STO (with the exception of maybe the foundry) never ever was a game for Trekkers ... every single action in the game contradicts everything that Gene Roddenberry had in mind.
STO is a Trek-themed MMO. And lkike in every other MMO, the object is to kill stuff as quickly and effectively as possible. No more, no less.
100% Agreed.
The person you quoted is just blowing smoke.
I've been here since day one and STO has never been about trekkies and does little to enforce Roddenberry's vision.
IMO STO would be more inline with Star Trek if we were to view our Characters has the Terran Empire.
How much blood does each of our Characters have on their hands, how many times have we asked a clearly defeated enemy to surrender to avoid senseless loss of life?
STO is about has Star Trek has a Mass Murderer is wearing a Federation Jump Suit :rolleyes:
News flash for anyone that's still unsure what STO currently is:
STO is an MMO containing elements of Star Trek and it's tailored to entice "Gamers" who like Trek to play it.
I can blame the DPS crowd for quite a few things, and frankly I know the OP and myself don't see eye-to-eye on all that much. However on this occasion I think we can both agree that in this instance the buck stops with Cryptic.
If people do well at something in this game, whatever that is, it shouldn't necessarily be made the standard. Now the way difficulty was increased in space was outright lazy, ill-thought out and has led to build diversity taking a back seat. That is not a good thing. On ground they simply added more mobs with tougher capabilities.
What his has led to is the small number of perfectly capable players continuing to do fine and those who aren't as good having even more struggle added, not to mention the game is now more alt-unfriendly than it has ever been in the past. The game used to be friendly to everyone, now not so much. Cryptic need to fix this, we told them during testing this would happen, so they can't claim it is any surprise to them.
One last thing I'd like to add, is that at the end of the day you don't even attempt to help rectify the problems or anything. My mates and myself have always used some of the videos we made to prove bugs exist in the game, or even prove a change isn't going to work. You guys made videos showing off content on tribble yet never offered solutions to balance it for everyone, and frankly that's probably because you don't care to. So for going on tribble and failing to help fix the content, I can certainly blame you for that.
Edit: Oh look, my 666th post, something bad is going to happen...
Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head. - Euripides
I no longer do any Bug Hunting work for Cryptic. I may resume if a serious attempt to fix the game is made.
I've been here since day one and STO has never been about trekkies and does little to enforce Roddenberry's vision.
IMO STO would be more inline with Star Trek if we were to view our Characters has the Terran Empire.
How much blood does each of our Characters have on their hands, how many times have we asked a clearly defeated enemy to surrender to avoid senseless loss of life?
STO is about has Star Trek has a Mass Murderer is wearing a Federation Jump Suit :rolleyes:
News flash for anyone that's still unsure what STO currently is:
STO is an MMO containing elements of Star Trek and it's tailored to entice "Gamers" who like Trek to play it.
I call BS Rodenberry would have loved this game, it was perfect for his vision on how to milk the fanbase
TL: DR If you want someone to blame for the state of the game currently, don't look at the high DPSers. We're just convenient scapegoats. The way the game is right now is entirely intentional and pre-meditated by the Devs.
I never blamed you for the state of the game as a top DPSer. It doesn't take much to figure out time gates = metrics = something to show the bosses how much we love playing.
Heh, speaking of "real" MMOs, funny thing is what kinda happened in STO: everybody was forced to play a mage or to resort using a silly little wand with AOE nuking spells. But the thing is most players didnt liked playing that. But in any other MMOs this would cause immediate responses from the devs, rebalance check and stuff like that...
And on topic, of couse the DPSers have a part of the blame. But I am not defending Cryptic either. They have the other half of the blame going for the easy route with HP increase.
Now, since DR was up on Tribble, a few ppl, myself too, warned and preached on forum about the horrible changes and that that majority of ppl, and the game too, will get real screwed. But allmost every time a DPSer came reasuring the devs that "For sure the players will adapt":rolleyes: And followed, of course, by 5-6 from their little gang braging that they did xx DPS with blue or even white gear in the new elite content, regardless that they werent mentioning doing that in a scimitar or other op ships using a DPS build...
