This isn't a genuine increase in difficulty though, all they're showing us is that they have genuinely no idea how the game works and why the content is so pitifully easy to complete, and that's because the Space portion caters only to DPS, so anyone with a build that does even reasonable damage will faceroll the content, which is sad as hell but true.
The livestream showed a serious disconnect yesterday when it was said we should buy the xp boosts from the c-store, and no one in their right mind would pay 200 zen for something that only does 1/160th of a single spec point, that's idiocy beyond measure.
The reward to effort ratio in this game will never be fixed until we see the AI made more intelligent and the missions actually made proper. Nerfing rewards on the older content and making the content harder is very bad especially for newer players. This is a shameless attempt to get everyone to play the new DR content which still hasn't been fixed.
I'm sorry, but this is a massive step in the wrong direction, and it shows there's no willingness to tackle the real issues that have been persistent, some of which since before DR, but now we still have levelling issues, alt-friendliness is non-existent, upgrading is a rip-off, and frankly the reasoning has been done to death and it never gets acknowledged.
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.
As you want obviously increase the waiting time for pug pve queues with those nerfs, you should think about adding some commercial spots. I have so much time staying around and waiting, they would really be a content improvement for this game.
So, rather than inprove the nearly un beatable missions, you're going to make the few missions that can be successfully pugged even more difficult. Way to go Cryptic. You're really slamming that nail into the coffin.
When this update gets introduced the last few PVEs which remained active will finally die out.
I guess when people asked you devs to finish what you started they had something else in mind but this announcement proves us all that Cryptic does not care about the players and has absolutely no idea how this game works.
I was going to make a longer post about this, but I decided it wasn't worth it. These nerfs just serve to punish players for playing the queues that actually pop with frequency. They do nothing to make the unplayed queues more attractive or playable. I would like to play more than the 5-6 queues that reliably pop and can be reliably completed with a PUG. I really, really want to believe you guys have a plan and are capable of restoring the fun and balance into ALL the queues. But this nerf is baffling, and is undermining any belief I had you are capable of turning this around. This nerf won't induce me to play the other queues, but it will induce me to spend money and time in other, non-PWE/Cryptic games.
You guys are going in the absolute wrong direction with this game. Further nerfing all of these ques is just going to drive players into the DR content, which you should know full well by now, NONE OF US WANT TO PLAY. Stop trying to restrict players by reducing rewards and making the game into a grind fest, all you are doing is pissing off your player base and hurting your income.
Having skimmed through 16 pages of post's I'll throw my sentiments behind the comments made previously that this is a hugely disappointing nerf to the game in general. It seems quite clear to me that the aim is to try and encourage people to run other content than just the same old queues which in my opinion is a good idea, however this really needs to be done by buffing the unpopular mission rewards not nerfing the popular ones into the ground.
Be nice to have seen other queues getting buffed, particularly The Breach which I've played once since DR and it took 45 minutes on advanced and the rewards were the standard advanced rewards which are just dreadful considering the length of the mission (optional timers 40 minutes to give a feel of the expected average time requirement) so that needs buffed by at least 300% to make it worthwhile at all.
So specific feedback (noting that I've not been on tribble as yet):-
Bug Hunt - Nice buff to the rewards, although I'm wondering how much this also has to do with the fix made in a previous tribble patch to the queen's health which is going to make it so much harder to kill and hence the rewards increased in line with that to reflect the increased time demand for the mission.
Atmosphere Assault - Also a nice buff as the rewards for this mission were so bad and the reduction in walker health was needed as the mission was too challenging to achieve in the allowed timers so a well needed adjustment in my opinion.
The Cure Applied - General comment above for the rewards applied, but always seemed odd it rewarded more on normal than other normal stf's. Those optional timers seem a little too short to me for pug conditions with variable dps output (as well as focusing too much on dps).
Crystalline Entity - Can't understand the point in nerfing the rewards other than to drive people from the queue. The timers are again look a little short for pugs, the changes to the CE's pulse are probably a good thing to be honest as its rather weak against a reasonably well equipped ship.
Fleet Actions (Fleet Alert, Colony Invasion) - This just seems a pointless nerf to the rewards, I'd also point out I haven't seen a Colony Invasion run KDF side since before DR launched and this is not going to help matters.
