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Thoughts on STO in 2017
criticalthinker
Member Posts: 312 Arc User
Its not like there hasn't been some good in 2017 for the game. Some of the one off episodes were quite good when they were tying up old arcs. Brushfire and that one where we found the extra T'nae were highlights. The Halloween one-act got a little love with that amazing new Thriller emote which I thank the Cryptic gods every day for. Some of the new maps have been aboslutely jaw dropping in their quality including New Kentar, Dranuur, the Briar Patch, the So'Na facility in the Briar Patch, that planet we beamed down to to fight the lizard people before they blew it up whose name escapes me.
That being said this year, in my not so humble opinion, was a rather weak one. The new content was too few and far between and it wasn't even that good. I know people had misgivings about all the temporal shenanigans back in that arc but I think we can all admit at this point that venturing into the unknown that is the timestream was much more compelling then venturing into unknown space that seems toth be filling up with the profoundly obnoxious Lukari and the Tzenkethi or whom our character has absolutely failed to even attempt to open up a dialouge with. This arc has been plauged with plot holes and downright bad decisions on the part of the writing team. The Gon'Cra Nebula could have been hiding something much more interesting then the Mirrors and Smoke FE which stands as the worst most pretentious activity in game. I still havn't forgoten the major Prime Directive violation we pulled off in that episode. YEah we shot our way into the bussiness of an alien race that simply wants to be left to its own devices. I kept asking myself over the course of the arc when we are actually going to provide guidance to the Lukari. Kuumarke has become to bold and almost trigger happy and with this protomater technology it seems to me that they are building an empire in this space and we are just their patsies. The really forced conversations on the new fleet holding don't help matters when the Lukari are accusing the Kentari of being dirty cancerous blights on the universe just by dint of being Kentari. This arc has placed way to much focus on these two alien species that should have been just another one-off race from the Sunrise episode. If we were goin' to take an upstart race into the greater galactic community you know we have the Deferi just a couple of sectors over right? You already had a rich and unique alien culture that was entirely invented by you guys Cryptic! We already have an in with them and their potential for growth and storytelling is much better and that is forgeting that Ambassador Surah is an emensely more likable character then the too big for her britches Captain Kuumarke. Then there wer the last couple of episodes. As bad as Mirrors and Smoke was, the biggest dissapointment of the year was Beyond the Nexus. Here is an episode that could have been very experimental and out there. This was an exciting oppertunity to take some risks but it ended up being nothing more then a showcase for the new Galaxy interior that lasted a mere 30 minutes. The bad guy himself might have been an interesting concept but the execution was so poorly implemented that it bordered on outright terrible. We didn't even go into the Nexus. We just kinda sat outside a really bad faccimile of it. The last episode, Melting Pot, was better but still so filled with plot holes and that big reveal about the crystals the Tzenkethi have been trying to bomb only make the waters more muddled and not in a good way.
The story itself is just part of the many issues STO has had this year but its what this game relies on. Players keep coming back to play the latest FE. Perhaps the bar was set too high. We know Cryptic is capable of really good storytelling in STO. Hell, the rest of the game, including revamps of the old arcs, has been fantastic up until this point. 2018 may hold some surprises for us as we near the DS9 expansion and, though I'm not a DS9 fan myself, I do hold out hope that it opens up new storytelling opertunities that take us away from the Lukari and Kentari. If I were to make one suggestion to Cryptic it would be to not take the Delta Rising and Agents of Yesterday approach DS9 expansion. Nostalgia is not something that would work here. It worked in Delta Rising because of the huge impact, both positive and negative, that Voyager had on the various factions of the Delta Quadrant. It worked in Agents of Yesterday because of the 50th anniversery, TOS importance to the franchise, and how it fit nicely into the arc at the time. Since DS9 ended the Dominion has had much bigger fish to fry. Focus on the outcomes of the Iconian War on the state of the Dominion and look towards the future of the Gamma Quadrant, which we have already seen a bit of in the Time and Tides mission. This is an oppertunity to build relationships with the Dominion. It would be a bad idea, in my opinion, to focus too much on the past.
Hey, thats just one guys opinion though. What do you guys all think of STO's 2017?
