we anticipate players feeling many compelling reasons to step outside of their usual comfort zone and perhaps even exploring new ways of progressing their captain and starship.
Q: Will the existing pricing of Skill Respec Tokens remain unchanged?
A: To help celebrate the launch of Season 11.5 and the Skill Revamp, we will be holding a promotional sale at that time to reduce the price of Skill Respec Tokens. The exact pricing will be announced at a later date.
For the low, low price of $5US, per use, if the player decides to experiment after replicating their current build or decide stepping out of their usual comfort zone didn't work for them.
I'm a lifer with several free untouched respecs on each of my characters from leveling and even I see your stated goal and actual implementation of the revised system as being mutually exclusive. If your system goes live as is I will simply recreate my existing character's builds as closely as possible and then never look at their skills ever again. Essentially boiling down to a minor annoyance for myself and wasted time and man power on your end that could have been put to better use working on just about anything else.
I entirely agree with this. Having played a fair bit of Marvel Heroes, they removed respecs and it allows so much experimentation with builds and generally a lot more fun to swap and change stuff.
I cannot speak to the company's motivations, but I can say for certain it absolutely will NOT result in me purchasing even one respec token, and I strongly urge everyone else to adopt the same policy.
I cannot speak to the company's motivations, but I can say for certain it absolutely will NOT result in me purchasing even one respec token, and I strongly urge everyone else to adopt the same policy.
You have one backer, at least. (Probably more, judging from other people's posts.)
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
I cannot speak to the company's motivations, but I can say for certain it absolutely will NOT result in me purchasing even one respec token, and I strongly urge everyone else to adopt the same policy.
I've made it my policy to not pay them a single dime since Delta Rising, and I'm certainly not gonna change that now.
I intend to experiment on Tribble, find what works for me, and then carefully transfer that build over to Holodeck when the skill revamp goes live. Worse comes to worse, even if I make a mistake, I have some Zen saved up that I got via Dilithium exchange that I can use instead of actually purchasing their "specially discounted" tokens.
"There will never be enough blood to wash away my need for vengeance! A single world...I could destroy a million worlds and it would not be enough! Your existence is an insult to the memory of my people! I will continue my fight, even if I must fight alone!"
I'm a lifer in the game myself and I got like 22 respec tokens, but I really find this new additions/change to be nothing more then just a shot at grabbing money from the players. Even if everyone in here stating they aren't going to spend money on respec tokens, there is always that 1 dork that tosses $100 in the Zen store for respec tokens. You say you aren't going to experiment with the new system, but you will see new players that weren't aware of the old system just dumping money on the Zen store buying respec tokens experimenting the best path they can use on their own. So in the end, Craptic wins anyway because they get new players that don't know jack buying respec tokens either way - why?.. Because they are new and don't know any better.
Now, us that lived the old system and now being given the new one do know better and know perfectly the little scheme of Craptic. In the end, all this work to the new revamp of Skill Points Tree is just utterly pointless and time wasted. In the end, everyone is going to be using the same exact skill point tree path and never touch it again - that is until Craptic decides to earn money again and revamp the whole damn Skill Points Tree again. Either way, the way I see it is simple and like this:
1. Every player with 2 hanger bays - Gets the hanger bay pets path.
2. Every Tactical player - Gets the highest DPS (obviously) path.
3. Every Tank player - Gets every tank based ability.
And so on, there is nothing new.
The system that we have now was nice because I could be a tank with points on Flow Capacitors and at least drain shields on enemies while I run a full beam boat using tetryon beams or power them out with polarons. With this new system, it looks like everyone is just going to go with the same exact built with nothing special. All tanks are just tanks, all drainers are just drainers, all DPS are just DPS and no ability to gain some extra benefits from other trees.
All because ain't no one going to be sending real money on no damn respec tokens!
Good example is my newest toon I created some time ago.
She is a shield drainer and a disabler using the new T6 Carrier, it is fun to drain enemy shields and also target specific high DPS AI ships and disabling them while my tetryon beams drain shields of other ships around me. All the while I got my 2 hanger bays filled with elite Deltas and elite fighters. While I drain shields, my Delta pets do the same for me while my fighters damage the shieldless enemy for me. Hell, my damage is total TRIBBLE, but I do not want to go full damage, I want to be a shield drainer and a disabler. The current Skill Point Tree we have now lets me MAXIMIZE on both accounts - shield draining and disabling. I seriously do not see this happening with the new system. I see with the new system people only being able to go one full path and just half the other, not duel full path like right now.