Explain your logic or tell me what you smoke, please. Since we know that you just transfer all the stuff from tribble to the main server we can expect this change to hit all players very soon i guess. In that case my statement:
It doesn't make sense to just kill the last pve queue where some players are left so you can start the queue. I am playing in european timezone and most queues look like deserted. Only crystalline was still there and now you kill that, too. Instead of pushing up the other queues with more rewards, you just nerf the last. I think you are resistant against learning and want to get the last players out of the game. I won't play a 25min queue when i finally get a few marks after successful completion, it is just a waste of time. So for the 5th anniv of star trek you just make more missions with less marks. Every other publisher would just increase the content on their anniv to get more players in and you just nerf and remove stuff to get them out it seems - Fascinating.
I wonder if this is preparation for that thing they have over in neverwinter. At least as far as i know you can pay with the dil equivalent there to rapidly move up the reputations or the like.
I would not be suprised.
If you are reading this you have stopped reading my post and are now reading my signature.
LOL the logic is "people having too hard a time will spend more money on ships, upgrades, etc." There is logic, it's just distasteful.
That logic never made sense to me. Why on earth would people think "This is too hard, I must open my wallet" instead of thinking "This is too hard, I'm going to go and do something else"?
That logic never made sense to me. Why on earth would people think "This is too hard, I must open my wallet" instead of thinking "This is too hard, I'm going to go and do something else"?
I'll be honest in that it's been a good while since I PUGed on Cure-Space Advanced. That group failed to keep the Kang above a certain health level. On another instance, our time ran out before we could complete it. Because of that, I question the timer changes, particularly, but would like clarification on the reduction of health and damage bit for the Kang. That timer will make it very hard to just grab a pickup group to run and complete it successfully, if not impossible.
With those timers, I feel the need to ask if anyone, especially among the devs, without using dev-magic, has been able to regularly succeed at meeting those times for completion. If so, please post videos and/or walkthroughs.
That 5-minute timer for the Crystalline Entity queue will likewise make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible to successfully complete, as I play it on advanced mode. As I mentioned before, it usually takes more than 5 minutes to take it out, because of dealing with Tholian ships coming in too. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that 10-minute timer, in my opinion.
Well good job devs, you just hit the last nail in the coffin. I'm done with your game! I can see now all your going to do is try to get people to grind the new content, instead of making all content worth playing. You guys just don't know what your doing, do you!
I think cryptic is using private matchs in their metrics
And if they are that's why their metrics are so messed up
Mr Grey can you tell us if you are using private matchs in your metrics ?
Jellico....Engineer ground.....Da'val Romulan space Sci
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Queues are empty ? Nerf it !
Players complain they don't earn enough XP ? Nerf it !
Powercreep everywhere ? Buff it !
Players want more story content ? Add patrols filler !
We should start to use reverse psychology. Obviously they listen to our feedback. They just do the opposite of what they are supposed to do.
This is the first company running an MMO I have come across that do not want players to play the content they have made. Nerfing content to force players in to content you want them to play is not the way to go. If your data tell you that not enough players play the new content, you have to make the content sweet enough so that players get an incentive to play it, not making the other content so bad, that players are forced to play what you want to get the desired rewards for time put in.
Not only do you nerf the payout of the content, but you make it harder also! So more work, for less reward. That is just plain backwards.
I came back to the game in November and the first thing I noticed was the lack of players playing STFs. Only a few was possible to get in to regularly. Have been wondering why this is, guess I now know the reason.
Since November I have bought zen for 950 euro. I can tell you this, I will not spend money on a game I do not enjoy. If enough players like me feel the same, you guys will be in real trouble.
Do I need to remind you what SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) did with SWG (Star Wars Galaxies)? You should know what happen to that game, after they introduced game play the player base didn't want. With the CU (Combat Upgrade) they lost many in there player base, then, before a year passed, they pushed the NGE (new game enchantments) and alienating almost there whole player base. Not long after they had to shut servers down, losing money and in 2011 the game died. It only lived 8 years, most of the years with a really small player base.
Continue on the road you are headed and the next SWG might be STO.
