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Dust to Dust

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  • bitemepwebitemepwe Member Posts: 6,760 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    As always I found the mission well designed and fun to play with the expected slights to faction choices.

    After 32 years, why is it a good idea to have the angry looking Klingon, or Rommie speak first to calm him down?
    Its the only blatant factional slight I saw, and was actually funny. (funnier if you had Him scream and cut the channel off the first time)

    As always I enjoy the story, just wish we had a bigger part in it.

    Qapla!
    Ghargh
    Leonard Nimoy, Spock.....:(

    R.I.P
  • rodentmasterrodentmaster Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I took some issue with the "maze"...

    If he wanted to slow you down, he'd have put an environmental barrier, plasma or lava or whatever. Or he'd have extended those walls to the ceiling with no paths in between.

    On top of that... okay. He made a maze. Not sure where he got the time to do that. or why he even MADE a maze, because it implies you can get through (when he doesn't want you to). Further, there are several points you could EASILY get on top of the wall and just walk across the top of it. You know... like a SMART person would? Hell there are even stairs that take you right up to the top, but you can't get onto the walls because of magic invisible walls (which still receive shadows, like they're solid walls).

    I really thought that had no place in the mission. The ONLY reason it was there was so you could waste time. It literally was busy work so you would LISTEN to the voice acting they paid for.

    I thought, by means of example, that the stasis pods being turned into barriers was a FAR more logical, well written, and well laid out time delay. Much more in character. Much more plausible in terms of a hinderance you'd find in your path.

    I think they came up with some good stuff, but the maze IMO was not fitting. It didn't belong at all. It's one of the few areas I'd change, but overall I still rate it a good mission.
  • rmy1081rmy1081 Member Posts: 2,840 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I took some issue with the "maze"...

    If he wanted to slow you down, he'd have put an environmental barrier, plasma or lava or whatever. Or he'd have extended those walls to the ceiling with no paths in between.

    On top of that... okay. He made a maze. Not sure where he got the time to do that. or why he even MADE a maze, because it implies you can get through (when he doesn't want you to). Further, there are several points you could EASILY get on top of the wall and just walk across the top of it. You know... like a SMART person would? Hell there are even stairs that take you right up to the top, but you can't get onto the walls because of magic invisible walls (which still receive shadows, like they're solid walls).

    I really thought that had no place in the mission. The ONLY reason it was there was so you could waste time. It literally was busy work so you would LISTEN to the voice acting they paid for.

    I thought, by means of example, that the stasis pods being turned into barriers was a FAR more logical, well written, and well laid out time delay. Much more in character. Much more plausible in terms of a hinderance you'd find in your path.

    I think they came up with some good stuff, but the maze IMO was not fitting. It didn't belong at all. It's one of the few areas I'd change, but overall I still rate it a good mission.

    yes because being stuck would be awesome gameplay

    I found it fun for a change.

    I really liked that you could choose easy, normal, or hard for a few of the areas too. I think that would be a great addition to new FEs
  • rodentmasterrodentmaster Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    rmy1081 wrote: »
    yes because being stuck would be awesome gameplay

    You're missing the point.

    Yes, being stuck makes for terrible gameplay. So, you don't make the player get stuck. However, a freaking maze of walls that magically appear out of the wall, that you could easily stand on and walk across with no effort, with multiple ways to climb up or jump up to the top (or walk up the stairs in several places), but you magically can't get on top of the walls because the devs WANT you to be stuck in the map?

    Let's just say it shouldn't have been in there at all. From a gameplay standpoint it was unmotivated, out of place, out of character, and a poor idea on so many levels. So, from a gameplay standpoint just take it out entirely.

    Remove it, is my point. If you look inward and take a hard, cold, look at your level design and find that section X is intended solely to make the player WAIT while you have dialog? Just make a skippable cutscene. There are better ways to increase player experience than making them waste time so you can justify voice actors' paychecks.