And even after DR hit, that wasnt enuf... Posting mocking video(s) made the devs increase with +10% even more the difficulty on elite:eek:
And whole this thing "that videos are made to help" and "devs wanted to know how you are doing yet they never past that"... Thats just plain hypocrisy. What do you want? The devs to come to your little league and beg for your answers?? A dialog presumes 2 sides. There are the forums, subforums about mechanics and stuff... You can start the dialogue you know. Some devs work for more then 1 game, since Cryptic has 3 games so it may be difficult to keep track of all stuff. Do like the PvPers did, be specific and tell exactly what to nerf, what to balance, what skills are OP, or even what skills need a boost etc. Or even what new skills are bugged, since that 5% armor pen from delta rep I have seen it brought up only by virusdancer. Speak for the NPCs, for the borg or waadwuar you mindlessly beat up... That of course if you actually want to help the devs to bring a balanced difficulty back in the game. But I highliy doubt that, since I see even more mocking videos lately, wich leads me to think that you enjoy the status quo and want even more HP increase...
And even right now, I bet a few will jump with the "But you can do xx DPS in X ship with white gear", completly missing the point lol
And one last thing. I have a hunch that this topic is somewhat related with some egos reacting at someone who called the DPSers "dickstrokers":D
And on topic, of couse the DPSers have a part of the blame.
And, of course, you are clearly mistaken.
Every game with a player development via skill tree/equipment system/set synergies (does not have to be an MMO, though) will feature players that will want to try min/maxing to powerplay. That's just human nature (you know, the thing where humans constantly try to improve themselves etc.)
It is the developer's job to balance stuff so min/maxing doesn't lead to what we encounter today.
I think you mean to say it's anti-elitism? Or is this a bizarro forum?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
If Roddenberry were all about the money, he would not have created a future society that is pretty much Communism in its purest form.
You're laboring under a misconception.... He wrote it that way because he thought people wanted to see that on TV. Not because he was talking about his personal beleifs.
DPSers are the best players ever and the community loves them!
Or did ya think that the endless bragging and pushing the game more and more towards such builds (and buying all the stuff that goes with them) wouldn't result in the the devs catering to it and trying to get more people to behave that way? The whole point of DR was to get EVERYONE chasing DPS and spending accordingly.
Pretty much what I think, unfortunately...whether or not they should have done it, the devs certainly seemed to have taken the DPSers' behavior as a signal to take the game in a direction that screwed over everybody but the very few. Take the pet nerf--who gets hurt there? The overinflated few, or the vast majority of the player base who cannot afford the resources in time and money to get out of a build when they get nerfed to death?
I'm afraid that my feelings on this have worsened recently now that we saw extreme DPS'ers go into PUGs, TRIBBLE over other players into AFK penalties who were trying to help but had no fair chance, and not even recognize that an incident like that means that until Cryptic fixes the AFK penalty, an apology isn't enough from extreme DPSers--they do not belong in public queues, period.
Ultimately yes, the buck stops with Cryptic--but until then the DPSers need to remember that with great power comes great responsibility, and they need to avoid bragging, TRIBBLE over other players in the queues, and forgetting the effect their behavior has on those that do not have their money and time resources. And letting the devs know why they have changed their behavior, once they actually do. Speak up and tell the devs you won't let them TRIBBLE over the vast majority of players anymore. I should think the devs would have to take notice if enough of their top players and likely top spenders pointed out to them how not being able to play or interact outside of a tiny circle of players is killing their play experience.
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DPSers are the best players ever and the community loves them!
Or did ya think that the endless bragging and pushing the game more and more towards such builds (and buying all the stuff that goes with them) wouldn't result in the the devs catering to it and trying to get more people to behave that way? The whole point of DR was to get EVERYONE chasing DPS and spending accordingly.
Here's the problem, right here, and the funny thing is that you appear to be blaming the players.
Bottom line: The issues with DPSers being the be-all, end-all of STO is not, in fact, the fault of the players.
The fault lies solely in the hands of Cryptic Studios, the horrible developers of STO.