My question exactly. Someone at Cryptic is making the call to not only destroy the game for players, they are expediting their employees to the unemployment line.
Agreed. There is a pattern of very sinister decisions being made to drive players away of late, constant ways to ignore players unhappiness and actually build on the themes of such discord. Someone at the top really has an agenda to sink this game.
I'm curious too but frankly, I expect utter silence on this topic. It can't be explained or defended, it works and feeds precisely into what they know is causing a lot of unhappiness in STO but they'll ignore it, refuse to explain it and proceed.
The way they've left the queues such a state made it clear to me they will not address it, they will not fix and they don't care how much damage its doing.
Now come on y'all. You're gonna hurt the developer's feelings. Sometimes, they have a pain in their chest, like their heart has a bad tummy ache. They hug their money shaped pillows to their chest and cry. Sadness covers them like a blanket.
You see, they work so hard for us players, bringing us a fresh game! They always integrate the newest and latest ideas in MMO gaming, never relying on filler quests, and GUI gameplay to make up for a real meat and potatoes absentia.
I mean, really, this has all been some quality work. The idea that had they spent as much time creating new content, adding a revamped exploration system to the Delta Quadrant, and providing continued rewards for a game that has traditionally emphasized fun over grind, as they have spent nerfing rewards, designing click boxes, and redesigning the wheel at least three times then we'd have a better game is just poppycock and preposterous in the extreme.
Think of the developers who have feelings. Everytime you people stop spending 500 USD on lockboxes, they feel pain and loss. Everytime they see a forum signature that reminds them why you are not spending that money, they feel sadness, tummy troubles, and personally insulted that you did not drink from their delicious and content rich fountain. Seriously, look in these crystal waters that is DR and the subsequent surgical content modifications.
Can't you see how much better this game is for everything the developers are doing? How can we, the little people, the humble, benign community, beneficients to the grace of our beautiful and benevolent benefactors, dare question such artistic and game improving improvements?
Feel for the developers, for they have done so much for us. This game y'all. Wow. It's amazing guys. This game, wow. Just wow!
Spiffy! Fun! Unique!
So excited.
Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it. - Bubba
They should do a better job of explaining. It's coming back to that whole 'lack of communication' thing again - that thing I was told directly by Smirk they were looking to improve.
There has to be a reason to justify this, and that reason needs to be explained. This is why GD and this forum in general is in such a state. You don't give people the information they need and instead leave them to make their own conclusions.
It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, if it matches the mood - which in case you haven't noticed ain't entirely positive at the moment - they'll accept it, get angry and rowdy over it and spam up GD some more.
I think I get what you are trying to do, but setting all queued PvE events on the same level in terms of rewards and time spent playing so there are no clear 'paths of least resistence' will not get people playing them all equally. They will simply not play at all.
Perhaps you should try and explain. You never know, treat the community with some respect and you may get some back.
I'm not liking the tone of this patch, at all. Why on Earth would you nerf something no one plays, likely due to it being too difficult and/or unrewarding, yet buff something that players already consider "easy"?
I was starting to take an interest in wanting to do the queues more often on a higher difficulty before DR, you know, the old Elite. Then I started hearing the horror stories coming from the beta testers about the insane amount of grind needed to GET to 60, the ridiculous buffs to the NPC's not to mention how new Advanced =/= old Elite and I began to worry. But, I figured that it was beta testing after all and things would get smoothed out.
And then DR is launched and I take my first character through the Delta Quadrant missions. Good lord the beta folks weren't kidding. I then tried the one single queue mission that I'd gotten good enough at on old Elite, Crystalline Catastrophe, to find out how much different it would be on new Advanced. Needless to say, after 25 minutes I gave up and left, but ONLY after half my team had already bailed out and at least a couple from the other team had as well.
Sure, things have been adjusted and life is a lot easier now in the rest of the game, the Advanced CC isn't as hard as it was in the early days of DR. But it's still more difficult than the Elite version was pre-DR.
And now you are increasing the difficulty AND lowering the rewards? I just don't know what else to say.