    EDIT: P.S. I also liked the custom difficulty choice. I like when you get accolades like that. It increases replayability in the long run, and I often like accolade hunting.
  • thay8472thay8472 Member Posts: 6,100 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    eighrichte wrote: »
    This is my first anniversary. Will this mission (and the space set rewards) be available in the future, or does it go away when the anniversary ends?

    It'll be thrown into the mission arcs once the event ends... most likely at the end of the Delta storyline.
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    Typhoon Class please!
  • ightenighten Member Posts: 181 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    Quite good.. Nice close to the Kim Arc too.. Not over keen on the puzzle sliding ramp aspect.. Bit daft and more infuriating than enjoyable..

    As for the BOFF.. Banked it never to be used or seen again - waste of a slot. Can we plese leave the Kobali and let them rest in peace (though they cant even do that - they would dig up each other)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • decroniadecronia Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    deleted as I misread the post. I apologise.
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    You're missing the point.

    Yes, being stuck makes for terrible gameplay. So, you don't make the player get stuck. However, a freaking maze of walls that magically appear out of the wall, that you could easily stand on and walk across with no effort, with multiple ways to climb up or jump up to the top (or walk up the stairs in several places), but you magically can't get on top of the walls because the devs WANT you to be stuck in the map?

    Let's just say it shouldn't have been in there at all. From a gameplay standpoint it was unmotivated, out of place, out of character, and a poor idea on so many levels. So, from a gameplay standpoint just take it out entirely.

    Remove it, is my point. If you look inward and take a hard, cold, look at your level design and find that section X is intended solely to make the player WAIT while you have dialog? Just make a skippable cutscene. There are better ways to increase player experience than making them waste time so you can justify voice actors' paychecks.

    EDIT: P.S. I also liked the custom difficulty choice. I like when you get accolades like that. It increases replayability in the long run, and I often like accolade hunting.
    It is also a puzzle that you have to overcome. Puzzles exist to be solved, just like hostile NPCs exist to be shot at, and it's simply a "game part". Otherwise you could argue that everything we have to do in a game just exists to slow us down, and we should just be able to read through the text (or click through it rapidly fast) to get the end reward.

    Combing a puzzle with mission dialogue in the background is actually pretty neat.


    I have no problem with the maze as such, I agree however that it feels dumb that I am stuck in it if the walls don't actually go up to the ceiling, and their top looks completely harmless. They could add some force field / electricity discharges on top of them, and it would be more believable. (It could also serve to explain why I can't just put out the tricorder, make a recording from one of the heightened position, and use the result as a map where the tricorder can track your movements and describe your position in the maze.)
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • rodentmasterrodentmaster Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    Yes, I realize it's a puzzle mechanic, and overall I still rate it as a good mission. I just think it was the wrong puzzle for the mission.

    It would be like finding a "chase the Mini-Q" mission in an Uncharted game.
  • peanutwilliampeanutwilliam Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I found the BOFF, but where do I add her to my crew? I am not seeing her in my inventory either...
  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,354 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I found the BOFF, but where do I add her to my crew? I am not seeing her in my inventory either...
    When you talked to her, did you offer to let her join your crew? And if you did, when the next dialog box popped, did you select either "Join" (assuming you had an open slot, as I did) or "Not now"? Because otherwise you might have accidentally dismissed her instead, and have to run the maze again. (Thankfully, I don't think you have to complete the whole FE - damned sliding panels! :) - just through the maze until you find her again.)

    Assuming you offered, and then clicked "Not Now", she should be visible under "Stations" on your status section, just like any other pending officer. She's got some pretty good traits, too, being a purple Engineer with Command specialization.
    Lorna-Wing-sig.png
  • ightenighten Member Posts: 181 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I found the BOFF, but where do I add her to my crew? I am not seeing her in my inventory either...

    I
    She/He It or whatever should just appear in your list of unassigned .. Theres still the issue though that you need a T6 ship though as its a ccommand Boff (can we use these in any T5U yet)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • grylakgrylak Member Posts: 1,594 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    Ressurected Kim didn't make the maze. He just raised the servers in that room to completely block you. Notice when you first enter, there is no entrance? Captain Kim and kobali friend run off to the side and use some hacking tricks to lower some of the servers, thus creating the maze. But they have to stay where they are and keep trying to block ressurected Kim from reraising the lowered ones. That's why they don't follow you in.


