ships. However the implementation feels botched given the 'must have' nature of some Intel powers, esp. in PVP.

    Secondly, DR feels like Cryptic have got fed up with what most players like about Trek. Having already used the VOY big-name aliens (8472, Hirogen) and the Voth, what we now have is Cryptic sidelining Trek's established big bads in favour of the Vaadwaur - essentially their own creation. The same goes for ships, with most of the fan favourites sidelined at T5U.

    Gameplay is another issue. Again, specialisations are great in theory; using XP rewards players for whatever part of the game they play. The problem is the ham-fisted implementation means that only DR missions - notably the Argala patrol - seem to provide meaningful advancement. KDF Doffing at least chugs along at a reasonable paced of a skill point every 3-4 days, which makes it a viable if slow alternative.

    Similarly, DR is painfully fed-focussed; a real shame after the pretty balanced approach of the previous 2 seasons. This is even more true in game mechanics terms where, thanks to ship traits, the Fed advantage in ship choices is now a massive one. I'd argue that the KDF have a further issue in that the traits they do have are highly situational (requiring specific builds to exploit) where the Fed ones are very flexible.

    So, at the end of 2014 STO has a very nasty feel about it. The price of entry to the top tier of gameplay has skyrocketed. The secondary factions have been heavily marginalised. Players are forced to play the newest content, and nothing else, if they want to advance. It's not a nice place to be.
  • seansamurai1seansamurai1 Member Posts: 634 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    My feelings?

    The latest delta expansion is the best thing to happen.

    Seriously, it gives me a stronger reason to uninstall the game throw it in the pile of junk games.
    Waste of time, effort and money.
    Just everything about the game is a grind, not a fun grind, just a boring rinse/repeat of patrols to boost upto the next rank to unlock the 2 missions at most of that tier. Leaving you very short in XP for the next rank.

    It amazes me even more that people are still playing, still grinding, yet complaining about it.
    The only reason I log in at all is to say hello to my fleet, not that there will be a fleet left, they are all leaving because of how suckass this game is.
    I dont buy a game to be bored, I buy a game to be entertained.
    Non of that resides in STO, the biggest disgrace in the Star trek franchise going. It makes JJs lens flare and gloss look brilliant.
  • geckoisalizardgeckoisalizard Member Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    My feelings?

    The latest delta expansion is the best thing to happen.

    Seriously, it gives me a stronger reason to uninstall the game throw it in the pile of junk games.
    Waste of time, effort and money.
    Just everything about the game is a grind, not a fun grind, just a boring rinse/repeat of patrols to boost upto the next rank to unlock the 2 missions at most of that tier. Leaving you very short in XP for the next rank.

    It amazes me even more that people are still playing, still grinding, yet complaining about it.
    The only reason I log in at all is to say hello to my fleet, not that there will be a fleet left, they are all leaving because of how suckass this game is.
    I dont buy a game to be bored, I buy a game to be entertained.
    Non of that resides in STO, the biggest disgrace in the Star trek franchise going. It makes JJs lens flare and gloss look brilliant.

    I've only logged in to chat with friends and do doff missions. For my fun game time im off in other games like elite dangerous.
  • doghou5edoghou5e Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Up until the final Solanae missions I had high hopes for Delta Rising. The quality of the those last few missions were really high and the future in my mind seemed bright for the game.

    Then came along DR...

    This game has gone from probably my favourite game to being an incredibly painful and unrewarding experience where there is horrible trend, of what looks like from a customers viewpoint, an utter lack of understanding on the part of the Devs.

    This has become little more than an exploitation of Star Trek in my eyes, it has none of the show's core values at it's heart.
  • psycoticvulcanpsycoticvulcan Member Posts: 4,160 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Honestly, I think the only thing that's really keeping me here is the fact that the Iconian storyline hasn't been resolved yet. Maybe the Foundry too.

