What is with the massive lack of content this year?

bubbahotep · December 2016

2015 we had almost one new Episode every month for 11 Episodes in the that year. vs 2016 with 14 Episodes with the "expansion" but with 8 months of the year with no content added.

2015 -
Dust to Dust - January 29,
February - no new content
Uneasy Allies - March 26,
Blood of Ancients - April 21
Delta Flight- April 21
Mission: House Pegh - May 28
Time in a Bottle - June 18
Broken Circle - July 16th
Butterfly - August 13
Midnight - September 10
Sunrise - October 27
Stormbound -November 19,
December - no new content

VS. the train wreck of 2016

2016
Time and Tide - January 28,
February - no new content
March - no new content
The Temporal Front -April 12
May- no new content
June - no new content
July 6th - (AOY expansion) “The Taurean Affair, “In the Shadow of Cestus” • “Painful Omens” • “Return to Babel” • “Tangled Webs” • “The Battle of Caleb IV”, “The Core of the Matter” • “Vorgon Conclusions” • “Terminal Expanse” “Temporal Reckoning” • “Ragnarok”
August - no new content
September - no new content
Echoes of Light - October 25
November - no new content
December - no new content

In all of 2016 there was only 4 months they added anything to the game

leemwatson · December 2016

Errr....you're complaining that we got more content this year, but 2015 was better!? 2016 is one of the best years for content! Oh, and maybe you forget that THEY JUST LAUNCHED STO ON CONSOLE! How much more do you want the small team to do!?

qjunior · December 2016

I'm almost sure there was content added in some of those months.... there are probably qualified forumites waiting to prove you wrong. I'll wait and prepare some popcorn.

bergins · December 2016

14 new missions this year vs 11 last year? Not seeing a lack. They just spread it out last year.

Unknown · December 2016

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Unknown · December 2016

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jbmonroe · December 2016

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kitsunesnout · December 2016

I will say I by far loved 2015's missions much more. The Iconian arc always had me anxious to see what was next. Missions afterwards haven't really been near as gripping as the Iconians unfortunately.

bergins · December 2016

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kodachikuno · December 2016

kitsunesnout wrote: »

I will say I by far loved 2015's missions much more. The Iconian arc always had me anxious to see what was next. Missions afterwards haven't really been near as gripping as the Iconians unfortunately.

really? that TRIBBLE was boring as hell and, with the exception of midnight, garbage from a writing standpoint... The blog fiction was more interesting and gripping.

garaks31 · December 2016

implementing the lightning 2.0 changes to the entire game toke a lot time. it is understandable

smokebailey · December 2016

Lack of content?! We got AoY, we got lots of post Iconian War stuffs, we got a new fleet starbase, we had Scotty (jr), Chekov, and Daniels voice acting, and tons of new ships.

~grabs Bubba in a headlock and gives him a noogie~

HELLO, McFLY, HELLO!!!!!!!!!

stupidborg · December 2016

I could be wrong but this year Lighting 2.0 was released... While it is not playable content it is an update to the game engine.

Also, I think STO was released for the consoles... or so the News section states that. So I would guess Cryptic was focusing a little bit of attention on that.

alcyoneserene · December 2016

For content it would have been great if much more end-game PvE was introduced, something involving very large maps like Dyson space, possibly battlezones that are challenging and require doing different things with starships such as pass by zones of radiation (requiring tanking potential), search and rescue covering a lot of territory and avoiding hazards, getting by large fleets (adequate stealth rating plus MES/cloaks), science abilities (heal generators, drain energy from conduits, disable and capture certain units 'because mission'), tactical requirements (take out targets with super high impulse speeds), carriers/flight decks/consumable combat units (send them through narrow gaps or to deal with constant barrages of enemy frigates while our ships are constantly taken offline by them), etc. None of this would be scripted to feel artificial other than having mission objectives that coincide with events that take place fairly regularly (although unpredictably) on the huge open map.

Otherwise, there has been content, the biggest for me has been filling that void of T6 science for KDF & Roms (carrier wise, Roms got the sweet T'Laru, but nothing c-store) and also a lot of science goods otherwise. ToS fans received a lot of attention so I'm happy for them even if the top prizes remain very rare and very expensive, but this much isn't significantly different than other top canon content like the annorax and T6 jem'hadar escorts. The new lightning has been pretty spectacular and they'll continue with improvements. New storyline missions have had impressive scenes, and I've enjoyed the bit of exploration part with the Lukari. There have been a number of fixes, and servers have been more reliable than ever at least on my end, which should stay a top priority.