    Personally, I loved the maze. But I've always been a fan of such things.
    *******************************************

    A Romulan Strike Team, Missing Farmers and an ancient base on a Klingon Border world. But what connects them? Find out in my First Foundary mission: 'The Jeroan Farmer Escapade'
  • gerwalk0769gerwalk0769 Member Posts: 1,095 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I liked the structure (fight, puzzle, etc) of the mission; I found the story a bit forced, rushed, and elements of the plot inconsistent. I did not like the story, and would be happy if I no longer had to deal with the Kobali or their topsy-turvy ethics and morality.
    Joined STO in September 2010.
  • rodentmasterrodentmaster Member Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    jonsills wrote: »
    Assuming you offered, and then clicked "Not Now", she should be visible under "Stations" on your status section, just like any other pending officer. She's got some pretty good traits, too, being a purple Engineer with Command specialization.

    your reserve roster no longer shows up. On the stations tab at the bottom left corner is a button that you click to show what's on your reserve list. It pops up a window. Just FYI. Gotta click that button to see them.
  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,354 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    your reserve roster no longer shows up. On the stations tab at the bottom left corner is a button that you click to show what's on your reserve list. It pops up a window. Just FYI. Gotta click that button to see them.
    Okay, hadn't explored that part yet - I had an open slot, so I popped her in there.

    I think I like the way they reworked the traits, though. My science officer had retrained Tractor Beam into - frak, that one that drains an enemy's shields, because I find that more useful for my playstyle. It was reset to default, of course, but changing it back was simplicity itself. And I could see what my other options were, assuming I had the appropriate Manuals.
    Lorna-Wing-sig.png
  • peanutwilliampeanutwilliam Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    It seems to have been bugged. It worked the second time through. lol
  • betayuyabetayuya Member Posts: 1,059 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    great mission and map, and answered a lot of Harry Kim questions, was worth every second. will be fun getting the space set.
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  • shar487ashar487a Member Posts: 1,292 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    OK, for those who cannot navigate the maze portion of the mission and want it removed:

    How are you supposed to fly a star ship if you can't even navigate a simple maze?


    All I did was go to a raised vantage point, locate the staircases within the maze, memorized the nearby wall configurations, then get to each of them one at a time. Each time I reached one, I would go to the top of the stairs and look at the nearby walls and the next nearest stair case. Just remember that your objective is the north end of the maze, so if you keep heading that general direction, you will eventually find your way out in the north west corner.

    SPOILER: Don't forget to search for the Kobali BOFF near the north center edge of the maze.
  • thay8472thay8472 Member Posts: 6,100 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    At the start of the mission it has "34 years ago..."

    2410 - 34 = 2376

    Wasn't Voyagers second year "Deadlock" in 2372/3 ?
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    Typhoon Class please!
  • j0hn41j0hn41 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I really liked this mission. A good tie in to one of my favorite episodes and having more depth than many of the other recent additions.

    I didn't mind most of the puzzles; the lighting bolts &electric floor were manageable, provided you didn't double tap forward... I found the maze kind of fun to be honest. I was pretty impressed by the size of it, and it really wasn't that hard since they let you mark dead ends.

    The retractable floor section was pretty frustrating for me. I was able to run across most of the bridges, activating the next ones - until the floor would unexpectedly disappear out from under me. I honestly thought it was a bug with the mission: "these platforms aren't lasting the 8 seconds Harry said they would!"

    Yeah, I ran that mission 3 times, fell to my death an innumerable number of times, before finally noticing the sparkly panels on the platforms... I don't know about you but I never looked down in either of the first two times I ran the mission - too busy shooting the bridge controls. It would have been nice for Harry, or the computer or someone to mention to watch out for the glowing sections on the floor. Maybe it was in the instructions somewhere, but I didn't see it. Some of those panels don't seem to have any non sparkly sections!