    I enjoyed the DR storyline for a while, but eventually the constant patrol missions got to be too much. I hope things improve soon, because at this rate I'm not optimistic about STO's prospects.
    NJ9oXSO.png
    "Critics who say that the optimistic utopia Star Trek depicted is now outmoded forget the cultural context that gave birth to it: Star Trek was not a manifestation of optimism when optimism was easy. Star Trek declared a hope for a future that nobody stuck in the present could believe in. For all our struggles today, we haven’t outgrown the need for stories like Star Trek. We need tales of optimism, of heroes, of courage and goodness now as much as we’ve ever needed them."
    -Thomas Marrone
  • vesterengvestereng Member Posts: 2,252 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Tempted to say at least it can't get much worse but sadly that isn't true.


    It's hard to blame it all on the year 2014 because if you look back the nerfing has taken place for years.

    Just the thing is, up until Dil Vaporizing, you've been able to hide from the nerfing.

    It took 2 years to nerf everything but so what you are feeling now isn't DR alone or 2014 but the completion of the nerf it all regime - not that the nerfing will stop.

    They should certainly try to balance the game and shut down stuff like console clicking foundry missions where they are just bleeding money.


    However the stuff they've been doing has mostly ruined parts of the game until there weren't any parts left.

    And I mean yeah okay the whales really are playing the content they've been ordered to, now you've straight up deleted the whole game, but it just seems so pointless to shut down what was working.

    Pointless decisions just ruining it for no reasons.

    So many people are huge fans of Voyager - there wasn't any reason DR should not be a hit unless you really set out to ruin it on purpose.

    Being able to ruin that was almost an accomplishment in itself, you have to look back and go whoa how was that even posssible did that really happen...

    And I think that's one reason why people are so eager to talk to them because it's often hard to believe they are that stupid, people get curious wtf they were thinking.
  • bradchristopher1bradchristopher1 Member Posts: 307
    edited December 2014
    Its been an abysmal year and a sad one too boot. Probably the most disturbing is the nature of the game, the level of disdain and lack of communication from Cryptic.

    While I'm sure that the game will be around for a while, its golden age has set. And its really sad. Cryptic, instead of choosing the path less traveled, building a breathtaking layered gaming experience - chose the easy road and essentially gutted their engine to replace it with "projects" instead of storyline. "Projects" are unfulfilling, bottomless pits and do not ensure longevity of players attention. Human beings are not pigeons, but the developers have turned the game into some twisted Operant conditioning chamber.

    Term in Psychology: "Slot machines and online games are sometimes cited as examples of human devices that use sophisticated operant schedules of reinforcement to reward repetitive actions." They should be ashamed of themselves. I hope they sleep well at night, when they realized that they are setting-up the next generation of gamblers. If I had a child, they would be banned from playing this game.

    I remember when there was fellowship between the developers and the community. Community sponsored events, blogs, Spotlights, etc.

    Now there's nothing but what the PW propaganda machine puts out.

    I am frustrated that the reputations + crafting + specializations have resulting in a grindy system when EVERYTHING worth having now has to be paid in some kind to grind, if not outright RL money.

    Not at all what I expected from the game. Also, given the fact that I have been asked to upgrade old content for like the 4-5 time, what says that all this is going to even be relevant in a short while and I have to forked out more just to upgrade again.

    Basically had to read between the lines with the "ending of the war" which basically meant the ending of any content for the Klingon and Romulans which as the ugly cousins have been banished from the premises.

    They've turned the game into a maze, and we're the rats!:confused:

    http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted_p1.html
  • macroniusmacronius Member Posts: 2,526
    edited December 2014
    I think the game will survive DR and even worse in a hobbled state. I think the only rational explanation I can come up with for 2014 is that Cryptic is giving up on making this game better.

    I think they failed at (prior to 2014):

    1) Expanding the population (apart from the bump provided by LoR which evaporated rapidly)
    2) They failed to expand the monetization base
    3) They were facing significant diminishing returns on existing scheme for monetization:
    ---- A) Reduction in lock box sales
    ---- B) Ship saturation (zen sale of ships)
    ---- C) Other revenue sources (dilithium, doff packs, etc.)