All in all, I found it one of the best of years for STO, and hopefully with this more full lineup of goods they'll begin with some more end-game content - I mean, there might have been a hint of this with that brief 'large team' chat channel, so I'm hopeful.

snoggymack22 · December 2016

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duncanidaho11 · December 2016

Looking at it month-by-month is leading. 2015 was occupied by a monthly release cycle of Iconian War missions. 2016 had lump-sum release mixed into the routine (ie. AOY). Here's the listings by year (including all major playable content to provide better context on 2015 than 14>11):

2015: 11 missions, 1 Battlezone, 1 revamp, 3 PVE's
2016: 14 missions (8 multifaction, 6 AOY), 3 PVE's, 1 Alert

It's a wash. The OP's problem is basically just that the release schedule has been tweaked a bit to fit the expansion, but that's scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as feedback is concerned. Scheduling has absolutely nothing to do with how much stuff we're getting in total (or its quality). It's how the content is packaged, which doesn't really affect us but it can serve as convenient, context-free fodder for complaints.

"Nevermind what falls just beyond these months, the fact that I'm able to list them out like this means the devs have nothing but contempt for us! Join me in being angry for no readily apparent reason!"

bubbahotep#3025 wrote: »

qjunior wrote: »

I'm almost sure there was content added in some of those months.... there are probably qualified forumites waiting to prove you wrong. I'll wait and prepare some popcorn.

NOPE

Yup, Winter and Summer events weren't included in the OP. I left them out of my list incidentally because year-by-year they pretty much have perfect parity (+1 activity, +store items, +pet, +ship). Ditto PVE events. But that doesn't excuse the oversight on a monthly content list because they will have a hugely significant impact.

salazarraze · December 2016

bubbahotep#3025 wrote: »

In all of 2016 there was only 4 months they added anything to the game

Story mission wise, yes but we still got more missions this year. You're also selectively skipping all the other content not related to stories, including 3 free T6 ships events, mini-events like Crystalline, the new infinity lockbox which changed the economics of older lockbox items for the better. There was also the recent phoenix promo which made previously unobtainable items obtainable. Like 2015, we got a new fleet holding this year. The effects of the infinity promo packs are yet to be determined. I'm sure that there's more but I can't remember it all off the top of my head.

duncanidaho11 · December 2016

salazarraze wrote: »

Story mission wise, yes but we still got more missions this year. You're also selectively skipping all the other content not related to stories, including 3 free T6 ships events, mini-events like Crystalline, the new infinity lockbox which changed the economics of older lockbox items for the better. There was also the recent phoenix promo which made previously unobtainable items obtainable. Like 2015, we got a new fleet holding this year. The effects of the infinity promo packs are yet to be determined. I'm sure that there's more but I can't remember it all off the top of my head.

I'll also add the Featured Episode replay and the AOY recruitment event (giving parity to 2015's Delta Recruits). There really isn't a problem here. The OP's just looking for an excuse to be angry at the game. How does any of this qualify as a "train wreck" for example? There isn't a logical path from A to B, even if you take their claim at face value. It's a leap to justify the anger they appear to hold towards STO in 2016.

Maybe it's just MMO burn-out, but there's much better ways to approach that than public whining.

salazarraze · December 2016

duncanidaho11 wrote: »

salazarraze wrote: »

Story mission wise, yes but we still got more missions this year. You're also selectively skipping all the other content not related to stories, including 3 free T6 ships events, mini-events like Crystalline, the new infinity lockbox which changed the economics of older lockbox items for the better. There was also the recent phoenix promo which made previously unobtainable items obtainable. Like 2015, we got a new fleet holding this year. The effects of the infinity promo packs are yet to be determined. I'm sure that there's more but I can't remember it all off the top of my head.

I'll add the Featured Episode replay to 2016 and the AOY recruitment event (giving parity to 2015's Delta Recruits). There really isn't a problem here. The OP's just looking for an excuse to be angry at the game (how does any of this qualify as a "train wreck" for example?)

*Slaps forehead*

How could I forget the recruitment event?

duncanidaho11 · December 2016

salazarraze wrote: »

How could I forget the recruitment event?

It was camouflaged into the brush of the AOY expansion.

saurializard · December 2016

And once again, someone thinks "content=story missions".

Nevermind the console release, nevermind the fact that this year was the 50th anniversary, nevermind the Phoenix packs, nevermind the Infinity lockbox, nevermind the Lightning 2.0, nevermind the introduction of the Kelvin Timeline, nevermind the revamp of the skill system, etc.

vegeta50024 · December 2016

saurializard wrote: »

And once again, someone thinks "content=story missions".