    Overall I enjoyed myself and certainly wouldn't mind doing it again, (provided I can get through it without dying too many times - kind of breaks immersion in a story mission).
    bitemepwe wrote: »
    As always I found the mission well designed and fun to play with the expected slights to faction choices.

    After 32 years, why is it a good idea to have the angry looking Klingon, or Rommie speak first to calm him down?
    Its the only blatant factional slight I saw, and was actually funny. (funnier if you had Him scream and cut the channel off the first time)

    I thought it was pretty funny that he responds most favorably to a member of the kdf than a starfleet officer.
  • svindal777svindal777 Member Posts: 856 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I liked this mission. Nice to have a non 'annihilate everything in sight then scan some stuff' mission.

    Harry Kim did get a bit annoying, both of them.
    Well excuse me for having enormous flaws that I don't work on.
  • azniadeetazniadeet Member Posts: 1,871 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    Liked the mission a lot. Definitely my favorite part of the anniversary update.
  • bloodyrizbloodyriz Member Posts: 1,756 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I am glad we finally got the zipline ride they mentioned in the teasers for DR.
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    We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
  • tigercatgirltigercatgirl Member Posts: 108 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I have tried this stupid mission now with 3 toons. I can do everything till the final floor panels. Those last 10 in a row make it impossible for me to get through. All of my friends that made it through did so purely by sheer luck.

    This really seems like a payback episode to players because of complaints maybe. I wonder if the devs can even do it?

    This game is becoming less and less fun for me. The events are becoming less and less fun. Games are suppose to be fun.
  • rmy1081rmy1081 Member Posts: 2,840 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    bloodyriz wrote: »
    I am glad we finally got the zipline ride they mentioned in the teasers for DR.

    Finally? we had ziplines day one of DR

    http://sto.gamepedia.com/Mission:_The_Dragon%27s_Deceit
  • joshmaaaaaaansjoshmaaaaaaans Member Posts: 32 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I liked it.

    Not as enthralling as What lies beneath, but it was good.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • starswordcstarswordc Member Posts: 10,963 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    I can get behind the mission overall. The map, the layout, what you have to do to win, etc... They're all very sound and even though I'd change some serious issues with the walkway section, I think it was good.

    What I 100% totally detest is cramming the Kobali philosophy down our throats, and then ramming it down further with a fist. And then stomping it down further with a booted foot.

    It's corruption. It's BS to say "it's his choice" when they're actively killing him by erasing his entire existence. It's also dishonest to say that 1) they could ever revive him to begin with 2) that he would revive perfectly as if he were asleep, and 3) that he MUST become kobali in the process. I mean, honestly? He woke up human and was 100% intact. There's no reason to turn him into a zombie brain slave after that point.


    The entire kobali species as written in this game is a farce. They're badly motivated, poorly written, and come off as wishy washy villains pretending to be good guys.

    The mission itself was well done. I really REALLY hated the dialog and the "character" work they put into it. Turning Harry Kim into Kobali shouldn't be something anybody would take lying down. That's a war-starting offense. I found it on-the-nose when he asked "Am I just supposed to let go of who I am?" and then immediately turns around and does so.

    It's not Harry Kim if he's been violently brainwashed and his memories, his personality, his very past and present are being erased in a mentally agonizing way in real time. That's just sadistically evil.


    I want nothing to do with this badly written Kobali plot. My KDF wanted to nuke them from orbit. My FED hasn't even done it yet, but I'm sure there's a more effective way to remove their blight from the galaxy. One that would leave no traces.

    This in a nutshell is what I've been arguing in a thread up in Galactic News Network. The Vaadwaur, Gaul excepted, are only the antagonists of the storyline. The Kobali are the real villains.
    "Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
    — Sabaton, "Great War"
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  • gpgtxgpgtx Member Posts: 1,579 Arc User
    edited January 2015
    well they where written as wishy washy villains pretending to be good guys in voyager so at least sto is being consistent


    i hated the maze only because of lag and rubber banding want to play it again after it stabilizes a bit.
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