Queues/TFOs, and why most of them don't get played

At the request of @tunebreaker, I've decided to try and reproduce my original statement.

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As some of the people who know me have experienced, I've had a small fascination with how game design can work. It is a hobby and I don't actively talk about it (I don't do anything active on the forums) but I do try to understand it; and in that endeavor I've learned a few things. I do not do this for a living; if I were to class what I do in anything it would be a systems person. I study engineering, but I'm deeply interested in the complexities of all things; how an object moves to the reactions of a person and the reasoning behind it.

So I won't pretend to have answers; I don't think anyone here can. We as players simply lack data to say anything, and our suggestions and assumptions are made on our perspectives of what we percieve to be doable.

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Firstly though, I want to start off on what I believe the fundamental flaw with queue design is; it's not simply time gates nor is it rewards, but it comes to a point which people toss around without a perceptive understanding of what it could be: that is engagement.

I do not at this time feel engaged in STO. I stay for the small community of friends I have made, the standard content of STO does not captivate me. Be this my being lumped into the "Elitist DPSers" who finish content to fast and without problems might have to do with it. ISA takes a few min and largely is risk free; I begin the queue and finish the queue with the same expectations - that I would win. Each time I get the same mark payout, and regardless of the actual numbers I know that it will take roughly the same amount of time. A time gate nor a reward increase will make me any more engaged in this queue. CCA holds the same lack of appeal. These queues have simply become a method of dil collection.

Then we go to Swarm. The first two portions occur based on a players ability to dispatch groups after interacting with something (which as it happens are fragile interacts - something I'm staunchly against - what happened to the crews of hundreds we have on board?), then transitioning to a time gated period. For the Hur'q who characteristically appear to have endless swarms it makes sense for them to have never ending waves of targets for us to kill. However, these appear to only spawn when a transport is about to be launched, so it becomes less of a swarm and more of a lane management simulator; we kill things as they spawn and then again in 45s, then to wait 60s for the next group.

Clockwork repetition for a full 15 min.

Engaging? Maybe the first few times but after that it loses its shine. Engagement is not a metric you can simply define as the amount of time a player spends in game, but instead I would measure it as a rate of actions over a given time. The more actions (UI clicks, ability activation's, spamming 'f' to interact with something) are how players act when engaged. The more actions the higher engagement; it's not perfect but its good enough. So when we have queues that do not adapt to how well a player performs it quickly loses its appeal. Instead of the wait between transports, you would expect transports to launch as soon as able. Yes this can take time to fill but the more you can release to the player the more they will have to be in combat; a dynamic environment where you know that as soon as once a lane finishes you need to get ready to do it all again not only generates excitement but tends to keep the mind slightly more focused on the topic.

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If there is to be the instance of time gates present, make them set and on a rotation (also referred to as an endless mode elsewhere in this thread). Having to defend a base and giving the group a choice to continue or leave after set number of waves or surviving an onslaught after a certain period of time; then increasing the reward payout as you increase in the number of cycles you go through. Personally I would enjoy this type of gameplay to that of any ISA or CCA. A new HSE to test a tanks prowess in the form of a proper survival mode.

I can honestly say I would be actively seeking out a team whenever possible to try this. The dynamic experience, similar to Kobayashi Maru but without having to protect a craft which has a terrible AI and is made of tissues.

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We can apply the same thing to Borg Disconnected in a similar idea, and also tie that into the idea of rewards. Recently I played this queue for the first time this year and found that within a few minutes we had completed the 15 freed ship requirement for the optional. I then found myself less willing to put energy into the game. I didn't use abilities as much, I didn't move my ship as much, and I really didn't care about freeing more. To me there appears to not be a reason to do so. Sure *maybe* there's some threshold of additional ships you need to free to qualify for more marks but I can't remember ever seeing a difference in payout. Then there's the issue of once you free the 15 borg your forced to sit and wait around for the next 5 to 10 min (or however long it is) until the next cinematic happens.

The players time has value, and that should be rewarded. If a group of players can exceed expectations of the queue they should be given something more; a chance at a very rare / ultra rare generic item (i.e. phaser beam with 4 mods). Note this is a chance. Have a pool of randomized resources that once you go over and above the queues expectations you get granted, and something the player might actually value.

More marks and more dil isnt the answer. As I spoke of before ISA and CCA all have pretty much standard payouts now and I fo in without worry about the outcome. However, if there was a chance I would get some neat new piece of gear or a pool of bonus salvage or commendation I might pay more attention, and try to cycle more queues.

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And that brings me to the final point, and that is the fundamental philosophy of queue design.

Take TFA. This is a queue introduced during the height of the plasma embassy console use and impact. The Tzenkethi have high shield resistances from all sides, and the plasma consoles made this a cake walk completely bypassing there unique gimmick. When S13 first dropped there was a clear inability for the average player to finish it. Designing a queue around a meta which will change, or a portion of the player base is not the way I see queues to be done; and while I highly doubt that it will have any impact into any future development of queues I feel that these should adapt to the players performance either by throwing more targets at a player or granting them a damage / HP increase, or both!

STO is the only game I can think of where portions of the player base actively avoid trying to improve performance numbers. Sure not everyone need be obsessed with DPS or %AtksIn or HPS, but there is such a flat subversion to the idea that a player should try to constantly obtain a greater ability that it boggles me.

Maybe this is due there being no feedback on a players actions during a queue; CCA has the 1st/2nd/3rd place rewards, but outside of that there's no way to judge performance. I have encountered more players in the last month of being back on a decent internet connection who believe themselves to be incredible tanks only to manage a measly 0.5% atksin. I can only believe this to be a misunderstanding of what tanking is (that being an act of seeking being shot at intentionally). Maybe this is my misunderstanding. None the less there exists a disjoint between what the player perceives to be their statistics and what happens in reality; be this from a distinct lack of explanation on some of the core mechanics (me being a systems-type person I thoroughly enjoy talking about these things but I know not everyone does) such as the fundamentals of damage or some other human response.

And no - presenting a parser in game to all is not the solution. STO is in the unique point where to implement such an thing now would shun everyone who doesn't care about their damage (which is the problem for some as I see it), so another solution is needed. As I said I don't have all the answers.

What I do know is that to pick any point in a players progression as the clear and defining "majority" ruins the queue before it even becomes a thing.

Focus on the high end and droves of players refuse to try it because they think they cannot, and make it to easy and then you flood the player base with the marks it would grant and it becomes something less of a queue and more of a guaranteed payout. Pick the middle and eventually you have the same of both problems in a lesser proportion which is where I feel ISA like queues are now.

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So fundamentally STO's queue problem is less one of time gates and rewards and more towards the philosophy of the game. A major shift is needed in my limited opinion; be this how a player is forced to evolve or a fundamental change in how a game pushes a player, at the end of the day a player who is not constantly challenged is one who will quickly grow un-engaged and isnt that the point after all? To keep the player in as long as possible and to foster a feeling of excitement and entertainment; not force desk work at the player and devolve the game space into one of constant repetition where their time isnt respected and where being great is just as rewarding as being good.

This is not something the devs can do on their own. This requires a greater sense of wholeness on the part of player base. We need less squabbling over DPS elitist and new players not knowing anything as if its a crime. If the player base can come together then maybe we can try and provide insight into what we want and work together to make the goals of the devs meet what players want more.

I know its a long shot and this isn't going to reach enough people to make the message known but a man can dream no?