I think it was a few days into the Anniversary Event actually really questioned WTF I was doing, cause I don't even want a Kobali Ship... so logged out, and started playing Final Fantasy XIV again.
Then Darkest Dungeon was released which is just awesome, a big update to Elite Dangerous.
See Star Trek Online has always had this issue (same to a degree with SWTOR) that because the majority of the stuff you do is Story Driven that well outside of a few exceptional missions I want to re-run from time to time the majority is just 'alright' and I never touch it again.
When I look at the Adventure Zones or STFs, well these are primarily for getting Reputation to unlock Rep Gear; so honestly for nearly a year after they were added I actually ignored them because they just weren't fun.
So when the Dyson Sphere area dropped and it looked more interesting, I decided to Blitz all of them.
It took a couple of weeks, all Reps Level 5 ... and once again didn't see any point in doing them again.
Sure could go for another week or so just to get the Gear Sets, but ultimately they're only useful for the FotM STF or Adventure Zone rather than the "Main" Story; so just felt like a waste of time.
And this is something I never got, even with World of ******** and their Raids. Like you do the Raids, to get the Epic Drops that in-turn you want for the Raids. It always seemed completely TRIBBLE-backwards design to me, compare that to Final Fantasy XIV where getting your Epic Gear can be acquired in a number of ways depending on your play-style but not through means that really require you to have it ... it just ends up seeming more sensible.
Don't get me wrong I still stop playing FFXIV for a month or two between updates if I've maxed everything, but that's how the game is ultimately designed to be played, that's why Update (Point Expansions) happen on a 1-2 Month bases; as it takes about that to cap everything and there is are still tonnes of things to do, that fun regardless if your Friends are online or not. SWTOR is another game that, I don't play constantly but in bursts; but as there are Multiple Storylines, while the side missions might be played a few times so you know what they're about the main story is new for each character. I've been happily slowly going through all of the since release completely skipping all of the Flashpoints as well they need a group and I tend to play that more Solo because it's heavily story driven.
What has frustrated me with STO since launch has been, the Story just isn't strong enough or hell even makes reasonable sense to get heavily invested that it is worth more than a single play through. The writing generally isn't strong enough, Voice Acting has been hit'n'miss, there is a disconnect between what is happening and the dialog ... heck most of the time the game stops to provide dialog, then starts again. It all just feels disjointed, and is a lesser experience.
It's serviceable and good enough to warrant seeing what is new, but at this point it is just silly as if it's being written by a 12 year old on Fanfic.
Then there's the gameplay, which is so full of interesting ideas, some unique features but it basically is just bog-standard RPG Mechnics trying to Masquerade as Real-Time Clutch Mechanics. Again there is this disjointed feel between multiple conflicting ideas, it isn't bad. It just isn't Solid or Good, especially given it's designed around the idea of 3 Main Classes (DPS, TANK, SUPPORT) but realistically just keeps them in name alone rather that either capitalising on that taking the MMORPG route of making them a requirement for Group Play (that isn't required until End Game) or just getting rid of them entirely. Yet Cryptic can't seem to make a decision here so what is an interesting concept, basically is reduced to something less involved than Vanilla WoW .. as it is basically get a good setup, hammer spacebar, faceroll abilities when they're off cooldown, win.
Sure positioning can play a role, but eventually at the top-tier so much power creep has come in that literally my ship is capable of perma-tanking almost everything without needing to worry about that. It cheapens an already very shallow pool experience.
So then what is there if you don't want to do the Group stuff like STF at End-Game?
Re-doing Patrol Missions or SP Content you've already done, it might have new enemies randomly from that area that can change it up a bit; but that is literally it. As I said these things are decent for a single play, but when you have to do them over and over, well it gets exceptionally boring exceptionally quickly; especially when the game doesn't even open up ALL Missions to provide a Level-based Reward but no instead if you do anything <10 Level below you, then it has absolutely no rewards period (let alone anything remotely useful) ... meaning you're doing it purely for the story that sure I'd do if the Stories and Mission Designs were far stronger than they were.
..
What keeps me coming back?
It's literally the ONLY Star Trek Game, that isn't JJ Abrams based and runs on Modern PCs without any real issues.
