Star Trek: Timelines, mobile, and STO

mhall85 · January 2016

So, the much-anticipated (or, at least, much-hyped) mobile game Star Trek: Timelines released this week.

And, sadly, it's what I expected it to be... a card-based RPG mobile game that really pushes you to spend money. I wasn't in the game for more than 3 minutes before I was prompted to buy "The Defiant Bundle" for $25... and I was barely done with the tutorial. You either pay RL monies for epic stuff, or grind away for lower-tiered characters and gear. I've spent the past few days, on-and-off, trying to get a phaser rifle for a Sisko card (to level up that card)... and, RNG must hate me, because my one piece of gear I'm not guaranteed to get isn't dropping. What is dropping is my patience, LOL. From their brief launch livestream, the devs even hinted that ship upgrades aren't even live yet? So, the ONLY way for me to get a better ship is to... pay? I'm a few days away from ditching this game.

Cryptic, PWE, and STO certainly have their problems, but I must give them credit... this game isn't THAT bad, comparatively speaking. Yes, it's a bit of apples-to-oranges (after all, STO is a six-year old MMO, not a mobile RPG), but it sure makes you appreciate what we have.

That said... oy, STO is missing an opportunity with mobile. I know that Gateway is on the back burner, if not dead completely... but, if Timelines has shown me anything, it's the appeal of the dream we all have: a mobile app that would let us manage DOFFs/Admiralty/R&D. Fixing lag issues should be top priority, of course... but, I humbly think they should reconsider their stance on mobile, sooner rather than later.

So, curious if anyone else has thoughts on Timelines? Or STO incorporating mobile?

angrytarg · January 2016

What you describe timelines is was - at least I thought so - clear from the tralers months ago.

While STO prompts you to buy even before you launch the game, they don't plaster you with ads ingame at least. Timelines never looked interesting to me.

mhall85 · January 2016

angrytarg wrote: »

What you describe timelines is was - at least I thought so - clear from the tralers months ago.

While STO prompts you to buy even before you launch the game, they don't plaster you with ads ingame at least. Timelines never looked interesting to me.

Oh, I'm not surprised by the game either... I guess I'm just surprised by how poorly it's executed out of the gate. The game very much reminds me of an EA game, like Madden NFL for Mobile. In classic EA fashion, they pepper you constantly with ads to BUY MOAR STUF, because a new player (or version of a player) is available.

Unlike EA, however, it seems that Timelines has debuted without some key features. Ship upgrades for F2P players are either ridiculously unclear, or not live altogether. Not only that, however, there is also no action house for players to sell gear/characters for currency. There is such an exchange in Madden, so if you are a F2P player, you can at least grind away at currency to eventually get your favorite player. While inventory slots don't seem to be an issue, no exchange means you are at the mercy of RNG, and only RNG... or, wait of a "bundle" to take your RL money.

In short, they're not even doing their own model well, IMO.

mirrorchaos · January 2016

Judging by what i see from gameplay footage in a 3 parter, the storyline looks interesting, probably can throw a few hours into just playing it out. i have played similar games in the past, however if i were to play it i would rather it come to the pc first rather than some small screen mini computer where the controls are touch screen, imprecise and clumsy to use, however you appear to be given every opportunity to play out things as you wish it..

that is what i got from the gameplay footage in 3 parts. anyways, i got other things i wanna play, desert of kharak in a few days from now and swtors chapter 10 in a month from now, if cryptic has anything good planned fairly soon, will see if i can fit it in..

i wil lnot however buy anything from their shops.

mhall85 · January 2016

I won't buy anything, either... and I'm currently hitting a wall, in terms of gameplay, as a result. I'm not willing to spend loads of time pointlessly grinding, which in turn, only convinces me more to keep my wallet closed.

And maybe this is why Cryptic has never pulled the trigger on a STO app for mobile... it could literally serve as a "gateway drug" (pun intended) to the proper game, but they would need to find a way to monetize it to make it worth their while. Nameless DOFFs and admiralty ships may not be enough.

mirrorchaos · January 2016

mhall85 wrote: »

I won't buy anything, either... and I'm currently hitting a wall, in terms of gameplay, as a result. I'm not willing to spend loads of time pointlessly grinding, which in turn, only convinces me more to keep my wallet closed.

And maybe this is why Cryptic has never pulled the trigger on a STO app for mobile... it could literally serve as a "gateway drug" (pun intended) to the proper game, but they would need to find a way to monetize it to make it worth their while. Nameless DOFFs and admiralty ships may not be enough.

monetizing the gateway system? whats the point when you can just login on the computer for a few minutes without the trouble over having a lot of trouble with accessing your doff schedule on a gateway system because you are locked behind a mobile device paywall and hundreds of adds a minute spamming you? that would for certain be the end of gateway if something like that happened.

now i can imagine something like a lite version of star trek online, that focuses exclusively on the storyline, nothing to creativity, but a set crew advancing along to get different ships and a new bridge officer joins each rank, some grind mechanics and buy stuff on the side like you would get with the z-store, but outright monetizing the game with spam, its a seriously bad idea.

mhall85 · January 2016

mirrorchaos wrote: »

monetizing the gateway system? whats the point when you can just login on the computer for a few minutes without the trouble over having a lot of trouble with accessing your doff schedule on a gateway system because you are locked behind a mobile device paywall and hundreds of adds a minute spamming you? that would for certain be the end of gateway if something like that happened.