It's very clear to me that there are two VERY distinct types of players in this game. The "power (DPS) craving, need to hit the level cap ASAP, get all my spec points NAO, craft/buy/upgrade to the top gear, good grief this Elite content is so easy" crowd and the group I fit into. Which would be the "casual, get stuff that's good enough to do normal PvE and maybe over time get good enough gear/skills to perhaps try Advanced someday" folks.
Well, with the way the game currently is set up, people like myself can only progress so far before running into a wall. I would like to get the Borg gear since most everyone says that's the best space gear to have. Yet I have no way of getting it outside of pure random luck with the rep boxes dropping the BNP's. Unless I try Advanced STF's for which I am woefully under geared. Not to mention under skilled due to never having ran them. So the only way to get the gear I want is to do content I'm completely unprepared for and have a very small chance of completing successfully. Currently I can't even run NORMAL STF's since 'nobody' runs them anymore.
Chicken and the egg.
Sure, there are other space sets out there that don't require any special Advanced or better inputs, but they aren't 'as good'. And there are ways to get Dyson and Undine sets with the Battlezones, but again, those sets aren't 'as good'. Something is better than nothing, but when you have your sights set on a specific thing...
I'm really starting to see NO incentive in bothering with end game content anymore. And if I'm not going to bother with end game content, why would I need to get Mk 14 gear, let alone Mk 12 rep gear? Give me a reason to WANT to continue playing. You know, incentives? But, since there are seemingly no incentives happening, only nerfs, why should people like me keep playing?
I'm an altaholic, I actually enjoyed starting new characters and leveling them to the old level cap (50). Since DR, while I have started new characters, they are just sitting on the sidelines while I take my older former lvl 50's through the drudgery of getting to lvl 60. It really isn't fun and since that first character went through the DR content, I've done 3 others and not a one of them has gone to the Delta Quadrant. Simply because there is not enough content to get from 50-60 there. At least without running Argala a few hundred times, which to me sounds boring.
I'll stay in the Alpha Quad and run DOff missions by the hundreds, perhaps a normal queue once in a blue moon when one actually starts, as well as content I didn't finish on the way to 50. And once THAT runs out, I'll do replays, earning even lower rewards. TRIBBLE your metrics.
Quite frankly, while the quality of the DR content is actually pretty top notch, the amount of XP needed to level post-50 breaks up the storyline far too much for me to enjoy. Which means I don't actually enjoy it. And since I don't enjoy it, I don't run it. It seems like there is a very simple solution to this problem, yet you keep going in the opposite direction and continue nerfing things more than you buff things.
Someone else earlier said "1 step forward, 2 steps back". Oh, if only it were simply 2 steps back.
Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day.
Set a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
word of the day is, Vaadwaur (Old Talax), just because some of us can bust planets per second in a t4, you guys can't run those numbers on that, it's creates division, not addition.
so rather than using a carrot and a stick , just use the stick. bad choice.
Rather than fix the obvious issues with the power creep and the elitist playing styles just play catch up to the broken mechanics by throwing more damage and weaken the defenses of the friendly NPCs brilliant . and decreasing timers so the rest of the player base needs to be like the 10% elitist DPSers in order to do Advanced missions?.
how about nerfing what they use to get to those gross numbers to have them complete a mission in minutes . or create a reward nerf based on how quick you complete a mission , like they did with the foundry rewards to stop console clickers . we know there is a time formula that they want you to spend at least X amount of time to get y amount of rewards . implement that over forcing all players to shoot for gross DPS .
how about focusing on other things in a mission give each class a specific thing to achieve rather than just DPS . there is no imagination or initiative with the STF design . we know its possible to do , look at mirror invasion or the elachi event . that the direction these STFs should take . end game needs to be more substance than just HP/DPS race .
I find this extremely bad news, I've played sto for just over two years and have been a more than a "casual" player in that time.
I hate to sound like most people and say Cryptic has "nerfed" things once again but they aren't making the game more enjoyable or even playable at this rate, I find myself at a point in time where I never thought I would be with sto.
I find myself seriously thinking about leaving sto and not coming back, which in all honesty is something I really don't want to do, however with the way things are going I see little choice...
Comments
The livestream showed a serious disconnect yesterday when it was said we should buy the xp boosts from the c-store, and no one in their right mind would pay 200 zen for something that only does 1/160th of a single spec point, that's idiocy beyond measure.