Power Creep happens because shoddy developers aren't paying attention and don't understand why things happen in the games they develop.
Or worse, they know EXACTLY why things happen - and it's because they've introduced ultra-powerful items in the game through micro-transaction purchases. This is the case with STO.
Look at the Scimitar. Sorry, Scimitar players, but it's true. While YOU are not a huge part of the problem with STO and DPS, your ships are.
Cryptic took EXCESSIVELY overpowered ships, put them in the game for money, and they will never nerf them to a reasonable amount of DPS because they make money on them.
It's that simple.
I wish Cryptic and PWE would just admit it and move on. They don't care about DPS or power creep because it makes them money. They don't care about you or me and in fact only care about our wallets.
That's the way it goes. It's business. It doesn't make them any less a horrible developer (the state of the game and it's code tells THAT story easily). It doesn't make PWE any less a cancer on the MMO industry.
But it's business.
So to nutshell all that: It's not the fault of players. It's not the fault of lacking "skill." (especially when this game doesn't actually require any skill to play - save the ability to button-mash). It's not anyone's fault but Cryptic's, because the only thing that matters is money.
Maybe it would be easier to have some empathy for the DPSers if they weren't such pig-ignorant, obnoxious little ****s ALL the time.
I would not go this far. I think they could be a great help if they would stand up and tell the devs that they do not appreciate mechanics that are running off their less affluent friends and that it in turn is restricting their behavior and play experience. I think a few may be doing so but we could stand to see much more.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
I would not go this far. I think they could be a great help if they would stand up and tell the devs that they do not appreciate mechanics that are running off their less affluent friends and that it in turn is restricting their behavior and play experience. I think a few may be doing so but we could stand to see much more.
We've tried and got brushed off. They do not listen to us any more than they listen to anyone else in the game.
You're laboring under a misconception.... He wrote it that way because he thought people wanted to see that on TV. Not because he was talking about his personal beleifs.
By that logic, Disney thinks life should be a fairy tale where everybody lives happily ever after instead of making money.
That's why they have some of the most aggressive lawyers on the planet and are scrutinized for their greed and buying out other IPs.
Because Disney believes that everybody should be a prince/princess and the world should be seen through rose-tinted glasses.
Guiness world record book called, OP broke the record for narcissism on the internet
I can't wait to see the video of the celebration party - they complete it in 3 seconds while still asleep in bed.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
hmm yes mindless since in those real mmos the dpser couldn't even land a blow w/o a tank to agro and w/o a healer , this classes are useless in sto , why would i play eng. or sci ? put your TRIBBLE in a escort and shoot w/e you see . In other real games you can't even think at a instace w/o a healer. At first i think sto was meant to be ballanced otherwise why would they add support classes? If i want to shoot ill play a shooter game. In other games dpsers respect support classes , they dont bash them with : your dps sux , go play tetrix. And if they get healed its not even a thanx or gj. Here is the mindless player .
You must be thinking of WoW. I know it wasn't really true in D2.... Oh wait... D2 didn't really have dedicated support classes.
People wanted to see a future vision of communism? In the mid-60's full-blown cold-war USA?
Speaking of misconception ...
Actually... yeah. People wanted to see a future where people had finally defeated the ills that plagued them on a daily basis. They wanted to see a future that was better than the present. Roddenberry presented a future where there is no hunger or homelessness. Whatg's not to like? :P
I always find it amazing that people have no problem with "DPS" (which everyone does, just to varying degrees) in the FEs, where they are forced to do it themselves, but it's automatically evil and bad design when they get on a team.
Player 1 "OK, we need to kill things"
Player 2 "Well, how about you target everything, take all the damage that brings, and I'll try to heal you enough to make up for it"
Player 1 "I'd rather you help me kill things"
Player 2 "But I do other things instead"
Player 1 "We're here to kill things, though. I can heal myself if you just do your part helping kill things"
Look at the Scimitar. Sorry, Scimitar players, but it's true. While YOU are not a huge part of the problem with STO and DPS, your ships are.
Cryptic took EXCESSIVELY overpowered ships, put them in the game for money, and they will never nerf them to a reasonable amount of DPS because they make money on them.