I gave up long ago expecting any sense of a 'Real' Star Trek Experience that felt like being in that Galaxy, as this just isn't it and I doubt it ever will be. It's a disjointed mess of half-finished features, because I'm almost certain Cryptic has ADD and is unable to sit down and focus on anything for more than a few minutes.
Ultimately it makes it a shame, because within this shallow husk of a game there is massive potential to be outstanding if the effort was put in to capitalise on it's strengths instead of constantly trying to fit in by copying all the cool kid MMOs.
Hope. Really, not trolling. Hope that this game may return to the fun and entertaiment area where it was a few years ago when I started to play.
Hope that the Star Trek elements (exploration or canon builds to be actually valid) to be brought back into the game. Now you might aswell call it DPS Numbers Online, cuz it sure has very little thing to do with Star Trek
And even if I log-in, I hardly play. Just doff here and there, maybe do a ground mission (since the space combat its dead for me) and thats it.
The game its in a horrible condition after DR, its really awful, and it seems its driven even more into that direction. Probably its intended. I remember a dev, back in december or so, in a pod cast, was telling players "dont worry, hang in there, we hear you and changes are coming in the next months". That gave a bit of hope. But boy, what a fool I was:(.
After 2 months even more nerfs and harder difficulty adjustements were done
And even right now things are going in the same direction. On trible, the delta patrols, wich remained the last space combat players could do, (becouse there werent harsh timers and fail conditions nor awful cooldowns for fails) are been nerfed. Via a stealth patch, of course...
Seriously, its like they want to drive the players not to play anymore
I only log in for new feature episodes or if they are giving away free stuff. I gave up the "grind" a while ago, I don't need any of the fancy traits and gear to do what I do when I log in..... Which could be a good hour messing with the tailor if I have some new uniform options.
Because it is Star Trek themed, need I say any more?
While I will never put another penny into STO, nor any other game associated with Cryptic or PWE, I will suck what ever enjoyment I can until the lights are turned off...
I am the Leader of Ferasan Shadow Force. That, and that alone, is what keeps me online. And even then, all I do is monitor the chat. My office desk is shaped like an L, so I can have STO running beside me while I do actual work.
I hit 60 yesterday, and i really want to have more things to do
I started my Romulan in early January, so almost 2 months from 0 to 60; the Episodes are kinda fun; but when finish them there isn't too much to do.
Im currently doing DOFFs / R&D and Reputation (all of them in mid 4 level, Dyson and Undine in 1).
How many times yo can run Crystal Entity per day witouth getting bored soon, or Khitomer / or the other Borg space instance (because almost no one play anoter thing)?; Ground missions are almost with 0 players, and the only ground thing i do is (mostly) Romulan Reputation.
I play foundry missions now and then, some are great and some are meh.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing drives me to log in to STO any longer.
PWE and Cryptic have taken STO - which was never really a good game to begin with - and made it a PoS.
Nobody in my fleet plays any longer, and the only reason I continued to play this abomination of a game is because of my fleetmates.
Now we're all playing a great game that is polished and has the attention to detail that shows the developers actually care (you're not going to find THAT in STO).
I know we aren't supposed to name competitor games here (because they know others would flock to better games), but its initials are Elite: Dangerous. What a fantastic game THAT one is. STO doesn't just pale in comparison to it, when compared to Elite: Dangerous, STO is so pale that it's virtually non-existent.
I haven't logged in for several days now, which is unusual as I usually like playing for a few hours. Cycle through my doff/rep systems then play a few missions but nowadays...... eh.
A lot of fun has been sucked out of the game. I realised a couple days before I stopped playing that STO irritates me almost as much as it entertains me. Games aren't supposed to irritate me.
So I focused on fixing a problem I had with Dragon Age: Inquisition and succeeded. Now I'm playing that. Still adjusting to the fact there aren't any disconnects, lag or noticable bugs.
Nothing now, this was the last anniversary for me. The last 4 were awesome, couldn't be arsed with this one after the Winterval fiasco. They just dont learn, do they.
