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Difficulty scaling way off for new players
karmaj
Member Posts: 3 Arc User
Hiya! I'm a fairly new player. I really enjoy missions and enjoyed space combat up to 45 with no issues. After that the difficulty goes up so much with zero training on what to do. Even if there are optimum builds and all that jazz that seems like it should be goals for high end content and queues, etc. Should I really have to have ultra rare gear just to do the story arc stuff? From what I read it seems so! It really pushes away new players from the game.
Please consider lowering the difficulty of the story arc mission NPC battles. Thanks!
Please consider lowering the difficulty of the story arc mission NPC battles. Thanks!
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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What is your ship, what is your gear, and what bridge officer skills are you using?
I dunno, my main made it to 60 running a skittles build, and I had no appreciable problems.
We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
What part of the story missions are you at? The "newer" enemies have different tactics. I am sure you would do better to get pointers on how to deal with different NPC's. And some missions have little tricks to try out. It is not always about gear.
Just mention which NPCs or what part of the mission is being a pain...you will get pointers from the veterans that hang out here.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
The OP is correct in that the learning curve is really difficult for a new player. I would also argue that STO will always be more difficult than other MMO's in the beginning. This is because STO uses the Star Trek IP. This IP will attract more players that do not typically play an MMO and they will not be prepared to adapt like seasoned MMO players are. However, I don't think the OP is correct in his/her belief that optimal builds and high level gear are needed for story arc stuff. The OP just needs some basic help from a friendly player in game.
What ... is the level of this character right now?
What ... is the last mission/story arc you just finished?
What ... is your ship, and, do you want a glass cannon or a moderately armed bunker?
What ... is your budget? What kinds of currency (energy credits, dilithium, etc.) and how much do you have to spend?
What ... is the average velocity of an unladen swallow?
(Sorry, ignore that last question.) And by the way, I think Karmaj is on to something. I've heard players say the game is too hard, and I've heard players say the game is too easy. I think the game should have a broader difficulty selector so that more players can get the gaming experience that they want.
Sure, if you already know what you're doing you can make anything work. When I level up a new character I make no attempt to optimize anything and try different approaches just for the variety. But that's after playing steadily for 4 years and um, unsteadily? before that back to 2012.
My main was my first character TBH. I started playing her during the Summer event of 2014, and I had her to L60 by the end of the event. Only missions that ever gave me trouble were the ones where you don't fly your own ship.
We come in peace, SHOOT TO KILL!
It's also alot of content that allows you to enjoy it on normal for your roleplay purposes.
If you get stuck at a mission, I'm sure there's someone who can come, share the mission with you and "taxi" you through it.
The OP is incorrect, in that the learning curve is really shallow for a new player.
The STO learning curve may not be steep, but it's nevertheless a long trajectory, getting all Reps done, and all Spec trees. In fact, so long, that I would, at this point, no longer start a new toon from scratch (unless one is just looking for a cheap extra pylon for refining).
This I agree with. There was a bump in difficulty, iirc, around lv. 55 or so (when we went from 50-60). But I don't recall 45 ever having been a threshold of sorts.
Yeah, no. Nor for a new player. And probably not for most regular players, either (with just the white Mk X gear). But it *should* be doable for the ship he/she got, by the time lv 45 was reached. Still, never hurts to get some better gear.
OP, to the suggestions above, let me suggest that you buy white or green mk xii for any slot where you have less than most x. You may even find a blue or purple that's cheap as well.
After that, learn one thing at a time. The game got more fun for me once I stopped trying to be perfect, and instead focussed on smaller steps.
Finally, don't be afraid to rerun missions for gear, skipping cut scenes and moving faster the second time. This is especially true for bridge officer ground gear, as they need help surviving.
-Jeff
"Just because your problems are worse doesn't mean that my problems don't matter."
Part of what the OP said is correct which I agreed with. The game can be difficult to understand at higher levels for a new player for the reasons that I stated. The "fix" for that though is where the OP gets it wrong. Lowering the difficulty is not the answer because the game is not inherently difficult. It's just that new players typically have zero understanding of MMO's and how they work. A new player just needs someone to help them along IMO.
You're also not a new player.
An experienced player could do that.. a new player? no chance in hell.
I can't argue with that; but I was reacting mostly to you saying "I would also argue that STO will always be more difficult than other MMO's in the beginning." And that's probably not entirely accurate, as, like you say, STO is not inherently all that difficult.
I stopped trying to promote new player rights on this forum long ago as it never worked. it might of had something to do with my rotten personality back then more than the suggestion though. in any event, you aren't likely to find any support here for new players looking for the support you actually need since you are likely to get answers that completely avoid what you really want answered.
i wish the player base here was more supportive of new players even so, always too much bickering about taking the comment apart and blaming it on something else without knowing any of the facts first. we all started somewhere and it is like too many have forgotten that when they start getting into the mechanics of the game, like a newbie would know anything about it right away. baby steps lead to bigger steps, start from the beginning and work out.
Teach the basics, start learning how the basics work with the mechanics, start teaching about the mechanics and what helps the most. all the while gain experience on the game, teach about basic builds and rotations and later on start getting into the more varied build layouts, more advanced rotations, what powers work best when, how to exploit the best opportunity to get the most out of your weapons, mechanics and skills.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Story missions (on Normal), pre-level 50? Sure; but you initially said "it is quite possible to complete nearly all content in this game in the level 1 starter ship." That felt like a bit over-the-top.
In the beginning, everything is usually confusing and difficult. And I don't think there's a real way around that. Our brain simply can't handle that much info, all at once (at least mine couldn't *g*). It does help to have someone guide you a bit, though. I met a good guy once, who took me by the hand, and laid out the basics for me, like cooldowns, duplicate abilities, etc. Before that, LOL, I basically just occasionally pressed whatever happened to appear on my tray bar.
This game also lacks real tutorials: the kind where they try and explain rudimentary basics to you (it's currently more like where you can find stuff on the UI and such). That doesn't help, either.
I agree.
For every player that signs up here with issues we seem to have multiple others in game managing and doing fine.
I remember I had issues as well back in early 2012. What did I do? Research the www to see what could be done in this game to get better. Information material was much harder to find back at the day.
Sure the difficulty of STO increased by a lot since then but the networking of the community over the DPS league and other platforms makes it all the much easier for peeps to catch up.
As for the OP, I bet if he only followed two of Napalms suggestion he is already on his way again.
Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
Other than that most wobbles only really come when there's an xp event on and the pace far outstrips the gear rewards or drops.
I suppose there might be that assimilated undine which always aggro's and decides to come and fight on the bridge instead of their arena room or the super zippy borg ship that is plain tedious until it gets caught in the scenery. But those are more bad design/implementation than actually being hard.
So it is doable, but not something I myself would attempt to do.