It's really not. (Almost) everything is explained nicely in the tooltips. Formulas for things such as stealth detection as well as point-to-actual-bonus conversion ratios are both provided. Under the old system, it's just "we need points in this to make us go."
Really? So the average new player is going to understand from the get go what things like +50 Hull means? Sorry, this new system is just as confusing, if not more so than the existing one.
Actually...yes. This time around, it's explained pretty clearly:
I can appreciate the work put into it and some of the changes are needed, however lets all be honest and call this for what it is.... an attempt to sell more respec tokens.
Yeah it's impossible to think maybe they just want to improve the quality of their game. I'll admit, the skill system isn't perfect yet. That's why it's still on the beta server. It could use a way to select multiple skills at once before "confirming" the selection. It could also use some clarification on some of the weapon-boosting skill bonuses. That aside, it's a massive improvement over the old version, which is completely vague in terms of how most skills help you.
When cryptic wants to do "cash grabs," they crank out a new lockbox.
It's really not. (Almost) everything is explained nicely in the tooltips. Formulas for things such as stealth detection as well as point-to-actual-bonus conversion ratios are both provided. Under the old system, it's just "we need points in this to make us go."
Really? So the average new player is going to understand from the get go what things like +50 Hull means? Sorry, this new system is just as confusing, if not more so than the existing one.
Actually...yes. This time around, it's explained pretty clearly:
I can appreciate the work put into it and some of the changes are needed, however lets all be honest and call this for what it is.... an attempt to sell more respec tokens.
Yeah it's impossible to think maybe they just want to improve the quality of their game. I'll admit, the skill system isn't perfect yet. That's why it's still on the beta server. It could use a way to select multiple skills at once before "confirming" the selection. It could also use some clarification on some of the weapon-boosting skill bonuses. That aside, it's a massive improvement over the old version, which is completely vague in terms of how most skills help you.
When cryptic wants to do "cash grabs," they crank out a new lockbox.
Ya, OK. I'm reading the new tootip and I still don't see exactly what +50 hull means. Is that 50% or just 50 points. So the +50 skill bonus is to what skill, this skill you purchase ? Been playing 4 years and this simple tooltip explains nothing to a seasoned player, and only confuses a novice. What is it actually telling us ? You're buying a skill thats self bonus applying and adds a base hull multiplier of what ?
WTF, again!? Damn it... every time I finally feel like I enjoy the game, you listen to whiny users and revamp the game to their needs. FFS, stop changing the core of the game. Your core lifetime user ENJOY it he way we have it.
Feels like another damn money grab. Here lets change the dynamics of the game, and get people to pay to make their characters work again; instead of actually improving the game and adding content.
Sometimes I wonder why I bothered with a lifetime subscription...
None of this is a cashgrab. C'mon, if they were suddenly jacking up the price of respecs, it'd be a cashgrab. Or if they were forcing players to pay to use the new system, it'd be a cashgrab.
But right now, the new system will leave respect tokens at the same price, and at login when the system goes live players' skill points will be refunded for free. It's the exact same payment model as it was before - fill the skills up for free your first time, then pay $5 to respec everytime thereafter. This is not new.
Ya, OK. I'm reading the new tootip and I still don't see exactly what +50 hull means. Is that 50% or just 50 points. So the +50 skill bonus is to what skill, this skill you purchase ? Been playing 4 years and this simple tooltip explains nothing to a seasoned player, and only confuses a novice. What is it actually telling us ? You're buying a skill thats self bonus applying and adds a base hull multiplier of what ?
Um, it's right in the tooltip. Read the whole thing.
Each point in Hull Capacity is .3% (which includes not only this skill, but other modifiers that add +X to the skill). The skill itself gives 50 points, and 50pts x .3% = 15% total, which is shown at the very bottom of the tooltip.
Adding a console that, say, adds another +10 to Hull Capacity would then increase capacity by 3%, using the now-explained math in the tooltip.