It's that simple.
If you really believe what you have written there, then you just have shown that you lack what all the other players who can't pull their weight in a team PVE lack: understanding of game mechanics.
Pulling these insane DPS numbers isn't about buying yourself a T5U C-Store ship and slapping epic Mk 14 gear on it. In fact, you can do pretty well without all that. These runs require a premade team with debuffing, coordination and communication between the players. So ship operating skills and knowledge about set boni and synergies have a lot to do with it.
Take e.g. Ryan who managed to pull 40k in the weakest ship (Galaxy) the game has to offer. Or another player who slapped 8 Mk 2 turrets on his freely-available Chel Grett and pulled over 10k pre-DR.
Just because you can't make it work like others can doesn't mean the game is pay2win ...
People wanted to see a future vision of communism? In the mid-60's full-blown cold-war USA?
Speaking of misconception ...
There wasn't really any indication of "communism" in TOS. TOS only had the different "races" work together and be equals. Russian working alongside an American? Now that was something people wanted to see, at least if they disliked the Cold War.
TNG seemed to have the Federation and at least Starfleet mostly not talking about or needing money. (They still obviously needed resources, however, as various episodes mentioned trade agreement and the like.)
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
hmm yes mindless since in those real mmos the dpser couldn't even land a blow w/o a tank to agro and w/o a healer , this classes are useless in sto , why would i play eng. or sci ? put your TRIBBLE in a escort and shoot w/e you see . In other real games you can't even think at a instace w/o a healer. At first i think sto was meant to be ballanced otherwise why would they add support classes? If i want to shoot ill play a shooter game. In other games dpsers respect support classes , they dont bash them with : your dps sux , go play tetrix. And if they get healed its not even a thanx or gj. Here is the mindless player .
Again, your definition of a real game involves one of the most mentally challenged systems in existence. The Tank, the Heals, and the DPS...because the NPCs are so stupid as to ignore the Heals keeping the Tank alive and the DPS killing them.
It's a system for the Tank to hold all sorts of fake aggro and take damage because the four other idiots aren't capable of taking damage. It's a system for the Heals to keep everybody else alive because the four other idiots aren't capable of doing that. It's a system for the DPS to kill everything because the four other idiots couldn't pop a zit.
If that's your definition of a real game...I've got some beachfront property on the moon that I can sell you for next to nothing...it's the real deal!
That MMO Trinity garbage is the worst system ever designed. Want a real game? Hit up a tabletop RPG which that MMO Trinity garbage was based on...where the heavily armored guy with the health pool tanked not by telling your mama jokes, but actually had to position himself between the party and the NPCs. Where the guy that might have been tossing heals wasn't just spamming them, because the other folks in the party weren't generally the idiots you see in your real game and they just weren't available to spam like that. Where the folks focusing on damage had to watch out for all sorts of things instead of having just to make sure they weren't standing in the fire.
STO's closer to a real game in that sense, than any of the mindless MMO Trinity games out there. No doubt Cryptic totally screwed up the content, but they've got the premise behind the characters right.
You may favor a game full of all the elitist douchebag Tanks and Healers that treat the DPS as dime a dozen garbage, but that doesn't make it a real game...well, a real stupid game perhaps.
If Cryptic were to reduce the number of mobs involved, so instead of killing 100 things you had to fight 5 to 10...then they'd start to have the content that would match up to the potential builds for characters. It wouldn't require this, that, and the rest - but there would be far more room for this, that, and the rest rather than it just being DPS.
There's all sorts of things Cryptic could do to address their content issues, but they won't...because this game is designed and developed for puppies playing on iPads - but as the forums are ripe with the complaints, some folks haven't quite gotten that good yet. Yes, STO is a mindless DPSfest for the most part...
...but that's a Hell of a lot better than the mindless MMO Trinity some of the games have gone with over the years. There's a reason that the MMO Trinity appeals to the masses...the masses aren't very good.
I always find it amazing that people have no problem with "DPS" (which everyone does, just to varying degrees) in the FEs, where they are forced to do it themselves, but it's automatically evil and bad design when they get on a team.