The reward to effort ratio in this game will never be fixed until we see the AI made more intelligent and the missions actually made proper. Nerfing rewards on the older content and making the content harder is very bad especially for newer players. This is a shameless attempt to get everyone to play the new DR content which still hasn't been fixed.
I'm sorry, but this is a massive step in the wrong direction, and it shows there's no willingness to tackle the real issues that have been persistent, some of which since before DR, but now we still have levelling issues, alt-friendliness is non-existent, upgrading is a rip-off, and frankly the reasoning has been done to death and it never gets acknowledged.
I guess when people asked you devs to finish what you started they had something else in mind but this announcement proves us all that Cryptic does not care about the players and has absolutely no idea how this game works.
RIP PVE
RIP STO
Be nice to have seen other queues getting buffed, particularly The Breach which I've played once since DR and it took 45 minutes on advanced and the rewards were the standard advanced rewards which are just dreadful considering the length of the mission (optional timers 40 minutes to give a feel of the expected average time requirement) so that needs buffed by at least 300% to make it worthwhile at all.
So specific feedback (noting that I've not been on tribble as yet):-
Bug Hunt - Nice buff to the rewards, although I'm wondering how much this also has to do with the fix made in a previous tribble patch to the queen's health which is going to make it so much harder to kill and hence the rewards increased in line with that to reflect the increased time demand for the mission.
Atmosphere Assault - Also a nice buff as the rewards for this mission were so bad and the reduction in walker health was needed as the mission was too challenging to achieve in the allowed timers so a well needed adjustment in my opinion.
The Cure Applied - General comment above for the rewards applied, but always seemed odd it rewarded more on normal than other normal stf's. Those optional timers seem a little too short to me for pug conditions with variable dps output (as well as focusing too much on dps).
Crystalline Entity - Can't understand the point in nerfing the rewards other than to drive people from the queue. The timers are again look a little short for pugs, the changes to the CE's pulse are probably a good thing to be honest as its rather weak against a reasonably well equipped ship.
Fleet Actions (Fleet Alert, Colony Invasion) - This just seems a pointless nerf to the rewards, I'd also point out I haven't seen a Colony Invasion run KDF side since before DR launched and this is not going to help matters.
It doesn't make sense to just kill the last pve queue where some players are left so you can start the queue. I am playing in european timezone and most queues look like deserted. Only crystalline was still there and now you kill that, too. Instead of pushing up the other queues with more rewards, you just nerf the last. I think you are resistant against learning and want to get the last players out of the game. I won't play a 25min queue when i finally get a few marks after successful completion, it is just a waste of time. So for the 5th anniv of star trek you just make more missions with less marks. Every other publisher would just increase the content on their anniv to get more players in and you just nerf and remove stuff to get them out it seems - Fascinating.
I would not be suprised.
That logic never made sense to me. Why on earth would people think "This is too hard, I must open my wallet" instead of thinking "This is too hard, I'm going to go and do something else"?
Free Tibet!
Delta Rising:
LOL PVP
LOL KDF
LOL Romulans
Here is your massive amount of Federation PVE stuff!
then:
LOL Japori
LOL queued rewards
LOL queued rewards again
LOL Voth battlezone
So what's left, since now Federation PVE is getting the shaft too?
Oh, I'm not saying their logic is sound.
With those timers, I feel the need to ask if anyone, especially among the devs, without using dev-magic, has been able to regularly succeed at meeting those times for completion. If so, please post videos and/or walkthroughs.
That 5-minute timer for the Crystalline Entity queue will likewise make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible to successfully complete, as I play it on advanced mode. As I mentioned before, it usually takes more than 5 minutes to take it out, because of dealing with Tholian ships coming in too. There was absolutely nothing wrong with that 10-minute timer, in my opinion.
And if they are that's why their metrics are so messed up
Mr Grey can you tell us if you are using private matchs in your metrics ?
Saphire.. Science ground......Ko'el Romulan space Tac
Leva........Tactical ground.....Koj Romulan space Eng
JJ-Verse will never be Canon or considered Lore...It will always be JJ-Verse
Players complain they don't earn enough XP ? Nerf it !