None of this is a cashgrab. C'mon, if they were suddenly jacking up the price of respecs
That's funny because they do not need to up the price on anything for it to be a cash grab, just totally change something to something totally different like they doing. You think lockboxes is the only way to make money in this game?.. Man do you have a small mind for doing business, but then you met Craptic.
You want to know what they could of done?..
Made the damn info on the current stats more clear like they doing with this new system, add all these new trees which have been added already to the newer system (like adding the hanger pet buffing tree) and give players a few more points for them to be able to make the most of the new added benefits. But no, instead they just totally change every single freaking aspect of it instead - and not to mention even changing the name of most of the things to even farther confuse us. Heck they changed things that never even needed to be changed to begin with!
None of this is a cashgrab. C'mon, if they were suddenly jacking up the price of respecs
That's funny because they do not need to up the price on anything for it to be a cash grab, just totally change something to something totally different like they doing. You think lockboxes is the only way to make money in this game?.. Then you met Craptic.
But they're not introducing anything new to pay for. It's still the skill system. It's still the same price for a respec it's always been. It's still free to fill when you level up the toon, then it's still the same payment model afterwards.
Calling this a cashgrab is pointless. It's like going to McDonald's and freaking out over a burger being the same price as it was yesterday. How dare they not make the burger suddenly free! Blatant cashgrab!
None of this is a cashgrab. C'mon, if they were suddenly jacking up the price of respecs
That's funny because they do not need to up the price on anything for it to be a cash grab, just totally change something to something totally different like they doing. You think lockboxes is the only way to make money in this game?.. Then you met Craptic.
But they're not introducing anything new to pay for. It's still the skill system. It's still the same price for a respec it's always been. It's still free to fill when you level up the toon, then it's still the same payment model afterwards.
Calling this a cashgrab is pointless. It's like going to McDonald's and freaking out over a burger being the same price as it was yesterday. How dare they not make the burger suddenly free! Blatant cashgrab!
$5 respec tokens are at odds with their stated hope of experimentation, but I agree that it's not any kind of a sudden cash grab. That part of the skill tree is exactly as bad as it's always been (since F2P, anyway, I guess).
None of this is a cashgrab. C'mon, if they were suddenly jacking up the price of respecs
You want to know what they could of done?..
Made the damn info on the current stats more clear like they doing with this new system, add all these new trees which have been added already to the newer system (like adding the hanger pet buffing tree) and give players a few more points for them to be able to make the most of the new added benefits. But no, instead they just totally change every single freaking aspect of it instead - and not to mention even changing the name of most of the things to even farther confuse us. Heck they changed things that never even needed to be changed to begin with!
Ya, OK. I'm reading the new tootip and I still don't see exactly what +50 hull means. Is that 50% or just 50 points. So the +50 skill bonus is to what skill, this skill you purchase ? Been playing 4 years and this simple tooltip explains nothing to a seasoned player, and only confuses a novice. What is it actually telling us ? You're buying a skill thats self bonus applying and adds a base hull multiplier of what ?
It says in plain english: "Each point of Hull Capacity skill always provides a bonus of 0.3%"
So 5 points of "Hull Capacity" would be 1.5%. 500 points would be 150%. And so on. All the old (current) system does is say "this increases your hull strength." Nice and arcane.
I'm a lifer with several free untouched respecs on each of my characters from levelling and even I see your stated goal and actual implementation of the revised system as being mutually exclusive. If your system goes live as is I will simply recreate my existing character's builds as closely as possible and then never look at their skills ever again. Essentially boiling down to a minor annoyance for myself and wasted time and man power on your end that could have been put to better use working on just about anything else.
it seems to me that we would have been far better off if we could eventually buy all of the skills available similar to specialization and then freely select a certain number of skills from the ones we have purchased at that time similar to the way we can switch our traits in and out without incurring any cost.
now that would have been a major improvement to the skill system and would have given players the ability to tinker away to their hearts content.
as for unused respect tokens the zen price for those could easily be credited to players accounts.
I doubt people will be very adventurous with their specs if you're charging to respec.
Yup, exactly.
It doesn't matter how much of a special "discount" they make the respec tokens. So long as the tokens cost actual money, people are going to find out what's "optimal", and leave it at that. Just like how it is with the current skill system.