I only raise the issue of monetizing a STO mobile app, because Cryptic's big complaint about Gateway is a question of resources (or LACK of resources) to develop it. They don't see it as a worthwhile investment. Monetizing is A WAY to solve that... in that instance, it could essentially pay for itself.

It's certainly not the only way to do it, and it wouldn't be a direct copy of what Timelines is doing... but tying your STO account to a mobile device? Having a "mobile C-Store" that sells DOFF packs, Admiralty packs, and R&D packs, so you could buy that stuff "on the go"? Then, have all of that stuff immediately available to your in-game character(s) once you log into the full game?

Could be intriguing... but, it's just a thought. STO shouldn't follow this current model of mobile gameplay, for sure... Cryptic's goal is (and should be) to get you into the main game. Any mobile venture should directly flow into that... which is why we have Gateway... but, they don't see it as a worthwhile thing, so we have nothing.

mirrorchaos · January 2016

mhall85 wrote: »

mirrorchaos wrote: »

monetizing the gateway system? whats the point when you can just login on the computer for a few minutes without the trouble over having a lot of trouble with accessing your doff schedule on a gateway system because you are locked behind a mobile device paywall and hundreds of adds a minute spamming you? that would for certain be the end of gateway if something like that happened.

I only raise the issue of monetizing a STO mobile app, because Cryptic's big complaint about Gateway is a question of resources (or LACK of resources) to develop it. They don't see it as a worthwhile investment. Monetizing is A WAY to solve that... in that instance, it could essentially pay for itself.

It's certainly not the only way to do it, and it wouldn't be a direct copy of what Timelines is doing... but tying your STO account to a mobile device? Having a "mobile C-Store" that sells DOFF packs, Admiralty packs, and R&D packs, so you could buy that stuff "on the go"? Then, have all of that stuff immediately available to your in-game character(s) once you log into the full game?

Could be intriguing... but, it's just a thought. STO shouldn't follow this current model of mobile gameplay, for sure... Cryptic's goal is (and should be) to get you into the main game. Any mobile venture should directly flow into that... which is why we have Gateway... but, they don't see it as a worthwhile thing, so we have nothing.

have some permanent adverts on a side of the screen, say a set of 3 that rotate with other adverts every few minutes, with a permanent advertisment board on the side and not being so obtrustive or invasive but large enough to notice it but small enough not to get in the way, cryptic could get paid through adverts without adding stress to the players.

i am not discounting it but the way they got to do it, they would have to be somewhat careful how they did it.

hawku001x · January 2016

Just started Timelines. Looks interesting and seems like a typical app game with the in-game-purchases; expensive though. Heats up my phone too.

An STO app game would be great.

But I think it'd be in competition with Timelines. Not sure if it'd be allowed.

mirrorchaos · January 2016

hawku001x wrote: »

Just started Timelines. Looks interesting and seems like a typical app game with the in-game-purchases; expensive though. Heats up my phone too.

An STO app game would be great. But I think it'd be in competition with Timelines. Not sure if it'd be allowed.

depends if cryptic can get approval from CBS for another game, strictly the stuff from the shows, but if cryptic can also get some approval from paramount for all the rest specifically for that game, everything upto to nemesis. i cant see any reason why there can not be a competitive war on the mobile devices for trek dominance.

vivenneanthony · January 2016

Hmm. I tried Star Trek : Alien Domain and found the strategy or lack of, and F2P model pushie. Timelimes dont look any better.

If someone likes space combat, crafting like making builds, part upgrading, PvP or PvE missions content. Check out Star Conflict. The graphics is better, 5 mins of learninh piloting, way less disco effects with graphics as needed. I find it overall nicer then space combat in STO.

angrytarg · January 2016

Well, I tried it out before going to bed. I must say that I am positively surprised at some aspects and some are just what I expected.

The good things first: It looks great for a mobile game and the story is not really bad - I mean it's a funny Q piece but that's more plausible than a lot of stuff STO does

But the basics first, maybe someone is interested in this: The game illustrates a lot of what is going on by 3D rendered sequences in which you see star ships flying through space or fighting each other. Those sequences are completely non-interactive, but they look great for a mobile game and on my HTC One mini run smoothly. The ship models look accurate and the action not really bad. You see your ship go to warp, encounter other ships, fight or witness planets collide (in the first few minutes of the game). Dialogue is handled by static images of the characters and text boxes, they is supposed ot be voice over but I didn't had my sound turned on, I just got that there is the original music going int he intro.