Powercreep everywhere ? Buff it !
Players want more story content ? Add patrols filler !
We should start to use reverse psychology. Obviously they listen to our feedback. They just do the opposite of what they are supposed to do.
Not only do you nerf the payout of the content, but you make it harder also! So more work, for less reward. That is just plain backwards.
I came back to the game in November and the first thing I noticed was the lack of players playing STFs. Only a few was possible to get in to regularly. Have been wondering why this is, guess I now know the reason.
Since November I have bought zen for 950 euro. I can tell you this, I will not spend money on a game I do not enjoy. If enough players like me feel the same, you guys will be in real trouble.
Do I need to remind you what SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) did with SWG (Star Wars Galaxies)? You should know what happen to that game, after they introduced game play the player base didn't want. With the CU (Combat Upgrade) they lost many in there player base, then, before a year passed, they pushed the NGE (new game enchantments) and alienating almost there whole player base. Not long after they had to shut servers down, losing money and in 2011 the game died. It only lived 8 years, most of the years with a really small player base.
Continue on the road you are headed and the next SWG might be STO.
Agreed. There is a pattern of very sinister decisions being made to drive players away of late, constant ways to ignore players unhappiness and actually build on the themes of such discord. Someone at the top really has an agenda to sink this game.
I'm curious too but frankly, I expect utter silence on this topic. It can't be explained or defended, it works and feeds precisely into what they know is causing a lot of unhappiness in STO but they'll ignore it, refuse to explain it and proceed.
The way they've left the queues such a state made it clear to me they will not address it, they will not fix and they don't care how much damage its doing.
You see, they work so hard for us players, bringing us a fresh game! They always integrate the newest and latest ideas in MMO gaming, never relying on filler quests, and GUI gameplay to make up for a real meat and potatoes absentia.
I mean, really, this has all been some quality work. The idea that had they spent as much time creating new content, adding a revamped exploration system to the Delta Quadrant, and providing continued rewards for a game that has traditionally emphasized fun over grind, as they have spent nerfing rewards, designing click boxes, and redesigning the wheel at least three times then we'd have a better game is just poppycock and preposterous in the extreme.
Think of the developers who have feelings. Everytime you people stop spending 500 USD on lockboxes, they feel pain and loss. Everytime they see a forum signature that reminds them why you are not spending that money, they feel sadness, tummy troubles, and personally insulted that you did not drink from their delicious and content rich fountain. Seriously, look in these crystal waters that is DR and the subsequent surgical content modifications.
Can't you see how much better this game is for everything the developers are doing? How can we, the little people, the humble, benign community, beneficients to the grace of our beautiful and benevolent benefactors, dare question such artistic and game improving improvements?
Feel for the developers, for they have done so much for us. This game y'all. Wow. It's amazing guys. This game, wow. Just wow!
Spiffy! Fun! Unique!
So excited.
There has to be a reason to justify this, and that reason needs to be explained. This is why GD and this forum in general is in such a state. You don't give people the information they need and instead leave them to make their own conclusions.
It doesn't matter if it's right or wrong, if it matches the mood - which in case you haven't noticed ain't entirely positive at the moment - they'll accept it, get angry and rowdy over it and spam up GD some more.
I think I get what you are trying to do, but setting all queued PvE events on the same level in terms of rewards and time spent playing so there are no clear 'paths of least resistence' will not get people playing them all equally. They will simply not play at all.
Perhaps you should try and explain. You never know, treat the community with some respect and you may get some back.
I was starting to take an interest in wanting to do the queues more often on a higher difficulty before DR, you know, the old Elite. Then I started hearing the horror stories coming from the beta testers about the insane amount of grind needed to GET to 60, the ridiculous buffs to the NPC's not to mention how new Advanced =/= old Elite and I began to worry. But, I figured that it was beta testing after all and things would get smoothed out.
And then DR is launched and I take my first character through the Delta Quadrant missions. Good lord the beta folks weren't kidding. I then tried the one single queue mission that I'd gotten good enough at on old Elite, Crystalline Catastrophe, to find out how much different it would be on new Advanced. Needless to say, after 25 minutes I gave up and left, but ONLY after half my team had already bailed out and at least a couple from the other team had as well.