I don't have a job yet due to going to college to change my career. I am also very sick with Severe Acute Bronchitis. I need something to burn the time. There is currently some aspects of the game I enjoy. I also have enough equipment saved up to adjust to the nerfs or adjustments they make to the game. It is this upgrade system that costs so much keeping me back. When I switch out gear.. that gear needs 250+ dollars to be useful again. The fun factor is slowly fading.
been playing STO since beta. I play every day.
Mostly doff missions. But that is all.
Weekends i try to do something else. I really have to put effort into it.
been playing STO since beta. I play every day.
Mostly doff missions. But that is all.
Weekends i try to do something else. I really have to put effort into it.
I got the game a few months before free to play. Don't get me wrong they have some fun stuff here. It is coming down to the grind. It takes away from enjoying the game. It also makes fleet activity less organized since everybody is focused on the grind. Some of the rewards are worth it though depending on your build. I try to stay active enough to know what is coming so I can focus on it.
Nothing. I've not logged in regularly since about Feb. of 2014.
I stopped playing around the time the hourly events / mirror invasion were removed.
I returned to play the winter event because i wanted all 3 ships on my characters. After getting them I realized I can't get the frigate pet w/o a tier 5 Shipyard, and I also have no desire to upgrade all those beams to mark whatever. Haven't logged back in since.
Previously when tempted, I could always return and play a few days. Now, with the changes to the queues, removal of clusters, and the implementation of "crafting" I really feel I cannot come back. There is nothing left for me.
I play(ed) since beta...
At the moment: 15-30 minutes DOFFing per day and a bit of exchange trading.
Recently i played the Anniversary mission a few times and will most likely do the next CE event with a few chars (but with far less than in previous events [~20-25], this time maybe with 5-6).
Haven't played a queue for over 6 Weeks.
Beta, LTA, CE, Multiple preorder Versions, all Addon Packs except AoY, nearly all KDF/Rom and ~50% of all Fedships, over 25 LockboxShips, Endurer of Atari's "Year of Hell", but...
If anyone wishes to climb over the Arrogance Wall that they built up around themselves, please be my guest. I'm always sitting on top watching the inmates run the asylum.
I consider bug reporting a form of feedback, i mention that because i'm guessing that not a lot of people consider bug reporting as feedback. So i'm not just talking about standard QQ like the lights in Club 42 being too bright or other trivial nonesense.
You know i had reported a minor bug with a mission back in Nov of 2013? a year later there were people still reporting that mission bugging out. I bet if you go do that mission right now it will still bug out. Since then i cant count the number of bug reports that i've started, went and put the thread title in, got a few words/sentence in and i decided TRIBBLE it they arent going to do anything about it and just end up cancelling it. I mean...i'm not asking for them to fix stuff right away or i dunno maybe its just too hard due to how the engine is designed. But at least acknowledge that your ****ing customers are talking to you...
I have frequent breaks from STO these days. I tend to only play for a month or two at a time before going on another break, however I always find myself coming back for more. Whether it's because I invested so much into this game over five years, or that it's really the only current Star Trek game out (other than say armada 3 sins mod) I don't know.
Personally I'd kill for a new Bridge Commander type game, but with newer ship designs perhaps even some of the Cryptic designs which I really like. I had high hopes for Excalibur, but I can't ever see it coming to fruition.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.
Comments
Then Darkest Dungeon was released which is just awesome, a big update to Elite Dangerous.
See Star Trek Online has always had this issue (same to a degree with SWTOR) that because the majority of the stuff you do is Story Driven that well outside of a few exceptional missions I want to re-run from time to time the majority is just 'alright' and I never touch it again.
When I look at the Adventure Zones or STFs, well these are primarily for getting Reputation to unlock Rep Gear; so honestly for nearly a year after they were added I actually ignored them because they just weren't fun.
So when the Dyson Sphere area dropped and it looked more interesting, I decided to Blitz all of them.
It took a couple of weeks, all Reps Level 5 ... and once again didn't see any point in doing them again.
Sure could go for another week or so just to get the Gear Sets, but ultimately they're only useful for the FotM STF or Adventure Zone rather than the "Main" Story; so just felt like a waste of time.
And this is something I never got, even with World of ******** and their Raids. Like you do the Raids, to get the Epic Drops that in-turn you want for the Raids. It always seemed completely TRIBBLE-backwards design to me, compare that to Final Fantasy XIV where getting your Epic Gear can be acquired in a number of ways depending on your play-style but not through means that really require you to have it ... it just ends up seeming more sensible.
