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Exploration

Let me quickly provide a context for the length of time here. I played the game up to the Dyson Sphere expansion and a game breaking bug in a mission forced me to quit. I came back briefly but the Delta Rising grind turned me off and I quit again. I came back about two months ago.

Before I quit the first time, I remember being able to explore certain unexplored parts of the galaxy, certain places that would automatically trigger missions similar to patrol missions but more on an exploration side, such as first contact (fetch quests). Now these seem to be for Duty Officers. Where they removed? Is there no more exploration in this game?
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Comments

  • mirai222mirai222 Member Posts: 337 Arc User
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.
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  • gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    mirai222 wrote: »
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.

    Me too.

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
  • saladinbobsaladinbob Member Posts: 116 Arc User
    mirai222 wrote: »
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.
    Its because they were terrible, and nothing more then even blow skyrim tier radiant quests.

    Might as well ask why they revamp all the old story arcs..... because they were bad

    Maybe you thought they were bad but clearly some of us enjoyed them. I liked them as a change of pace from blowing stuff up. Star Fleet's primary mission is exploration, and now we have a Star Trek game without any exploration in it. They should get revamped and put back in.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    saladinbob wrote: »
    mirai222 wrote: »
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.
    Its because they were terrible, and nothing more then even blow skyrim tier radiant quests.

    Might as well ask why they revamp all the old story arcs..... because they were bad

    Maybe you thought they were bad but clearly some of us enjoyed them. I liked them as a change of pace from blowing stuff up. Star Fleet's primary mission is exploration, and now we have a Star Trek game without any exploration in it. They should get revamped and put back in.
    I liked the scenery... the rest of it sucked.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User
    RIP Exploration Missions.

    A HUGE part of the game was destroyed when they took it out. Exploration is supposedly one of the reasons we ventured out into space from the beginning, after all. Now it's just chance "encounters" with other species that occur whilst performing some menial duty for a mission.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
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  • gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    saladinbob wrote: »
    Maybe you thought they were bad but clearly some of us enjoyed them. I liked them as a change of pace from blowing stuff up. Star Fleet's primary mission is exploration, and now we have a Star Trek game without any exploration in it. They should get revamped and put back in.
    Except the game has plenty of exploration, we have explored most of the known galaxy so far.

    We have explored the alpha and BEta quads, we have explored the Delta quad, we just got done exploring both the past and future.

    Really, the only thing left to explore is the gamma quad

    The galaxy is much more vast than that. at the very best we've explored SMALL PARTS of the places you've mentiond.

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
  • edited July 2016
    This content has been removed.
  • gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    gradii wrote: »
    The galaxy is much more vast than that.

    at the very best we've explored SMALL PARTS of the places you've mentiond.
    And has nothing for Cryptic to base anything on because it never showed up in the TV shows.

    Actually, if you look at the map of the Alpha/Beta quad, where 99% of ToS, TNG, DS9, and ENT, took place, and compere it to the map of STO(which is the area in the white box), we have actually explored most of it.

    While not on there, I know Delta Rising's map covers something like 50 % of the Delta quad that voyager passed through as well.

    Map for reference: http://i.imgur.com/xpLEJPy.jpg

    I dunno how long you've been playing but back when I started Cryptic used to write fairly original 25th century stories for us. Of course most of those missions were removed for "quality" reasons *snort*

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
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  • captainhunter1captainhunter1 Member Posts: 1,630 Arc User
    Cryptic is rumored to be working on a new exploration system to replace the old one (I can only hope it is a cross between procedurally generated content and Foundry missions).

    In the mean time if you are hungry for exploration content, look to your friendly neighborhood Foundry authors (see sig). Did you know there are more than 90,000 missions available for play there? Even if 99% of them are utter garbage (which many people like to claim) that still leaves 1% of good, high quality, well written missions for the playerbase to enjoy. That's almost 1000 excellent missions to play...if you can find them (again, see sig, about a new search interface).

    Heck, you can even just travel around the known galaxy and pick up good Foundry missions at every star system out there using the Top 3 system. I would suggest starting at the Archer system in the Beta Quadrant as it is currently the focus of the AEI (see banner in sig. :)
  • cidjackcidjack Member Posts: 2,017 Arc User
    Hey have not seen this subject pop in.......a new record!
    Armada: Multiplying fleet projects in need of dilithium by 13."
    95bced8038c91ec6f880d510e6fd302f366a776c4c5761e5f7931d491667a45e.jpgvia Imgflip Meme Generator
  • darakossdarakoss Member Posts: 850 Arc User
    cidjack wrote: »
    Hey have not seen this subject pop in.......a new record!


    Hey have not seen this response pop in......a new record!
    i-dont-always-funny-meme.jpg
    original join date 2010

    Member: Team Trekyards. Visit Trekyards today!
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  • baldrick8baldrick8 Member Posts: 100 Arc User
    I kinda miss them too. But mostly I miss the randomness that gave me an illusion of exploring.