That being said this year, in my not so humble opinion, was a rather weak one. The new content was too few and far between and it wasn't even that good. I know people had misgivings about all the temporal shenanigans back in that arc but I think we can all admit at this point that venturing into the unknown that is the timestream was much more compelling then venturing into unknown space that seems toth be filling up with the profoundly obnoxious Lukari and the Tzenkethi or whom our character has absolutely failed to even attempt to open up a dialouge with. This arc has been plauged with plot holes and downright bad decisions on the part of the writing team. The Gon'Cra Nebula could have been hiding something much more interesting then the Mirrors and Smoke FE which stands as the worst most pretentious activity in game. I still havn't forgoten the major Prime Directive violation we pulled off in that episode. YEah we shot our way into the bussiness of an alien race that simply wants to be left to its own devices. I kept asking myself over the course of the arc when we are actually going to provide guidance to the Lukari. Kuumarke has become to bold and almost trigger happy and with this protomater technology it seems to me that they are building an empire in this space and we are just their patsies. The really forced conversations on the new fleet holding don't help matters when the Lukari are accusing the Kentari of being dirty cancerous blights on the universe just by dint of being Kentari. This arc has placed way to much focus on these two alien species that should have been just another one-off race from the Sunrise episode. If we were goin' to take an upstart race into the greater galactic community you know we have the Deferi just a couple of sectors over right? You already had a rich and unique alien culture that was entirely invented by you guys Cryptic! We already have an in with them and their potential for growth and storytelling is much better and that is forgeting that Ambassador Surah is an emensely more likable character then the too big for her britches Captain Kuumarke. Then there wer the last couple of episodes. As bad as Mirrors and Smoke was, the biggest dissapointment of the year was Beyond the Nexus. Here is an episode that could have been very experimental and out there. This was an exciting oppertunity to take some risks but it ended up being nothing more then a showcase for the new Galaxy interior that lasted a mere 30 minutes. The bad guy himself might have been an interesting concept but the execution was so poorly implemented that it bordered on outright terrible. We didn't even go into the Nexus. We just kinda sat outside a really bad faccimile of it. The last episode, Melting Pot, was better but still so filled with plot holes and that big reveal about the crystals the Tzenkethi have been trying to bomb only make the waters more muddled and not in a good way.
The story itself is just part of the many issues STO has had this year but its what this game relies on. Players keep coming back to play the latest FE. Perhaps the bar was set too high. We know Cryptic is capable of really good storytelling in STO. Hell, the rest of the game, including revamps of the old arcs, has been fantastic up until this point. 2018 may hold some surprises for us as we near the DS9 expansion and, though I'm not a DS9 fan myself, I do hold out hope that it opens up new storytelling opertunities that take us away from the Lukari and Kentari. If I were to make one suggestion to Cryptic it would be to not take the Delta Rising and Agents of Yesterday approach DS9 expansion. Nostalgia is not something that would work here. It worked in Delta Rising because of the huge impact, both positive and negative, that Voyager had on the various factions of the Delta Quadrant. It worked in Agents of Yesterday because of the 50th anniversery, TOS importance to the franchise, and how it fit nicely into the arc at the time. Since DS9 ended the Dominion has had much bigger fish to fry. Focus on the outcomes of the Iconian War on the state of the Dominion and look towards the future of the Gamma Quadrant, which we have already seen a bit of in the Time and Tides mission. This is an oppertunity to build relationships with the Dominion. It would be a bad idea, in my opinion, to focus too much on the past.
Hey, thats just one guys opinion though. What do you guys all think of STO's 2017?
If I were to submit to the prevailing opinion for the sake of staying safe, either intellectually or physically, then I would be admiting that resistance is indeed futile, and borg implants give me a rash.
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The problem with 'guiding' the Lukari is that they don't really need that much guidance. The idea is that they already are the good guys; it is the Kentari that needed guidance on how to be more sustainable and a responsible agent in the galactic community. We're guiding them by helping them build a colony in a 'right' way.
The Deferi also seem a fairly mature species like the Lukari. So not choosing them as the species to be guided was a logical decision imo.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Yeah, Coldnapalm, got it right.
It is all about blowing things up with your ship for the video game parts....and collecting as much EC or DIL for the clicky game parts. Winter and Summer events for a change of pace.
And that is more than enough to keep me occupied. Granted, less run ins with RNG and Ferengis....would be welcome.
Players do not come back to do FEs for the story...they come back because it is different scenery and celebrity NPCs and new enemies to hit. Which gives the game a feeling of being refreshed for a few play throughs.