Yeap. I have a feeling my ships will be docked until I find out what that optimum path will be as I have no desire to pay for respecs trying to figure it out.
I'd have preferred if they made them free for about the first two weeks and then charged.
Not falling now, but it will soon in STO, keep thinking what you thinking. The system needed new things added to it and more clearer descriptions, not a totally new blown out layout/scheme revamp. And judging by everyone in here who are actual players (because I know the Development team don't even sit down to play their own game based on all the decisions they made over the years) this is all about the $$$$ and not making the game "better" as very little few of you claim.
You can go ahead and play it out as if this game actually needs this change, instead of just having the new things added to the system we already have but you are only fooling yourself. All this they adding is as you said, the same thing just looking different, so if it is all the same thing, why change only the look?.. To cash grab.
It's like placing a rifle in a game and call the game Call of Duty.
Then adding the same gun with a single new feature and call it Call of Duty II.
1. Star Trek Online is a better game than it ever was before.
2. Star Trek Online has more players than it ever has before.
3. Star Trek Online is making more money than it ever has before (it will stay running longer than other MMOs.
4. RIFT sucks. I have seen people mentioning its skill respec system a few times since STO announced. And guess what? RIFT is going to die sooner than STO and is JAWOWC (just another world of warcraft clone). Guess what again? WoW sucks too (big surprise there with its outdated graphics and bad updates, not to mention the $15 a month that I would rather die than pay for such a boring, repetitive game).
5. People will always complain. Here's some advice: find something to complement (you will be happier in life).
6. Cryptic wants to spend a bunch of time on the skill system. Guess what? THEY CAN AND SHOULD. You play a game that THEY BUILD AND RUN. Hence, you have NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. Spending money on STO keeps the game running and gives you a right to REQUEST features and updates, but DOESN'T give you the right to get EVERYTHING YOU WANT.
7. Thanks for the hard work Cryptic. You spend long hours doing a job that is inherently difficult. I wouldn't dream of doing such a job, but I hope you ignore the cruel and rude people on the forums and in-game and like your jobs.
8. If I want one thing in the game, it's to ban the bot-sellers in chat. I know it's difficult, and to do it well would require people constantly monitoring chat, but having a few moderators in social zones would improve the game for me. forum
9. You forum-going ingrates (you know who you are) should learn to complement the dev-team. Do you honestly think that insulting peoples' work will make them want to do MORE work?!?!?! The best way to encourage developers is to be honest, nice, and generally a respectful human being (were you raised to be forum trolls? If you were, I feel very bad for you).
4. RIFT sucks. I have seen people mentioning its skill respec system a few times since STO announced. And guess what? RIFT is going to die sooner than STO and is JAWOWC (just another world of warcraft clone). Guess what again? WoW sucks too (big surprise there with its outdated graphics and bad updates, not to mention the $15 a month that I would rather die than pay for such a boring, repetitive game).
That's kind of my point. Even Rift, which has massive problems in its F2P model (not as bad as SWToR's, but that's not saying much), allows respecs that cost a tiny amount of in-game currency. There will be no experimentation with specs in STO as long as the respecs are locked behind a paywall.
My two cents is that there is little reason for anyone to 'experiment' with the new system once it finally goes live.
I believe the majority of players are going to 'wait and see', or 'clone' their current setups. The serious PvP and PvE players are going to want to jump right back into the game where they left off, so will likely clone their current setup as best they can, removing any experimentation from the mix. The Casual players are likely not as concerned, and will either hold off altogether, until interesting builds are posted online, clone their current setups, or just spend the points on what looks good and forget about it. New players will have no idea about the changes and it'll just be business as usual for them.
I'm sure that there are a few players who will be willing to experiment (or who are even interested in experimenting), but for the majority of players, they just want to play the game, be it in PvE queues, doing the story line missions, or PvP.
In the end, the stated goal of encouraging experimentation is a flat fail, even if the update itself is an improvement.