The story is that a temporal anomaly causes chaos amongst the known and parallel universes (including the MU) and if left unchecked the galaxy falls into despair. Starfleet and the Romulans investigate when Q shows up and explains what the matter with the anomaly is when suddenly the TOS Enterprise which was in combat with a Romulan vessel of their time is pulled through the anomaly. Tomalak, who for some weird reason commands the Romulan Warbird that accompanied the player here, assumes the anomaly is a trick by Starfleet to get temporal reinforcements in and they start fighting. After your first fight the TOS Enterprise gets destroyed but Kirk and Spock survive on board of your ship (a Constellation class vessel, by the way). Q explains that while this Enterprise was destroyed, dozens of others still exist since temporal shenenigans and all. He tasks the player and the inter-temporal star Trek characters to take care of the anomaly and save the galaxy, the reason for that is that the anomaly even threatens the Q and Q himself (deLancie btw) can't do it on his own - interesting take here. So the whole game makes a little bit of sense in that context.

However, when we come to the actual gameplay, Star Trek Timelines is the most boring and exhausting trading card grinder you can imagine. The whole game works exactly like Admirality in STO. You warp from planet to planet (which takes time or in-app purchases to skip) and when you arrive at a site you get prompted "missions" that are completely random tasks, like "save the colonists", "invent a device to stop the anomaly" and so on. Those missions are to be completed by your crew which is a collection of DOFF/Admirality cards like Worf, Spock or Sisko and all of those cards have stats like "Tactical", "Science", "Medical", "Leadership" and so on. The missions have requirements to succeed, exceeding the requirement grants critical chance and you just play each of your cards for the mission they are best suited for to get rewarded points you use to level up the crew or your ship - that's it. While nicely animated, the game is a boring as hell grinder with heavy timegates and in-app purchases to speed things up or to get a new ship (you use for fighting, btw) and so on.

So, if you really, really, really thrive on doing Admirality in STO, Timelines is for you. If moving sliders and waiting for timegates is rather boring, don't bother.

Also, the app itself is a bit weird. It asks for permission to access everything, including camera, caller IDs, contacts etc. - why does a game need that? Also, it sucks my battery dry like you wouldn't believe. I could maybe play it half an hour tops and I'd get a low battery warning, also the phone heated up slightly - but with a HTC, everything heats up your phone, so...

Oh, and the game prompted me in the middle of the night (around 4 am) to update my starship for moneyz - this is when I uninstalled it

eldarion79 · January 2016

I played for an hour of the Beta version and I was not impressed. Their previous game, Game of Thrones: Ascent, was at least engaging. This one is more of an in your face pay us and I am going to put in the Trexels-themed trash bin.

mustrumridcully0 · January 2016

Thanks for the story information, @angrytarg!

desertjets · January 2016

I downloaded it the other night as well and made some decent progress. Basically Angrytarg pretty much summed it up. It is a classic grindy card based RPG. Surprisingly for me I actually like that -- I suppose there is a part of me that thrives on trying to collect that next piece that I need to unlock something to do better missions. But as with any F2P app it is littered with microtransactions, many of which are not cheap. Thus far I can't say if you cannot progress beyond a certain point w/o opening your wallet, but buying stuff would certainly improve QoL in game and reduce the grinding you need to do. That said it is a total time waster type game. Its good during downtime @ work or when I am @ home occupying the baby and doing pretty much anything else isn't possible.

The initial premise is kind of interesting, but a lot of things in the actual game play aren't explained at all. For example for each campaign choosing a faction victory is supposed to impact stuff down the line. It sort of implements a choose your own adventure structure in the initial story play through, but ultimately all the dialogue options still lead to the same end point.

gulberat · January 2016

I won't be downloading it. I will watch @hrci2907 on YouTube since he has the game, so I can find out what the story is though...at no charge or addiction risk!

kdawgenigma · January 2016

just bad form to be asking for such a large amount of money ($25) 2 minutes into the game. Must still be paying for Q's VO.

Unknown · January 2016

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mhall85 · January 2016

coldnapalm wrote: »

25 bucks? They demanded 50 from me.

As for the phaser rifle...it's bugged. The first mission it tells you has it...doesn't. The second one has it on elite...which means you need uncommon officer leveled to 30-50 to do it...which basically means unless you paid, you can't do it. So the ONLY way is to get it from the time portal random item generator. The game is scaled so that unless you spend money, you will hit a grind wall pretty quickly and often. This game tries so hard to get you to spend money and it just turns me off. Before I played it, I was willing to toss some money at a star trek game...but the demand for 50 bucks up front really soured me. Then the whole you need to spend money to progress after JUST the first level...yeah...how about you get none of it. This game is banking on the stupidity of trek fans and their money.

Yeah, I figured out the phaser rifle issue... finally got one after playing Elite. That's a pretty terrible bug.

I've not played much over the past few days... just biding my time, really, and waiting to see what updates come (and how fast). I still haven't spent a dime on the game, and the grind wall you speak of has only emboldened my stance on that. I'm certainly not spending $25-$50 to stare at a graphic of a Defiant on a screen. At least STO gives me the illusion of some sort of return-of-investment...

I will say, though... I have not gotten any more ads for the game. Kinda odd, but not really complaining, either!

Star Trek: Timelines, mobile, and STO

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