    I think #3 became an issue for PWE. So they came up with a new plan (which coincided with a change in leadership D'Stahl).

    1) Squeeze the devotees and whales in this game via upgrade, new ship tier(s) (T5U, T5U fleet, T6, T6 fleet)
    2) "Encourage" F2P people to spend more money by making it harder to earn stuff.
    3) Make everyone play longer to boost metrics and increase chance of purchases

    I think their plan worked initially with grind-a-versery & crafting. So they tried it with DR on a larger scale. When they saw players trying to get around it they nerfed the "exploiters" hard. And that's when the **** hit the fans ...

    At this point it is too late. The game is going down a certain path and forever will that path dominate it.
    "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."

    - Judge Aaron Satie
  • cervantxcervantx Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Its very unlikely that any future expansion would be better than DR, that is sad, because with DR they touched a new low, and that was coming from a long line of nerfs and bugs, and mistakes, so, if the line goes on the next expansion would get us to a new grind and dill sinking that would make DR looks inocent.
    [SIGPIC]http://i.imgur.com/7dY4yCA.jpg[/SIGPIC]
    GG Cryptic.

    dnirg eht nioj
  • cervantxcervantx Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    reyan01 wrote: »
    Hm, well - for me at least, STO 2014 started well enough; the Feature Episode 'Surface Tension' being a particular high point, and the additions made to Risa for the summer event were pretty nice too.

    However, Delta Rising has been a real mixed bag - sadly, mostly negative, as per many of the posts in this very thread.


    DR was the pinacle of a debacle, but not the only thing bad on the last time, since before the people was pointing how the game was turning for a worse, just remeber the complains on pvp comunity r.i.p and the bugs, and the elachi misions and the dc issues, and the bugs, and so... damm even the forum had a funny/sarcastical thread called dooom, much before DR come out, but the good thing is, when all is getting bad, there is room to make things better.
    [SIGPIC]http://i.imgur.com/7dY4yCA.jpg[/SIGPIC]
    GG Cryptic.

    dnirg eht nioj
  • kavasekavase Member Posts: 771 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Well scratch one full year of not playing STO at all. I don’t have a review to provide for 2014.

    I’m on standby, I have hopes that this game could become fun and be an enjoyable experience again.

    I miss the game, I really do. I miss it for what is was before. A fun, casual, style game. It’s a low budget game and there isn’t anything wrong with that. It has a special charm to it with a small development team from a small company name Cryptic.

    Someone else can chime in to say what this game is now these days because I honestly don’t have a clue anymore. Only one of my friends still played only to do doffs and R&D but has just this past week given up on it now, there are much green pastures out there in this gaming market. True, there isn’t any other current Star Trek game, but, how much Star Trek is this really? And based on the new ships, it looks it’s even getting further away from its IP.

    No matter what, STO is a success. It’s been around for a lot longer than many thought it would and is still kicking. I wish the best for 2015 to everyone that plays, works, or is just here reading in STO.


    This will be my final post as I can’t really participate in STO conversation as I haven’t played in so long and I now no longer have anyone that I know that plays it anymore. But I’ll be sure to stop by time to time to read up on things and see what 2015 brings to STO because...you never know...still have faith.
    Retired. I'm now in search for that perfect space anomaly.
  • cervantxcervantx Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    Well that depend on the "succes" idea, but is true this game can be online many more months/years...but in what state? similar to champions or geting full revlamps and better gameplay?, i would like this thing gets better in 2015, but i dont think that happen.
    [SIGPIC]http://i.imgur.com/7dY4yCA.jpg[/SIGPIC]
    GG Cryptic.

    dnirg eht nioj
  • lored2deathlored2death Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    not a bad assessment

    games in general, have been taken over by people who don't really care about games or art or community or entertainment, only money. whoever is calling the shots is very very very short sighted

    there are many easy fixes here, but it seems there is _zero_ motivation. fixes that would improve the experience and would draw players and probably increase $$ transactions because people would be happy to spend

    quite frankly, it's as if they want to tank the game to dump the lifetime subscribers, and then maybe sell it or start over. or both.