If this was really meant to be making the system easier (though I would ask, why would you?), then you'd just change the 9 boxes per skill to 3, and do some renames, such as "starship maneuvers" to "starship defence", and "threat control" to "threat generation". You could also break out some of the skills into a 'baseline' skills box (call it say, "Command Skills"), so that Tactical, Engineering, and Science all have a total of 10 skills (instead of 15 for engineering). You would also change some of the equipment (the equipment, not the skillstree) so that things that currently need points in multiple areas including high-end skills to work (such as the Heavy Graviton Beam needing points in Particle Generators, Graviton Generators, and Subspace Decompiler) would only need points in one or two of those areas due to their cost, because this makes such skills either sub-par or points must be put into areas that don't do DPS pew pew.
And of course, if you were then going to rejig things so it was more in line with other current mechanics of the game, adding enough points in one particular area (say, Command Skills) would boost say, the aforementioned Command specialisation, Engineering boosting pilot, Tactical boosting Commando, and science boosting Intelligence.
But oh well, why do that when you can change "Structural Integrity" (a Star Trek technobabble concept we all know) into "Hull Capacity" (does that improve our cargo hold) and call it a day?
I cannot speak to the company's motivations, but I can say for certain it absolutely will NOT result in me purchasing even one respec token, and I strongly urge everyone else to adopt the same policy.
I have never used a respec token in all the years I have been playing so I don't expect I will start now, after all if I don't understand the system enough to get it right first time i'm sure I wont get it right in any do overs either.
the only thing is I will need to hold off on using the system and hope someone soon posts a good allround layout I can copy.
My two cents is that there is little reason for anyone to 'experiment' with the new system once it finally goes live.
I believe the majority of players are going to 'wait and see', or 'clone' their current setups. The serious PvP and PvE players are going to want to jump right back into the game where they left off, so will likely clone their current setup as best they can, removing any experimentation from the mix. The Casual players are likely not as concerned, and will either hold off altogether, until interesting builds are posted online, clone their current setups, or just spend the points on what looks good and forget about it. New players will have no idea about the changes and it'll just be business as usual for them.
I'm sure that there are a few players who will be willing to experiment (or who are even interested in experimenting), but for the majority of players, they just want to play the game, be it in PvE queues, doing the story line missions, or PvP.
In the end, the stated goal of encouraging experimentation is a flat fail, even if the update itself is an improvement.
agree 1000%
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
This entire thing sounds DREADFUL. Can we AT LEAST not have to spend (WASTE) skill points on ground skills??
ROFL you gain points for space every level, starting at 5, and ending at 50. Every 5 levels (also starting at 5, ending at 50) you also gain a ground point in addition to a space point. You're not "wasting" any points in ground because the two are completely separate.
Edit: God I hate how this forum "remembers" something you had in the reply box...
Comments
I entirely agree with this. Having played a fair bit of Marvel Heroes, they removed respecs and it allows so much experimentation with builds and generally a lot more fun to swap and change stuff.
You have one backer, at least. (Probably more, judging from other people's posts.)
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
I've made it my policy to not pay them a single dime since Delta Rising, and I'm certainly not gonna change that now.
I intend to experiment on Tribble, find what works for me, and then carefully transfer that build over to Holodeck when the skill revamp goes live. Worse comes to worse, even if I make a mistake, I have some Zen saved up that I got via Dilithium exchange that I can use instead of actually purchasing their "specially discounted" tokens.
Now, us that lived the old system and now being given the new one do know better and know perfectly the little scheme of Craptic. In the end, all this work to the new revamp of Skill Points Tree is just utterly pointless and time wasted. In the end, everyone is going to be using the same exact skill point tree path and never touch it again - that is until Craptic decides to earn money again and revamp the whole damn Skill Points Tree again. Either way, the way I see it is simple and like this:
1. Every player with 2 hanger bays - Gets the hanger bay pets path.
2. Every Tactical player - Gets the highest DPS (obviously) path.
3. Every Tank player - Gets every tank based ability.
And so on, there is nothing new.
The system that we have now was nice because I could be a tank with points on Flow Capacitors and at least drain shields on enemies while I run a full beam boat using tetryon beams or power them out with polarons. With this new system, it looks like everyone is just going to go with the same exact built with nothing special. All tanks are just tanks, all drainers are just drainers, all DPS are just DPS and no ability to gain some extra benefits from other trees.
All because ain't no one going to be sending real money on no damn respec tokens!