Don't get me wrong I still stop playing FFXIV for a month or two between updates if I've maxed everything, but that's how the game is ultimately designed to be played, that's why Update (Point Expansions) happen on a 1-2 Month bases; as it takes about that to cap everything and there is are still tonnes of things to do, that fun regardless if your Friends are online or not. SWTOR is another game that, I don't play constantly but in bursts; but as there are Multiple Storylines, while the side missions might be played a few times so you know what they're about the main story is new for each character. I've been happily slowly going through all of the since release completely skipping all of the Flashpoints as well they need a group and I tend to play that more Solo because it's heavily story driven.
What has frustrated me with STO since launch has been, the Story just isn't strong enough or hell even makes reasonable sense to get heavily invested that it is worth more than a single play through. The writing generally isn't strong enough, Voice Acting has been hit'n'miss, there is a disconnect between what is happening and the dialog ... heck most of the time the game stops to provide dialog, then starts again. It all just feels disjointed, and is a lesser experience.
It's serviceable and good enough to warrant seeing what is new, but at this point it is just silly as if it's being written by a 12 year old on Fanfic.
Then there's the gameplay, which is so full of interesting ideas, some unique features but it basically is just bog-standard RPG Mechnics trying to Masquerade as Real-Time Clutch Mechanics. Again there is this disjointed feel between multiple conflicting ideas, it isn't bad. It just isn't Solid or Good, especially given it's designed around the idea of 3 Main Classes (DPS, TANK, SUPPORT) but realistically just keeps them in name alone rather that either capitalising on that taking the MMORPG route of making them a requirement for Group Play (that isn't required until End Game) or just getting rid of them entirely. Yet Cryptic can't seem to make a decision here so what is an interesting concept, basically is reduced to something less involved than Vanilla WoW .. as it is basically get a good setup, hammer spacebar, faceroll abilities when they're off cooldown, win.
Sure positioning can play a role, but eventually at the top-tier so much power creep has come in that literally my ship is capable of perma-tanking almost everything without needing to worry about that. It cheapens an already very shallow pool experience.
So then what is there if you don't want to do the Group stuff like STF at End-Game?
Re-doing Patrol Missions or SP Content you've already done, it might have new enemies randomly from that area that can change it up a bit; but that is literally it. As I said these things are decent for a single play, but when you have to do them over and over, well it gets exceptionally boring exceptionally quickly; especially when the game doesn't even open up ALL Missions to provide a Level-based Reward but no instead if you do anything <10 Level below you, then it has absolutely no rewards period (let alone anything remotely useful) ... meaning you're doing it purely for the story that sure I'd do if the Stories and Mission Designs were far stronger than they were.
..
What keeps me coming back?
It's literally the ONLY Star Trek Game, that isn't JJ Abrams based and runs on Modern PCs without any real issues.
I gave up long ago expecting any sense of a 'Real' Star Trek Experience that felt like being in that Galaxy, as this just isn't it and I doubt it ever will be. It's a disjointed mess of half-finished features, because I'm almost certain Cryptic has ADD and is unable to sit down and focus on anything for more than a few minutes.
Ultimately it makes it a shame, because within this shallow husk of a game there is massive potential to be outstanding if the effort was put in to capitalise on it's strengths instead of constantly trying to fit in by copying all the cool kid MMOs.
Feedback doesnt really mean anything when the people who should be listening to that feedback arent paying attention to it.
I only read the forums occasionally. I can't help but watch this train wreck.
Hope that the Star Trek elements (exploration or canon builds to be actually valid) to be brought back into the game. Now you might aswell call it DPS Numbers Online, cuz it sure has very little thing to do with Star Trek
And even if I log-in, I hardly play. Just doff here and there, maybe do a ground mission (since the space combat its dead for me) and thats it.
The game its in a horrible condition after DR, its really awful, and it seems its driven even more into that direction. Probably its intended. I remember a dev, back in december or so, in a pod cast, was telling players "dont worry, hang in there, we hear you and changes are coming in the next months". That gave a bit of hope. But boy, what a fool I was:(.