    Agreed, great assessment. I would LOVE to continue my little pieces of financial support to STO as I have from the beginning. Unfortunately, that's now contigent upon rolling back some major nerfs, bug-squashing and a drop or two of making the game less work and more varied sources of fun.

    STO was never perfect from the get-go but it was casual and allowed a lot of cool diversity in playstyles. As an example, I have two ships in drydock on all my alts that are nothing but banks for tons of fun and interesting consoles but using most of them, Im now having to sacrifice the almighty dps.

    The day Cryptic puts more focus on game-making fun and backs off an ounce on trying to monetize every little aspect of the game, I'll consider reopening my wallet. Im pretty sure Im not alone.
  • litchy74litchy74 Member Posts: 417 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    2014...... Well here goes
    It's early and all is quiet, dill and EC grow while FM are rare,
    A few new missions come out and anticipation grows they are quiet good, what happens next, I'm getting excited......
    A new expansion, hum good, new levels well it's what we been wanting, new difficult PvE, yeah.
    So I get a new level above elite, ultras elite for me to try, I can all ways go back to elite until I get the right gear.
    New exp,..... Hmmm,..mission need me to do patrols to advance, I thought these warp in kill X amount of npcs and warp out where removed because they didn't meet the standard, these must be better.......
    Nope but these are scripted and exactly the same each time, well that must be better than a random encounter with different foes each time..........
    Dame that took a lot of time to kill, what how many hps.... Guess I'll use this new upgrade system to get better gear.....
    It's late and all is quiet, dill and EC are rare, FM grow, queues are dead, PvE meets bloated HP, people leave move on, I'm hear alone, broke, hoping, realising the developers see us as cheats, naughty children, and I thought we are there customers who pay their wages...silly me.

    What keeps me hear, simple it's not the game, missions, playing its the 'Star Trek', if there ever was competition to this game set in the same universe I feel this game would die vey quickly.
    Where ever you go, there you are.......

    Join The Space Invaders,..... Federation and KDF fleets.
  • olliereportolliereport Member Posts: 721
    edited December 2014
    macronius wrote: »
    I think the game will survive DR and even worse in a hobbled state. I think the only rational explanation I can come up with for 2014 is that Cryptic is giving up on making this game better.

    I think they failed at (prior to 2014):

    1) Expanding the population (apart from the bump provided by LoR which evaporated rapidly)
    2) They failed to expand the monetization base
    3) They were facing significant diminishing returns on existing scheme for monetization:
    ---- A) Reduction in lock box sales
    ---- B) Ship saturation (zen sale of ships)
    ---- C) Other revenue sources (dilithium, doff packs, etc.)

    I think #3 became an issue for PWE. So they came up with a new plan (which coincided with a change in leadership D'Stahl).

    1) Squeeze the devotees and whales in this game via upgrade, new ship tier(s) (T5U, T5U fleet, T6, T6 fleet)
    2) "Encourage" F2P people to spend more money by making it harder to earn stuff.
    3) Make everyone play longer to boost metrics and increase chance of purchases

    I think their plan worked initially with grind-a-versery & crafting. So they tried it with DR on a larger scale. When they saw players trying to get around it they nerfed the "exploiters" hard. And that's when the **** hit the fans ...

    At this point it is too late. The game is going down a certain path and forever will that path dominate it.

    a fair description

    I have alts and ships in boxes now, cool ships in boxes, really neat things

    I look at the boxes and go

    "ugh, @#$@!@, it's going to cost so much to gear those ships"

    and

    they stay in their boxes and the alts go back to doffing for a dilthium trickle

    it's a mess
  • adorenkoadorenko Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited December 2014
    daveyny wrote: »
    We already had The Year Of Hell...

    2014 will be known as The Year Of (Not So) Awesome.

    :(

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCKONHUigVk

    that is all.
    Looking for more info on Dilithium Rising? Click on the link below:

    [SIGPIC]Click here to visit my STO YouTube channel[/SIGPIC]
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