Nevermind the console release, nevermind the fact that this year was the 50th anniversary, nevermind the Phoenix packs, nevermind the Infinity lockbox, nevermind the Lightning 2.0, nevermind the introduction of the Kelvin Timeline, nevermind the revamp of the skill system, etc.

What people consider content differs from person to person.

Some consider content to mainly be story missions, since that's basically how the game advances to them. An MMORPG isn't really a game that one can play just for the story. It would be like saying I'm only going to watch non-filler episodes of a show that spans a seasonal arc.

I think what most people want for content is stuff that will keep them invested in the game. The game has so many Queues but because of the whole "most reward for least amount of time" mentality that people have, most them are ignored. Unfortunately, it takes time to develop content that could keep someone invested while new stuff comes out.

davefenestrator · December 2016

So: 11 story episodes is more than 14 story episodes, lighting 2.0, and a new sub-faction with its own UI skin, beam out and other visual effects.

Ohhhh....kayyyy. Math is strange in your private universe.

jexsamx · December 2016

>complains about lack of content
>shows proof of objective increase in content compared to last year

rattler2 · December 2016

Dude... Last year wasn't the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, wasn't an Expansion, or had the game launch on consoles. The Devs had A LOT on their plate this year, and we got quite a few things.

baudl · December 2016

as any addict, he is complaining about the intervals and not the dosage. For a junky the dosage, while increasing, will always feel less compared to the previous hit.

kianazero · December 2016

davefenestrator wrote: »

So: 11 story episodes is more than 14 story episodes, lighting 2.0, and a new sub-faction with its own UI skin, beam out and other visual effects.

Ohhhh....kayyyy. Math is strange in your private universe.

Ehh, I give it a perfect score, 5/7. Not as good as Legacy of Romulus.

meimeitoo · December 2016

saurializard wrote: »

And once again, someone thinks "content=story missions".

Nevermind the console release, nevermind the fact that this year was the 50th anniversary, nevermind the Phoenix packs, nevermind the Infinity lockbox, nevermind the Lightning 2.0, nevermind the introduction of the Kelvin Timeline, nevermind the revamp of the skill system, etc.

Yeah, not to sound harsh, but, frankly, I couldn't care less about consoles.

Indeed, a lot has happened this year, so I'm not complaining. However, I too sometimes click that 'featured' button, to see there's again no story-line mission. What good are all the Kelvin ships if you have no new playground to test them in?!

Unknown · December 2016

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starkaos · December 2016

The new lighting system and console import doesn't matter a lot in relation to new story content since those features are more UI and gameplay related rather than art assets, environment creation, and story development. It is not like Cryptic has to recreate a new ESD for the Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of the game, but they would likely have to recreate unique animations and gameplay mechanics that are present in a specific mission.

duncanidaho11 · December 2016

meimeitoo wrote: »

Indeed, a lot has happened this year, so I'm not complaining. However, I too sometimes click that 'featured' button, to see there's again no story-line mission. What good are all the Kelvin ships if you have no new playground to test them in?!

11 new story missions in 2015, 14 in 2016. What good are facts when no one reads them?

Here's the basic problem with the frequency argument, a story mission lasts anywhere between 20-45 minutes. That's not going to be sufficient to support months of playtime. Grinding for multiple rewards and across multiple character helps but in not too long you're going to be asking yourself "what else do I play?" Then you're back into the end-game grind and developing alts (and the Foundry for a few). That's helped a bit by having something new every now and then but as pointed out we've certainly had that over the past year. The OP left out every single event from their leading OP. We've had plenty of playgrounds. 2016 was (in STO, almost exclusively) a fine year. There were differences but where is there a definite reason to complain?

It may feel nice to say "well, sometimes I look around and there's nothing" or "hey, if I view this month from a certain angle it looks there's nothing present" but that doesn't really reflect anything besides how a viewpoint has been selected. It doesn't say much about the game as a real entity.

starkaos wrote: »

The new lighting system and console import doesn't matter a lot in relation to new story content since those features are more UI and gameplay related rather than art assets, environment creation, and story development. It is not like Cryptic has to recreate a new ESD for the Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of the game, but they would likely have to recreate unique animations and gameplay mechanics that are present in a specific mission.

It's still a massive technical feat even if the environment artists aren't front and center. But that's really beside the point for the OP. We are not in fact lacking "content" this year, so why quibble about the consoles?

What is with the massive lack of content this year?

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