Because in the FE you get to do it on your terms. Play the vaper, line up that perfect shot, annihilate a target instantly, cloak, vanish, do it again. Play the tank, roll into a formation, see how many guys you can pull at once while no-selling the worst they can throw at you for as long as you want, kill them when you feel like it. Play the CCer. Play the drainer. Etc etc. It isn't efficient but its entertaining and its relaxing. Its playing.
But no no, only scrub noobs do that! DPS or GTFO! Farm or GTFO! Play the same map endlessly! And then DR comes along and outright institutionalizes it. The devs gave the most vocal players exactly what they spent the last 18 months pushing for in action if not words so as to monetize the hell out of it. Everyone who didn't want this **** is stuck with it, but no don't blame the people who were combination lobbyist and ad campaign for all this grind and power creep! My thoughts about D'angelo and Gecko would get me moderated, but they didn't make their decisions in a vacuum.
But it is easier to blame others than realize it is their own lack of skill. Elite should always be for players that find Normal and Advanced too easy and boring.
Easy> should be for people who just leveled and need to earn marks to upgrade their gear. Having it fail the whole mission if you loose the bonus must be a bug, I don't see them going that route purposely on new STFers. Especially since there is a cool down. What ever some people may think, Cryptic isn't a out to get you, the game is just full of bugs. So report them promptly when you find them!
Advanced> should be for people who earned a set of good gear. Not before please!
Elite> should be for players who wish to be over powered. I would love the idea of being a gaming goddess, I just can't afford it. Any MMO should have it's OP players, they are the ones that inspire new people to play when they see how far it can be taken. Just watch those videos of the DPS, I would love seeing those numbers coming from my attacks!
New Lunar Republic
"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!" -Lina Inverse
I always find it amazing that people have no problem with "DPS" (which everyone does, just to varying degrees) in the FEs, where they are forced to do it themselves, but it's automatically evil and bad design when they get on a team.
There's no time limits. There's no failure. They never have to face, never have to know what they're doing, how they might compare to others or what might actually be needed for any sort of group content.
The guy flying around slaughtering things in a mission...he's balls to the walls full of badassery. He's rocking and rolling...he's taking names and sending wreaths for the funerals. He's having a blast!
He hits up that queue, it gets pointed out to him that he's doing 1k DPS while everybody else is doing 15-20k or more...
Comments
100% Agreed.
The person you quoted is just blowing smoke.
I've been here since day one and STO has never been about trekkies and does little to enforce Roddenberry's vision.
IMO STO would be more inline with Star Trek if we were to view our Characters has the Terran Empire.
How much blood does each of our Characters have on their hands, how many times have we asked a clearly defeated enemy to surrender to avoid senseless loss of life?
STO is about has Star Trek has a Mass Murderer is wearing a Federation Jump Suit :rolleyes:
News flash for anyone that's still unsure what STO currently is:
STO is an MMO containing elements of Star Trek and it's tailored to entice "Gamers" who like Trek to play it.
If people do well at something in this game, whatever that is, it shouldn't necessarily be made the standard. Now the way difficulty was increased in space was outright lazy, ill-thought out and has led to build diversity taking a back seat. That is not a good thing. On ground they simply added more mobs with tougher capabilities.
What his has led to is the small number of perfectly capable players continuing to do fine and those who aren't as good having even more struggle added, not to mention the game is now more alt-unfriendly than it has ever been in the past. The game used to be friendly to everyone, now not so much. Cryptic need to fix this, we told them during testing this would happen, so they can't claim it is any surprise to them.
One last thing I'd like to add, is that at the end of the day you don't even attempt to help rectify the problems or anything. My mates and myself have always used some of the videos we made to prove bugs exist in the game, or even prove a change isn't going to work. You guys made videos showing off content on tribble yet never offered solutions to balance it for everyone, and frankly that's probably because you don't care to. So for going on tribble and failing to help fix the content, I can certainly blame you for that.
Edit: Oh look, my 666th post, something bad is going to happen...