Good example is my newest toon I created some time ago.
She is a shield drainer and a disabler using the new T6 Carrier, it is fun to drain enemy shields and also target specific high DPS AI ships and disabling them while my tetryon beams drain shields of other ships around me. All the while I got my 2 hanger bays filled with elite Deltas and elite fighters. While I drain shields, my Delta pets do the same for me while my fighters damage the shieldless enemy for me. Hell, my damage is total TRIBBLE, but I do not want to go full damage, I want to be a shield drainer and a disabler. The current Skill Point Tree we have now lets me MAXIMIZE on both accounts - shield draining and disabling. I seriously do not see this happening with the new system. I see with the new system people only being able to go one full path and just half the other, not duel full path like right now.
Yeah it's impossible to think maybe they just want to improve the quality of their game. I'll admit, the skill system isn't perfect yet. That's why it's still on the beta server. It could use a way to select multiple skills at once before "confirming" the selection. It could also use some clarification on some of the weapon-boosting skill bonuses. That aside, it's a massive improvement over the old version, which is completely vague in terms of how most skills help you.
When cryptic wants to do "cash grabs," they crank out a new lockbox.
Ya, OK. I'm reading the new tootip and I still don't see exactly what +50 hull means. Is that 50% or just 50 points. So the +50 skill bonus is to what skill, this skill you purchase ? Been playing 4 years and this simple tooltip explains nothing to a seasoned player, and only confuses a novice. What is it actually telling us ? You're buying a skill thats self bonus applying and adds a base hull multiplier of what ?
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
Feels like another damn money grab. Here lets change the dynamics of the game, and get people to pay to make their characters work again; instead of actually improving the game and adding content.
Sometimes I wonder why I bothered with a lifetime subscription...
*bang head on desk here*
But right now, the new system will leave respect tokens at the same price, and at login when the system goes live players' skill points will be refunded for free. It's the exact same payment model as it was before - fill the skills up for free your first time, then pay $5 to respec everytime thereafter. This is not new.
Um, it's right in the tooltip. Read the whole thing.
Each point in Hull Capacity is .3% (which includes not only this skill, but other modifiers that add +X to the skill). The skill itself gives 50 points, and 50pts x .3% = 15% total, which is shown at the very bottom of the tooltip.
Adding a console that, say, adds another +10 to Hull Capacity would then increase capacity by 3%, using the now-explained math in the tooltip.
Starship Skill Points Effects Table
STO Academy Skill Planner
You want to know what they could of done?..
Made the damn info on the current stats more clear like they doing with this new system, add all these new trees which have been added already to the newer system (like adding the hanger pet buffing tree) and give players a few more points for them to be able to make the most of the new added benefits. But no, instead they just totally change every single freaking aspect of it instead - and not to mention even changing the name of most of the things to even farther confuse us. Heck they changed things that never even needed to be changed to begin with!
But they're not introducing anything new to pay for. It's still the skill system. It's still the same price for a respec it's always been. It's still free to fill when you level up the toon, then it's still the same payment model afterwards.
Calling this a cashgrab is pointless. It's like going to McDonald's and freaking out over a burger being the same price as it was yesterday. How dare they not make the burger suddenly free! Blatant cashgrab!
$5 respec tokens are at odds with their stated hope of experimentation, but I agree that it's not any kind of a sudden cash grab. That part of the skill tree is exactly as bad as it's always been (since F2P, anyway, I guess).
It says in plain english: "Each point of Hull Capacity skill always provides a bonus of 0.3%"
So 5 points of "Hull Capacity" would be 1.5%. 500 points would be 150%. And so on. All the old (current) system does is say "this increases your hull strength." Nice and arcane.
And which question was this may I ask?
Yeap. I have a feeling my ships will be docked until I find out what that optimum path will be as I have no desire to pay for respecs trying to figure it out.
I'd have preferred if they made them free for about the first two weeks and then charged.
U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)
Yeap. You will log in and see a note that you need to setup your skills as the slate is wiped clean.
Recommend taking screenshots of your current setup for a reference guide if you don't know it by heart.