    If you looked closely, they consisted of space missions: defeat X squadrons of Y ships; fly close to planet and deliver some commodities, and ground missions: defeat mobs; go places and press F. That was about it as far as I can remember.
    The refreshing thing was that at least some missions were designed so that you could accomplish them without producing 10k dead bodies.

    I did them occasionally for a change of pace but after 3 or so I was burnt out.

    They were the closest thing we had to exploration, but they weren't that good, tbh.
  • gradiigradii Member Posts: 2,824 Arc User
    gradii wrote: »
    I dunno how long you've been playing but back when I started Cryptic used to write fairly original 25th century stories for us. Of course most of those missions were removed for "quality" reasons *snort*
    Except most of the original STO missions were based off of,either directly, or in a vague reference too, existing TV show episodes.

    This idea that the old missions were by any means original is a bold faced lie.

    Vauge reference and ripoff like we have now are 2 entirely different things. your opinion is your own and you obviously have made up your mind and wont change it.

    "He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
    Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
    he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
    In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
    He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
    He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
    He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
    He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
  • saladinbobsaladinbob Member Posts: 116 Arc User
    gradii wrote: »
    The galaxy is much more vast than that.

    at the very best we've explored SMALL PARTS of the places you've mentiond.
    And has nothing for Cryptic to base anything on because it never showed up in the TV shows.

    Actually, if you look at the map of the Alpha/Beta quad, where 99% of ToS, TNG, DS9, and ENT, took place, and compere it to the map of STO(which is the area in the white box), we have actually explored most of it.

    While not on there, I know Delta Rising's map covers something like 50 % of the Delta quad that voyager passed through as well.

    Map for reference: http://i.imgur.com/xpLEJPy.jpg

    There's this little thing called 'originality'. Cryptic ought to try it now and again. If we took your attitude we'd never have visited anywhere in all subsequent series that we hadn't visited in TOS and it would be doubtful Star Trek would be as popular if that had happened as it is today. If the Alpha/Beta Quadrants had been fully explored, why was the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E out exploring? What exactly were they exploring since to you everything had already been discovered. You've come up with probably the most ridiculous argument I've ever seen.

    From a gaming perspective, no one is forcing you to engage in exploration for its own sake but for those of us who like to stay true to the spirit of the franchise and actually engage in a spot of first contact now and then, many of us would sooner do it personally rather than through the duty officer system. Like I said, revamp them, make them more interesting, and then put them back in.

  • goodscotchgoodscotch Member Posts: 1,680 Arc User
    Fairly certain the developers have already stated that something is being worked on. No promise as to when it might appear, but they are working on something.
    klingon-bridge.jpg




  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    saladinbob wrote: »
    There's this little thing called 'originality'. Cryptic ought to try it now and again. If we took your attitude we'd never have visited anywhere in all subsequent series that we hadn't visited in TOS and it would be doubtful Star Trek would be as popular if that had happened as it is today. If the Alpha/Beta Quadrants had been fully explored, why was the Enterprise-D and Enterprise-E out exploring? What exactly were they exploring since to you everything had already been discovered. You've come up with probably the most ridiculous argument I've ever seen.
    It's not ridiculous. Every episode of the TV show had something familiar. But in the TV show that was the main cast and the hero ship.... we don't have that here. So they need to lean a bit harder on familiar scenery. If you want "pure exploration"... a Star Trek game is the last place you'll get it. It's always going to be in the context of the TV show and not completely new.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    mirai222 wrote: »
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.
    You mean except the ones they mentioned?

    - Cost a lot of space in the installer that affected first-time installations negatively.
    - They were of low quality considerably below modern missions.
    - They were full of bugs the only fix they could feasibly make for them was to remove a bugged map with no replacement.
    - Players got lost in them.

    You may not like or believe the reasons, but I think you can't say there weren't any given, or there none were apparent.

    I thought some of the old maps were quite intersting, with fantastic alien landscapes.
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User
    The exploration areas seemed to (at least for me) make the game a little more "personalized" in terms of random gameplay, versus the predictable episodic play. That said, I do wish they'd bring something similar to the table, so it breaks up the monotonous tone of existing offerings currently.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    I thought some of the old maps were quite intersting, with fantastic alien landscapes.
    That was a good point. Also some of them involved Gorgans.
    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
    My character Tsin'xing
    Costume_marhawkman_Tsin%27xing_CC_Comic_Page_Blue_488916968.jpg
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  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,659 Arc User
    There were less than a half-dozen madlibs mission templates, and the randomness sometimes led to boffs being transported into the terrain or getting stuck half-way across the map. I think I had some that couldn't be completed because of bugs in the randomizing of the objectives. People complain about grinding patrols but these were just as repetitive.