I call BS Rodenberry would have loved this game, it was perfect for his vision on how to milk the fanbase
This game is becoming like it too: http://www.smashbros.com/us/howto/entry2.html
You have to remember some folks watched that special version of Trek that had nothing to do with any of the shows or movies.
I never blamed you for the state of the game as a top DPSer. It doesn't take much to figure out time gates = metrics = something to show the bosses how much we love playing.
And on topic, of couse the DPSers have a part of the blame. But I am not defending Cryptic either. They have the other half of the blame going for the easy route with HP increase.
Now, since DR was up on Tribble, a few ppl, myself too, warned and preached on forum about the horrible changes and that that majority of ppl, and the game too, will get real screwed. But allmost every time a DPSer came reasuring the devs that "For sure the players will adapt":rolleyes: And followed, of course, by 5-6 from their little gang braging that they did xx DPS with blue or even white gear in the new elite content, regardless that they werent mentioning doing that in a scimitar or other op ships using a DPS build...
And even after DR hit, that wasnt enuf... Posting mocking video(s) made the devs increase with +10% even more the difficulty on elite:eek:
And whole this thing "that videos are made to help" and "devs wanted to know how you are doing yet they never past that"... Thats just plain hypocrisy. What do you want? The devs to come to your little league and beg for your answers?? A dialog presumes 2 sides. There are the forums, subforums about mechanics and stuff... You can start the dialogue you know. Some devs work for more then 1 game, since Cryptic has 3 games so it may be difficult to keep track of all stuff. Do like the PvPers did, be specific and tell exactly what to nerf, what to balance, what skills are OP, or even what skills need a boost etc. Or even what new skills are bugged, since that 5% armor pen from delta rep I have seen it brought up only by virusdancer. Speak for the NPCs, for the borg or waadwuar you mindlessly beat up... That of course if you actually want to help the devs to bring a balanced difficulty back in the game. But I highliy doubt that, since I see even more mocking videos lately, wich leads me to think that you enjoy the status quo and want even more HP increase...
And even right now, I bet a few will jump with the "But you can do xx DPS in X ship with white gear", completly missing the point lol
And one last thing. I have a hunch that this topic is somewhat related with some egos reacting at someone who called the DPSers "dickstrokers":D
Perhaps I should have said Rodenberry's presentation of on Screen Star Trek instead of vision.
I can't fault the guy for making money off of something that he created.
IMO Zefram Cochrane's character was delivering Rodenberry's confessions about Star Trek
And, of course, you are clearly mistaken.
Every game with a player development via skill tree/equipment system/set synergies (does not have to be an MMO, though) will feature players that will want to try min/maxing to powerplay. That's just human nature (you know, the thing where humans constantly try to improve themselves etc.)
It is the developer's job to balance stuff so min/maxing doesn't lead to what we encounter today.
If Roddenberry were all about the money, he would not have created a future society that is pretty much Communism in its purest form.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
My character Tsin'xing
People wanted to see a future vision of communism? In the mid-60's full-blown cold-war USA?
Speaking of misconception ...
Pretty much what I think, unfortunately...whether or not they should have done it, the devs certainly seemed to have taken the DPSers' behavior as a signal to take the game in a direction that screwed over everybody but the very few. Take the pet nerf--who gets hurt there? The overinflated few, or the vast majority of the player base who cannot afford the resources in time and money to get out of a build when they get nerfed to death?
I'm afraid that my feelings on this have worsened recently now that we saw extreme DPS'ers go into PUGs, TRIBBLE over other players into AFK penalties who were trying to help but had no fair chance, and not even recognize that an incident like that means that until Cryptic fixes the AFK penalty, an apology isn't enough from extreme DPSers--they do not belong in public queues, period.
Ultimately yes, the buck stops with Cryptic--but until then the DPSers need to remember that with great power comes great responsibility, and they need to avoid bragging, TRIBBLE over other players in the queues, and forgetting the effect their behavior has on those that do not have their money and time resources. And letting the devs know why they have changed their behavior, once they actually do. Speak up and tell the devs you won't let them TRIBBLE over the vast majority of players anymore. I should think the devs would have to take notice if enough of their top players and likely top spenders pointed out to them how not being able to play or interact outside of a tiny circle of players is killing their play experience.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Here's the problem, right here, and the funny thing is that you appear to be blaming the players.
