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[PODCAST] [PRIZES] Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 250: 'Manu-Mission'

midniteshadow7midniteshadow7 Member Posts: 787 Arc User
edited February 2017 in Starfleet Media Corps
Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 250: 'Manu-Mission' has warped on to Holosuite Media, you can download and stream it from:
This week we're joined once again by Manu Intiraymi (Star Trek Voyager) who updates us on The Circuit, his project where his aim is not to be a slave to traditional production trends.

Being our 250th episode, we also give you a chance to win a Krenim Imperium Warship, a Paradox Temporal Dreadnought, TOS Boff Codes and a poster signed by the Star Trek Online Developers. How do you win these prizes?… Well listen to the show to find out!

After our interview we cover all the news from Star Trek Online (0:31:15) (Console news from (2:05:46)), Star Trek Timelines (2:09:40), Star Trek News (2:16:26), Unofficial Productions (2:26:30), Listener Feedback (2:36:20) and more!

Community Questions:
1. Has The Circuit project interested you in donating to the kickstarter in March?
2. What do you like/dislike about STO's 7th Anniversary event?
3. What is your favorite Timeline event and why?

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Post edited by midniteshadow7 on

Comments

  • alex1geralex1ger Member Posts: 141 Arc User
    Hello there, tribbles.

    Let's get this out of the way...

    "Of signs and portents" review:
    What I liked:
    - We learn about the history of the Lukari and their ancestors/brethren, the Kentari. At least we presume that we do. (!)
    - We establish first contact with the... Povini (?).
    - Rodek and Kuumarke are not completely useless.

    What I didn't like:
    - It was weird to keep asking Kuumarke about the Kentari immediately after the "shocking discovery".
    - We send an engineering team to help the Povini... Remember K-13?
    - It would have been nice to spend a little more time on the Kentari and their fate. Same with the Povini.
    - The final ground battle was a little excessive.



    Community questions:

    1.) Well, the whole part about giving people a chance to get "a foot into the door" sounds really good, but there are so many good causes out there and since I'm not a billionaire, I have to pick and choose...

    2.) Well, the event itself hasn't changed and I already mentioned issues with the giveaway in my last feedback. The only thing I'm still waiting for is the anniversary infographic. More on that later...

    3.) No browser version (and by that I mean the ability to use a browser and a timelines account to play. A facebook version "probably" requires a facebook account on top), no events. And like I mentioned before, at this point in time I'm not even interested anymore.



    Feedback:


    Marketing:

    It does not matter who came up with what. It's a FACT that pretty much every free-to-play MMO out there implements some sort of lockbox. If you want to blame someone, blame the whales. If people didn't buy this stuff, the companies would stop making them. They would also lay off a bunch of people, but... details. *shrugs*

    And MidNite, I am neither greedy nor jealous nor entitled when it comes to the ship promotions. But I still see issues. When a subscription MMO invites former players back in, they usually offer something like... have 5 days of free gametime. Or 10 days. Have a mount on top of it. Or a pet. Or some cosmetic item.
    A tier 6 ship is WAY more expensive than 5 or 10 or even 30 days of gametime. A code giving them 500 Zen? 1.000 Zen? A uniform pack? Maybe an exclusive epohh pet? Those would all be in line. If you feel like you have to throw a ship at these players that some of you more "faithful" players paid 30$ for? Well, I guess your opinion of this game is rather low when you have to "bribe" players like this to get them to come back...
    You call the angry players "greedy" and "entitled", I call that marketing department "insensitive".

    Another issue with these promotions is... well, it's a problem with "exclusivity" in STO in general. "Exclusive" ships are a problem because there are stats involved. Remember how many people got upset when they figured out that they couldn't complete some set because of "exclusivity"?
    I just explained how these T6 ship promo mails don't bother me personally, but I still see issues with them. Now let's go one step beyond... The T6 Nagus. Nobody knows how to get it and let's be real, some people are collectors/completionists. This kind of thing might trigger their OCD.
    Make it impossibly expensive and they might DECIDE that they are gonna pass. But if you take the CHOICE away from them a lot of people will get unhappy. If you were hell-bent on doing the Nagus promo... give those select few the T6 Nagus with the golden skin and give the ferengi enthusiasts/min-maxers/collectors some way to acquire a T6 Nagus with the regular skin.
    And yes, I remember the phoenix box. That might be a possible solution, but I'll believe it when I see it. ;)

    Exclusive cosmetics are WAY easier to "explain" than exclusive stats, but that would require the company to actually take a look at the competition to see what seems to work for others and try to adapt those findings to your own game. *cough* STO's awesome random Q! *cough* *cough*

    And when I say exclusive cosmetics... those mounts and pets and cosmetic items are "usually" using an existing model and just slap a different skin on it. Or they make the exclusive item first and then allow their players to acquire a re-skin. So in many cases it's not even an exclusive item, it's "just" an exclusive skin. And it works for all those other games...

    And now back to the infographic... Yes, I know what the executive producer said last year. No, it does not change anything. I explained it before... IF a game is successful, there WILL be some from of "bragging". If it's not important enough for a press release, they will do so during their quarterly earnings/conference calls. Or in this case... the annual infographic.
    So when the EP writes that this was: "the biggest year in the history of the game", there is NO WAY marketing would let that opportunity pass by. At least IF the marketing department was worth its money... They would work overtime to get something done.