    And yes, through story missions we've explored and slaughtered our way through most of the known galaxy:

    Bill: Ladies and gentleman, we've been to the past, we've been to the future.
    Ted: We've been all around the afterlife.
    Bill: And you know?
    Ted: The best place to be is here...
    Bill:...and the best time to be is now. And all's we can say is...
    Bill and Ted: ...let's rock!

    https://youtu.be/1cEdqWZi13I
  • snoggymack22snoggymack22 Member Posts: 7,084 Arc User
    This topic is one of the deepest wounds I have regarding Cryptic and its decisions over the years. I LOVED the exploration missions. And played them a lot. And my own headcanon was tied directly into the B'Tran cluster and I had backstory weaved through three of my characters specifically involving that area of the game.

    And they summarily destroyed that entire bit. It was difficult for me. And many posters took a similar stance as somtaawkhar whenever I tried to offer my thoughts, feedback and criticism of the change. Which really soured me on a lot of things because at the end of the day even if 99 out of 100 players didn't use the maps, there was that one who was using them and enjoying them. But that was then, this is now.

    They did offer reasons:
    mirai222 wrote: »
    They removed the exploration missions... for no apparent reason. I still don't get it.

    I miss them.
    You mean except the ones they mentioned?

    - Cost a lot of space in the installer that affected first-time installations negatively.
    - They were of low quality considerably below modern missions.
    - They were full of bugs the only fix they could feasibly make for them was to remove a bugged map with no replacement.
    - Players got lost in them.

    You may not like or believe the reasons, but I think you can't say there weren't any given, or there none were apparent.

    I thought some of the old maps were quite intersting, with fantastic alien landscapes.

    My absolute favorite was the idea that players got lost in them. It was a pretty weak reason.

    The strongest reason for the change, and one that they never officially acknowledged was the exploration clusters were removed right as the new crafting system was implemented. Since this is an upgrade weekend, I feel it's quaint that this topic comes up again. You see, the clusters made is super easy to collect a lot of crafting resources in the OLD system. But with the crafting revamp, they wanted to change that paradigm. And removing the clusters, placing them all in the DOFFing system (they're all still there on the map mostly, you can now only do DOFF missions on them and colonization is the big draw, specifically doing mission chains for eventually purple DOFFs). But you can't get tons o' crafting mats like you could then.

    Of course now it's funny since Admiralty exists. But whatever.

    Another thing that was funny was the same time they removed this big Procedurally Generated Content piece of the game, and described that type of gameplay as dated and not useful ... No Man's Sky got a bunch of articles written about it - the same No Man's Sky that takes the Procedurally Generated Content idea to a level that STO wasn't even imagining.

    So now there's the official rumor that exploration is being looked at and they're working on a revamp and return of the concept t the game. When donning my tin foil hat, it becomes perfectly clear to me that if No Man's Sky hits and changes the paradigm, then I have a feeling some Exploration stuff may return to this game.

    ;)
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,659 Arc User
    Yes, removing unlimited fast resource farming probably did factor into the decision. Admiralty is different since it has much stricter per-player limits: enough for your own crafting, not enough to easily flood the exchange.

    FYI, No Man's Sky is getting into trouble because the formula they used for the landscape generation is patented. PWE/Cryptic might not want to pay the license fees. Also, we'll have to wait and see how well a billion procedurally-generated but story-free planets works in practice. Pretty to look at, but boring?
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  • sylveriareldensylveriarelden Member Posts: 531 Arc User

    Another thing that was funny was the same time they removed this big Procedurally Generated Content piece of the game, and described that type of gameplay as dated and not useful ... No Man's Sky got a bunch of articles written about it - the same No Man's Sky that takes the Procedurally Generated Content idea to a level that STO wasn't even imagining.

    So now there's the official rumor that exploration is being looked at and they're working on a revamp and return of the concept t the game. When donning my tin foil hat, it becomes perfectly clear to me that if No Man's Sky hits and changes the paradigm, then I have a feeling some Exploration stuff may return to this game.

    ;)

    Funny you should bring up No Man's Sky. They just said that the entire game takes up less than 6 GB of disk space - - - for 18 quintillion worlds and everything else (ships, combat, animals, etc). Then they went on to say that a good chunk of even that 6 gigs was purely for the voice over work. That's how effiecient Procedurally Generated material is. How hard would it be to add something like this to STO? I'd love to have an entire galaxy to explore and put my name on planets I discover like in No Man's Sky.

    I'm sure we'll see the option as an Exploration Pack in the C-Store at some point, for let's say $200 a whack.

    Chances are they won't incorporate something that will keep people busy for thousands of hours if they can't put some sort of price tag on it and make more money with it.
    It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.

    Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
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