Bottom line: The issues with DPSers being the be-all, end-all of STO is not, in fact, the fault of the players.
The fault lies solely in the hands of Cryptic Studios, the horrible developers of STO.
Power Creep happens because shoddy developers aren't paying attention and don't understand why things happen in the games they develop.
Or worse, they know EXACTLY why things happen - and it's because they've introduced ultra-powerful items in the game through micro-transaction purchases. This is the case with STO.
Look at the Scimitar. Sorry, Scimitar players, but it's true. While YOU are not a huge part of the problem with STO and DPS, your ships are.
Cryptic took EXCESSIVELY overpowered ships, put them in the game for money, and they will never nerf them to a reasonable amount of DPS because they make money on them.
It's that simple.
I wish Cryptic and PWE would just admit it and move on. They don't care about DPS or power creep because it makes them money. They don't care about you or me and in fact only care about our wallets.
That's the way it goes. It's business. It doesn't make them any less a horrible developer (the state of the game and it's code tells THAT story easily). It doesn't make PWE any less a cancer on the MMO industry.
But it's business.
So to nutshell all that: It's not the fault of players. It's not the fault of lacking "skill." (especially when this game doesn't actually require any skill to play - save the ability to button-mash). It's not anyone's fault but Cryptic's, because the only thing that matters is money.
I would not go this far. I think they could be a great help if they would stand up and tell the devs that they do not appreciate mechanics that are running off their less affluent friends and that it in turn is restricting their behavior and play experience. I think a few may be doing so but we could stand to see much more.
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We've tried and got brushed off. They do not listen to us any more than they listen to anyone else in the game.
By that logic, Disney thinks life should be a fairy tale where everybody lives happily ever after instead of making money.
That's why they have some of the most aggressive lawyers on the planet and are scrutinized for their greed and buying out other IPs.
Because Disney believes that everybody should be a prince/princess and the world should be seen through rose-tinted glasses.
I can't wait to see the video of the celebration party - they complete it in 3 seconds while still asleep in bed.
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Oh and STO doesn't either. Actually... yeah. People wanted to see a future where people had finally defeated the ills that plagued them on a daily basis. They wanted to see a future that was better than the present. Roddenberry presented a future where there is no hunger or homelessness. Whatg's not to like? :P
My character Tsin'xing
Player 1 "OK, we need to kill things"
Player 2 "Well, how about you target everything, take all the damage that brings, and I'll try to heal you enough to make up for it"
Player 1 "I'd rather you help me kill things"
Player 2 "But I do other things instead"
Player 1 "We're here to kill things, though. I can heal myself if you just do your part helping kill things"
Player 2 "You're ruining the game"
If you really believe what you have written there, then you just have shown that you lack what all the other players who can't pull their weight in a team PVE lack: understanding of game mechanics.
Pulling these insane DPS numbers isn't about buying yourself a T5U C-Store ship and slapping epic Mk 14 gear on it. In fact, you can do pretty well without all that. These runs require a premade team with debuffing, coordination and communication between the players. So ship operating skills and knowledge about set boni and synergies have a lot to do with it.
Take e.g. Ryan who managed to pull 40k in the weakest ship (Galaxy) the game has to offer. Or another player who slapped 8 Mk 2 turrets on his freely-available Chel Grett and pulled over 10k pre-DR.
Just because you can't make it work like others can doesn't mean the game is pay2win ...
There wasn't really any indication of "communism" in TOS. TOS only had the different "races" work together and be equals. Russian working alongside an American? Now that was something people wanted to see, at least if they disliked the Cold War.
TNG seemed to have the Federation and at least Starfleet mostly not talking about or needing money. (They still obviously needed resources, however, as various episodes mentioned trade agreement and the like.)
Again, your definition of a real game involves one of the most mentally challenged systems in existence. The Tank, the Heals, and the DPS...because the NPCs are so stupid as to ignore the Heals keeping the Tank alive and the DPS killing them.