After 2 months even more nerfs and harder difficulty adjustements were done
And even right now things are going in the same direction. On trible, the delta patrols, wich remained the last space combat players could do, (becouse there werent harsh timers and fail conditions nor awful cooldowns for fails) are been nerfed. Via a stealth patch, of course...
Seriously, its like they want to drive the players not to play anymore
^this spells out my position nicely.
My Ship Builds: USS Conqueror, HMS Victorious, HMS Concord, ISS Queen Elizabeth, Black Widow III
Click here to view my DeviantArt.
I started my Romulan in early January, so almost 2 months from 0 to 60; the Episodes are kinda fun; but when finish them there isn't too much to do.
Im currently doing DOFFs / R&D and Reputation (all of them in mid 4 level, Dyson and Undine in 1).
How many times yo can run Crystal Entity per day witouth getting bored soon, or Khitomer / or the other Borg space instance (because almost no one play anoter thing)?; Ground missions are almost with 0 players, and the only ground thing i do is (mostly) Romulan Reputation.
I play foundry missions now and then, some are great and some are meh.
PWE and Cryptic have taken STO - which was never really a good game to begin with - and made it a PoS.
Nobody in my fleet plays any longer, and the only reason I continued to play this abomination of a game is because of my fleetmates.
Now we're all playing a great game that is polished and has the attention to detail that shows the developers actually care (you're not going to find THAT in STO).
I know we aren't supposed to name competitor games here (because they know others would flock to better games), but its initials are Elite: Dangerous. What a fantastic game THAT one is. STO doesn't just pale in comparison to it, when compared to Elite: Dangerous, STO is so pale that it's virtually non-existent.
A lot of fun has been sucked out of the game. I realised a couple days before I stopped playing that STO irritates me almost as much as it entertains me. Games aren't supposed to irritate me.
So I focused on fixing a problem I had with Dragon Age: Inquisition and succeeded. Now I'm playing that. Still adjusting to the fact there aren't any disconnects, lag or noticable bugs.
Click to Join armadafleet.org/
Mostly doff missions. But that is all.
Weekends i try to do something else. I really have to put effort into it.
I got the game a few months before free to play. Don't get me wrong they have some fun stuff here. It is coming down to the grind. It takes away from enjoying the game. It also makes fleet activity less organized since everybody is focused on the grind. Some of the rewards are worth it though depending on your build. I try to stay active enough to know what is coming so I can focus on it.
Click to Join armadafleet.org/
I stopped playing around the time the hourly events / mirror invasion were removed.
I returned to play the winter event because i wanted all 3 ships on my characters. After getting them I realized I can't get the frigate pet w/o a tier 5 Shipyard, and I also have no desire to upgrade all those beams to mark whatever. Haven't logged back in since.
Previously when tempted, I could always return and play a few days. Now, with the changes to the queues, removal of clusters, and the implementation of "crafting" I really feel I cannot come back. There is nothing left for me.
At the moment: 15-30 minutes DOFFing per day and a bit of exchange trading.
Recently i played the Anniversary mission a few times and will most likely do the next CE event with a few chars (but with far less than in previous events [~20-25], this time maybe with 5-6).
Haven't played a queue for over 6 Weeks.
I consider bug reporting a form of feedback, i mention that because i'm guessing that not a lot of people consider bug reporting as feedback. So i'm not just talking about standard QQ like the lights in Club 42 being too bright or other trivial nonesense.
You know i had reported a minor bug with a mission back in Nov of 2013? a year later there were people still reporting that mission bugging out. I bet if you go do that mission right now it will still bug out. Since then i cant count the number of bug reports that i've started, went and put the thread title in, got a few words/sentence in and i decided TRIBBLE it they arent going to do anything about it and just end up cancelling it. I mean...i'm not asking for them to fix stuff right away or i dunno maybe its just too hard due to how the engine is designed. But at least acknowledge that your ****ing customers are talking to you...
Personally I'd kill for a new Bridge Commander type game, but with newer ship designs perhaps even some of the Cryptic designs which I really like. I had high hopes for Excalibur, but I can't ever see it coming to fruition.
Looking for a dedicated Star Trek community? Visit www.ufplanets.com for details.