Story in this game is slow in coming, disjointed, not worth following, if anyone can follow it at all, and there are all kinds of loose ends. Which is just a reflection of the way they do development at Cryptic, and what STO has grown into. It is unwieldy.
(Shoot...Star Trek itself is a group of separate TV shows and self contained movies that don't go together but for the theme, stage and a few actors.)
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
If only the rest of the game was up to the same standards. Unfortunately, outside the episodes is all dilithium grind these days. Boring.
I'm perfectly fine with the story. I like the way it runs and I like being able to sign into the game and do whatever I feel like doing and not have people tease me over it. I RP whatever I'm doing (including my own take on story missions). I craft if I want to try different things. I don't mind playing an episode multiple times to grab matched sets. In fact, with a F2P account, she will likely play many repeated missions to get ship/ground sets.
It's mostly something to do when I'm not playing another game. At the moment, yarn crafting has taken precedence over games since I don't have a computer that can run the game for more than five minutes without freezing up for several minutes at a time.
Oh, and this forum takes much of my time too, to keep up with what's going on so I don't miss any goodies.
ummm... because my day isn't truly complete unless I aggravate a pompous windbag who refuses to accept the simple truth all of us on the Internet are attention-span challenged?
Matthew: Didn't you get my email explaining the situation?
Scott: I skimmed it.
Wallace: Mmm-mmm. [shakes his head]
Matthew: You will pay for YOUR INSOLENCE!
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With the nerfs of S13 that rendered gear worth hundreds of thousands of Dil obsolete and S14 that introduced a 80 mil Dil fleet holding with little to no offerings I think 2017 has been the worst year for STO since 2014 with the DR expansion.
Whatever global channels you subscribed to, whatever public map you like to see pop, whatever event maps’ instants you count… the decline in player numbers gets more and more obvious with each release.
Given the decision-making of this games administration, it is well deserved.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
-We got nerfed in S13 but that didnt mean the gear we worked on went down the toilet..I still have the same sets I use universally for any ship I have with only a very minor amount of tweaks, so no loss of anything substantial, pre S13..There are threads which debated this and concluded that with reworks of the skill tree and minor tuning of gear it want a big loss..
-The changes in fleet holding like the major inflow of DIL and EC was, and I am guessing here, to create a sink for both forms of currency to keep a stable market as since pre S13 dil t zen and vice versa was at and above the 400 dil mark per zen..
-Thanks to the endevour system (I assume) most of the time ques are popping more frequently which is good and shows that there is a player base present in droves..Public maps look/appear more populated..Sector space you can see quite a few players zipping around..So player declining I think not..You want to see declining then go and see what SWTOR did and still its struggling..
-You've had 4 episodes which had voice overs from the series, new fleet holding, new PvE's (Granted the competitive war games was a bust) addition to sector in the alpha quad, new reputation and a new skill tree..I assume this would feel less as the devs must be working on the new expansion coming in april..
-Introduction to a few new ship (some of which do look ugly and like female guppies waiting to give birth to a bunch of fry..)..
Adu-Uss Firefox NCC-93425-F (LVL 65 FED AoY ENG) UR/VR MKXV Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser (July 2016)
Jean-Uss Seratoga Ravenna (LVL 60 FED Delta ENG) UC/R MKVI Bajoran Escort (April 2018)
Dubsa-RRW Mnaudh (LVL 50 FED allied ROM Delta ENG) Warbird (May 2018)
Marop-IKS Orunthi (LVL 50 KNG Delta ENG) BoP (May 2018)
Kanak'lan-TRIBBLE (LVL 65 DOM Gamma ENG) TRIBBLE (June 2018)
I'm not arguing the whole SWTOR thing again as it's tiresome but this game seems top tier by comparison with it's year of nerfs and drought. The merge annoyed a whole continent (Australia) out of the game, though the merge itself made me quit.
Public Service? Yea, considering that every fleet in STO aims for a tier 5 colony at warp speed at the moment I can see the use for that channel as well. Speaks volumes for a successful release.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Disagree with a few of your points.
-Concerning the season 13 nerf it depends on the gear -certain gear went down the toilet. (See signature)
-The zen dil market went down before the colony holding..mostly thanks to the Phoenix box. Thought admittedly more sinks need to constantly be added like the Colony.
-The queues are no more populated then they were before the endeavor system. It's always the same queues that pop with any kind of regularity. Hope everyone likes Borg space missions and the 10 second crystal wonder.