It's a system for the Tank to hold all sorts of fake aggro and take damage because the four other idiots aren't capable of taking damage. It's a system for the Heals to keep everybody else alive because the four other idiots aren't capable of doing that. It's a system for the DPS to kill everything because the four other idiots couldn't pop a zit.
If that's your definition of a real game...I've got some beachfront property on the moon that I can sell you for next to nothing...it's the real deal!
That MMO Trinity garbage is the worst system ever designed. Want a real game? Hit up a tabletop RPG which that MMO Trinity garbage was based on...where the heavily armored guy with the health pool tanked not by telling your mama jokes, but actually had to position himself between the party and the NPCs. Where the guy that might have been tossing heals wasn't just spamming them, because the other folks in the party weren't generally the idiots you see in your real game and they just weren't available to spam like that. Where the folks focusing on damage had to watch out for all sorts of things instead of having just to make sure they weren't standing in the fire.
STO's closer to a real game in that sense, than any of the mindless MMO Trinity games out there. No doubt Cryptic totally screwed up the content, but they've got the premise behind the characters right.
You may favor a game full of all the elitist douchebag Tanks and Healers that treat the DPS as dime a dozen garbage, but that doesn't make it a real game...well, a real stupid game perhaps.
If Cryptic were to reduce the number of mobs involved, so instead of killing 100 things you had to fight 5 to 10...then they'd start to have the content that would match up to the potential builds for characters. It wouldn't require this, that, and the rest - but there would be far more room for this, that, and the rest rather than it just being DPS.
There's all sorts of things Cryptic could do to address their content issues, but they won't...because this game is designed and developed for puppies playing on iPads - but as the forums are ripe with the complaints, some folks haven't quite gotten that good yet. Yes, STO is a mindless DPSfest for the most part...
...but that's a Hell of a lot better than the mindless MMO Trinity some of the games have gone with over the years. There's a reason that the MMO Trinity appeals to the masses...the masses aren't very good.
Because in the FE you get to do it on your terms. Play the vaper, line up that perfect shot, annihilate a target instantly, cloak, vanish, do it again. Play the tank, roll into a formation, see how many guys you can pull at once while no-selling the worst they can throw at you for as long as you want, kill them when you feel like it. Play the CCer. Play the drainer. Etc etc. It isn't efficient but its entertaining and its relaxing. Its playing.
But no no, only scrub noobs do that! DPS or GTFO! Farm or GTFO! Play the same map endlessly! And then DR comes along and outright institutionalizes it. The devs gave the most vocal players exactly what they spent the last 18 months pushing for in action if not words so as to monetize the hell out of it. Everyone who didn't want this **** is stuck with it, but no don't blame the people who were combination lobbyist and ad campaign for all this grind and power creep! My thoughts about D'angelo and Gecko would get me moderated, but they didn't make their decisions in a vacuum.
Easy> should be for people who just leveled and need to earn marks to upgrade their gear. Having it fail the whole mission if you loose the bonus must be a bug, I don't see them going that route purposely on new STFers. Especially since there is a cool down. What ever some people may think, Cryptic isn't a out to get you, the game is just full of bugs. So report them promptly when you find them!
Advanced> should be for people who earned a set of good gear. Not before please!
Elite> should be for players who wish to be over powered. I would love the idea of being a gaming goddess, I just can't afford it. Any MMO should have it's OP players, they are the ones that inspire new people to play when they see how far it can be taken. Just watch those videos of the DPS, I would love seeing those numbers coming from my attacks!
"Where monsters rampage, I'm there to take them down! Where treasure glitters, I'm there to claim it! Where an enemy rises to face me, victory will be mine!" -Lina Inverse
There's no time limits. There's no failure. They never have to face, never have to know what they're doing, how they might compare to others or what might actually be needed for any sort of group content.
The guy flying around slaughtering things in a mission...he's balls to the walls full of badassery. He's rocking and rolling...he's taking names and sending wreaths for the funerals. He's having a blast!
He hits up that queue, it gets pointed out to him that he's doing 1k DPS while everybody else is doing 15-20k or more...
...well, yeah - his outlook changes.