U.S.S. Maelstrom, NCC-71417 (Constitution III-class/flagship) --- Fleet Admiral Hauk' --|-- Dahar Master Hauk --- I.K.S. qu'In 'an bortaS (D7-class / flagship)
Not falling now, but it will soon in STO, keep thinking what you thinking. The system needed new things added to it and more clearer descriptions, not a totally new blown out layout/scheme revamp. And judging by everyone in here who are actual players (because I know the Development team don't even sit down to play their own game based on all the decisions they made over the years) this is all about the $$$$ and not making the game "better" as very little few of you claim.
You can go ahead and play it out as if this game actually needs this change, instead of just having the new things added to the system we already have but you are only fooling yourself. All this they adding is as you said, the same thing just looking different, so if it is all the same thing, why change only the look?.. To cash grab.
It's like placing a rifle in a game and call the game Call of Duty.
Then adding the same gun with a single new feature and call it Call of Duty II.
You aren't fooling anyone, period.
1. Star Trek Online is a better game than it ever was before.
2. Star Trek Online has more players than it ever has before.
3. Star Trek Online is making more money than it ever has before (it will stay running longer than other MMOs.
4. RIFT sucks. I have seen people mentioning its skill respec system a few times since STO announced. And guess what? RIFT is going to die sooner than STO and is JAWOWC (just another world of warcraft clone). Guess what again? WoW sucks too (big surprise there with its outdated graphics and bad updates, not to mention the $15 a month that I would rather die than pay for such a boring, repetitive game).
5. People will always complain. Here's some advice: find something to complement (you will be happier in life).
6. Cryptic wants to spend a bunch of time on the skill system. Guess what? THEY CAN AND SHOULD. You play a game that THEY BUILD AND RUN. Hence, you have NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. Spending money on STO keeps the game running and gives you a right to REQUEST features and updates, but DOESN'T give you the right to get EVERYTHING YOU WANT.
7. Thanks for the hard work Cryptic. You spend long hours doing a job that is inherently difficult. I wouldn't dream of doing such a job, but I hope you ignore the cruel and rude people on the forums and in-game and like your jobs.
8. If I want one thing in the game, it's to ban the bot-sellers in chat. I know it's difficult, and to do it well would require people constantly monitoring chat, but having a few moderators in social zones would improve the game for me. forum
9. You forum-going ingrates (you know who you are) should learn to complement the dev-team. Do you honestly think that insulting peoples' work will make them want to do MORE work?!?!?! The best way to encourage developers is to be honest, nice, and generally a respectful human being (were you raised to be forum trolls? If you were, I feel very bad for you).
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
That's kind of my point. Even Rift, which has massive problems in its F2P model (not as bad as SWToR's, but that's not saying much), allows respecs that cost a tiny amount of in-game currency. There will be no experimentation with specs in STO as long as the respecs are locked behind a paywall.
I believe the majority of players are going to 'wait and see', or 'clone' their current setups. The serious PvP and PvE players are going to want to jump right back into the game where they left off, so will likely clone their current setup as best they can, removing any experimentation from the mix. The Casual players are likely not as concerned, and will either hold off altogether, until interesting builds are posted online, clone their current setups, or just spend the points on what looks good and forget about it. New players will have no idea about the changes and it'll just be business as usual for them.
I'm sure that there are a few players who will be willing to experiment (or who are even interested in experimenting), but for the majority of players, they just want to play the game, be it in PvE queues, doing the story line missions, or PvP.
In the end, the stated goal of encouraging experimentation is a flat fail, even if the update itself is an improvement.
And of course, if you were then going to rejig things so it was more in line with other current mechanics of the game, adding enough points in one particular area (say, Command Skills) would boost say, the aforementioned Command specialisation, Engineering boosting pilot, Tactical boosting Commando, and science boosting Intelligence.
But oh well, why do that when you can change "Structural Integrity" (a Star Trek technobabble concept we all know) into "Hull Capacity" (does that improve our cargo hold) and call it a day?
I have never used a respec token in all the years I have been playing so I don't expect I will start now, after all if I don't understand the system enough to get it right first time i'm sure I wont get it right in any do overs either.
the only thing is I will need to hold off on using the system and hope someone soon posts a good allround layout I can copy.
agree 1000%
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
Edit: God I hate how this forum "remembers" something you had in the reply box...