    Console:

    Btw. I read that console players are unhappy because their in-game calendar has been telling them for over a month that they would be getting the anniversary event now. And just a day (or two?) ago someone at Cryptic/PW finally noticed that error and informed them that they would not get the event right now, but they would announce something about it "very soon".
  • stoodoggstoodogg Member Posts: 47 Arc User
    Indeed the 'console calender' boo-up.

    The item that our console man had listed on our show's calender for several weeks....

    oh wells, these things happen, its ok..... its ok....
    Panel member, Tribbles In Ecstasy
  • chozoelder2ndchozoelder2nd Member Posts: 440 Arc User
    edited February 2017
    1.) No. I tend not to back kickstarter projects unless it's something dear to me, which has been only once so far.

    2.) Free event ships! The Ho’kuun is lovely and I can't wait to get my hands on mine. Besides that, progressing through story episodes is what I always enjoy the most, especially when celebrities join in. It's about time Tony Todd joined STO.

    3.) Still don't play Timelines. I answered anyways to get a shot at those keys.


    Of Signs and Portents review
    Good, non-repetative space exploration in Star Trek Online almost seems abstract. Recommendations are always either too big in scope or they're far too small and not worth it. It got to the point where I thought the Foundry was our only resort.

    Then the recent episode came. Is it short? Yes, but it honestly scratches that Trek-ish discovery itch I've had. I commend the team for remembering players' requests and sprinkling it into our story. One gripe I have with this mission is contact with the Tzenkethi. I wanted more than just twenty seconds of talking with them.




    For the two queues, I'll go with Stoo's idea and infer how I feel about them through a little story.

    Gravity Kills
    "We collect enough particles to get passed the barrier protecting the anchors," Sun explained. "Then let gravity do the rest."

    "This is fun. Fighting against the pull adds new depth to the gameplay. It's like fighting in stormy seas," said Midnite at the first objective.

    *Two objectives later*

    "Okay, this is a lot rougher than before. Emergency power to engines!"

    "Can't," said Sun in a melancholy tone. "It's on cooldown."

    "Doh!"

    StooDogg exposed a wry grin. "Midnite, I perfectly understand the gravity of our predicament. Our situation really sucks. ;D"


    Tzenkethi Front
    "Arf. What do we do again? Arf," StooDogg asked Midnite.

    "Carry the bombs towards enemy bases."

    "Full impulse Stoo," ordered Midnite after capturing a bomb.

    *Nothing happened.*

    "Don't make me get the newspaper," threatened Sun.

    "I can't! Not with the bomb! We can't even deploy the bomb under this suppression! Where's our support!? Woof!"

    "Oh," said Sun nonchalantly. "They charged at the enemy. And yeah, they don't even know their weak spot."

    "You mean... Tzenkethi Front. Arf. ;D"

    "... I warned you," Sun said, grabbing the newspaper.

    Midnite sighed. "At least this isn't one of those DPS obsessed queues."


    If any facepalms were made while reading them, I regret nothing :P

    Edit: Just realized that I missed the deadline.
    NPH-dissapoint.gif
    Time is hard. Oh well.


    Feedback

    The criteria for the free ship email is completely random because there is no rhyme or reason to it. There is no pattern to be found with the people saying they've got one. I spent my grinded up Zen day 1 of the Archon/T6 Sovy release. If anyone would be salty about it, it would be someone like me that actually spent the Zen. It doesn't bother me because I don't expect free things. If I see a freebie, I take it gladly... and then that's the end of it. If I know that others get a ship and levels/spec points while I get squat, then... Oh well? Good for them? Better luck next time? I don't know how else I'm supposed to say this. At the end of the day, there are bigger things in life to be more upset about than missing out on freebies in a video game.
    SP9Pu.gif
  • garaks31garaks31 Member Posts: 2,845 Arc User
    of signs & portents review

    the episode is another good example, that missions can be done without placeholder fight options. good story good maps.

    for the first map recommending, fast ship and equipment.
    second map good story
    ground map beautiful map and a interesting revelation

    rewards are interesting. concentrating to speed abilities. will speed be important in future gameplay ?
  • darakossdarakoss Member Posts: 850 Arc User
    Great show as always..

    Of Signs and Portents review: Well...it was ok but after awhile it was very annoying to me. We have the Lukari whom we helped build a ship lead us through a mission to have US do all the scanning and guesswork on the mission while dragging along an angry Klingon who fought the Gorn/Voth hybrid reptile thingy creatures before (but maybe not since he has fake memories to begin with) and then confront said creatures without any type of diplomacy (which still should be the staple of a Fed char) and beam down and shoot them in the face. And protomatter isn't all that bad.

    Gravity Kills: Not too bad but all the loot ends up in the singularity. Played it a couple of times but was meh after awhile.

    Tzenkethi Front: Its Days of Doom with more bombs....pass.

    1. Not really
    2. Its the same as last years so......
    3. I still hate Timelines
    i-dont-always-funny-meme.jpg
    original join date 2010

    Member: Team Trekyards. Visit Trekyards today!
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