Sure, things have been adjusted and life is a lot easier now in the rest of the game, the Advanced CC isn't as hard as it was in the early days of DR. But it's still more difficult than the Elite version was pre-DR.
And now you are increasing the difficulty AND lowering the rewards? I just don't know what else to say.
It's very clear to me that there are two VERY distinct types of players in this game. The "power (DPS) craving, need to hit the level cap ASAP, get all my spec points NAO, craft/buy/upgrade to the top gear, good grief this Elite content is so easy" crowd and the group I fit into. Which would be the "casual, get stuff that's good enough to do normal PvE and maybe over time get good enough gear/skills to perhaps try Advanced someday" folks.
Well, with the way the game currently is set up, people like myself can only progress so far before running into a wall. I would like to get the Borg gear since most everyone says that's the best space gear to have. Yet I have no way of getting it outside of pure random luck with the rep boxes dropping the BNP's. Unless I try Advanced STF's for which I am woefully under geared. Not to mention under skilled due to never having ran them. So the only way to get the gear I want is to do content I'm completely unprepared for and have a very small chance of completing successfully. Currently I can't even run NORMAL STF's since 'nobody' runs them anymore.
Chicken and the egg.
Sure, there are other space sets out there that don't require any special Advanced or better inputs, but they aren't 'as good'. And there are ways to get Dyson and Undine sets with the Battlezones, but again, those sets aren't 'as good'. Something is better than nothing, but when you have your sights set on a specific thing...
I'm really starting to see NO incentive in bothering with end game content anymore. And if I'm not going to bother with end game content, why would I need to get Mk 14 gear, let alone Mk 12 rep gear? Give me a reason to WANT to continue playing. You know, incentives? But, since there are seemingly no incentives happening, only nerfs, why should people like me keep playing?
I'm an altaholic, I actually enjoyed starting new characters and leveling them to the old level cap (50). Since DR, while I have started new characters, they are just sitting on the sidelines while I take my older former lvl 50's through the drudgery of getting to lvl 60. It really isn't fun and since that first character went through the DR content, I've done 3 others and not a one of them has gone to the Delta Quadrant. Simply because there is not enough content to get from 50-60 there. At least without running Argala a few hundred times, which to me sounds boring.
I'll stay in the Alpha Quad and run DOff missions by the hundreds, perhaps a normal queue once in a blue moon when one actually starts, as well as content I didn't finish on the way to 50. And once THAT runs out, I'll do replays, earning even lower rewards. TRIBBLE your metrics.
Quite frankly, while the quality of the DR content is actually pretty top notch, the amount of XP needed to level post-50 breaks up the storyline far too much for me to enjoy. Which means I don't actually enjoy it. And since I don't enjoy it, I don't run it. It seems like there is a very simple solution to this problem, yet you keep going in the opposite direction and continue nerfing things more than you buff things.
Someone else earlier said "1 step forward, 2 steps back". Oh, if only it were simply 2 steps back.
Set a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
the timing nerfs are not that good of an idea :S
Rather than fix the obvious issues with the power creep and the elitist playing styles just play catch up to the broken mechanics by throwing more damage and weaken the defenses of the friendly NPCs brilliant . and decreasing timers so the rest of the player base needs to be like the 10% elitist DPSers in order to do Advanced missions?.
how about nerfing what they use to get to those gross numbers to have them complete a mission in minutes . or create a reward nerf based on how quick you complete a mission , like they did with the foundry rewards to stop console clickers . we know there is a time formula that they want you to spend at least X amount of time to get y amount of rewards . implement that over forcing all players to shoot for gross DPS .
how about focusing on other things in a mission give each class a specific thing to achieve rather than just DPS . there is no imagination or initiative with the STF design . we know its possible to do , look at mirror invasion or the elachi event . that the direction these STFs should take . end game needs to be more substance than just HP/DPS race .
I hate to sound like most people and say Cryptic has "nerfed" things once again but they aren't making the game more enjoyable or even playable at this rate, I find myself at a point in time where I never thought I would be with sto.
I find myself seriously thinking about leaving sto and not coming back, which in all honesty is something I really don't want to do, however with the way things are going I see little choice...