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Mastery System - Any hope?

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  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,843 Arc User
    I would not mind a trait account unlock. we already have that to an extent. I look at traits as a course at the academy. mastery, however is something every alt should have to do. look at it this way. a trait would be how to rebuild a carburator.
    You learn how in class, and you may even have done it once or twice int hat class. does that make you a master? no.
    The very definition of the word suggests a lot of time invested in doing. only experience tells you that you can tweak A, and shave down B.
    Remember the discussion between Geordi and Scotty on the Jenolan when they were talking about bypassing part of the impulse drive? Geordi is competent, and had the trait, but Scotty had the Mastery. why? 30 years of DOING.
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  • ltminnsltminns Member Posts: 12,569 Arc User
    The T6 Mastery suggested above was what I originally thought that was being implemented, not an unlock so your other Alts could grind too.
    'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
    Judge Dan Haywood
    'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
    l don't know.
    l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
    That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
    Lt. Philip J. Minns
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    edited September 2019
    I have never been a fan of the trait unlock system, but even as an 'alt-aholic' who is changing builds on a weekly basis.. I still see no reason to grind every trait on every character.

    Honest truth, most starship traits.. I read it and say 'well, I'll never use that!.' These ships are either admiralty cards or they're ships I fly because I like them and I use other traits (Discoprise for example.)

    The current system is one I don't like, it does make things tedious for those of us that change things up a lot, but lets not blow things out of proportion, no one is going to grind every trait on every character..that's just silly. :lol:

    My opinion is unpopular, but I don't care. I think when you claim a ship from the C-Store or open the box it comes in, the trait should unlock immediately. I'm cool with still doing the other 4 stages of ship mastery, but the trait is something I paid for and I shouldn't have to do more in order to get it. I get the argument against it, but as someone that likes to try different things all the time, I just don't have time to master every ship who's trait I want to try.

    I hate the current system, but honestly.. I don't think they're going to change it so I just accept it.
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  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited September 2019
    I have never been a fan of the trait unlock system, but even as an 'alt-aholic' who is changing builds on a weekly basis.. I still see no reason to grind every trait on every character.

    Honest truth, most starship traits.. I read it and say 'well, I'll never use that!.' These ships are either admiralty cards or they're ships I fly because I like them and I use other traits (Discoprise for example.)

    The current system is one I don't like, it does make things tedious for those of us that change things up a lot, but lets not blow things out of proportion, no one is going to grind every trait on every character..that's just silly. :lol:

    My opinion is unpopular, but I don't care. I think when you claim a ship from the C-Store or open the box it comes in, the trait should unlock immediately. I'm cool with still doing the other 4 stages of ship mastery, but the trait is something I paid for and I shouldn't have to do more in order to get it. I get the argument against it, but as someone that likes to try different things all the time, I just don't have time to master every ship who's trait I want to try.

    I hate the current system, but honestly.. I don't think they're going to change it so I just accept it.

    I don’t think you opinion here is unpopular at all.

    Everybody who makes frequent use of the traits, especially on alts will agree. A good game binds players with fun in it. STO all too often needs to do it with annoyance.

    As usual it is easy for some players around here to advocate in favor of this system as they sinmply have no stake in it. ;)
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  • annemarie30annemarie30 Member Posts: 2,593 Arc User
    I would like to see an exchange where we could buy mastery points for fleet marks. those of us who are not in a fleet still manage to collect a lot, and it useless to us
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  • valorimvalorim Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited September 2019
    Actually, making Traits account unlocks would reduce time spent in game, because a player would no longer need to run Mastery on their various alts.

    I'd have to disagree with this point. IF your game is so bad that your retention is based making people grind out the SAME traits over and over, you have a bad game. This is not the case with STO, We already have over (100?) missions that some of which required 3 plays to get full sets of items, plus red alerts, plus the queues for missions, Christmas/anniversary events, Reruns for lobi crystals, ETC.. Plus ground missions (if you desperate for action)
    This game does NOT lack for content, and I dare say, engaging and fun content. So why wedge a system that wastes time for a game I WANT to play, and am not, cause I'm grinding.
  • valorimvalorim Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    edited September 2019
    I would like to see an exchange where we could buy mastery points for fleet marks. those of us who are not in a fleet still manage to collect a lot, and it useless to us

    I agree, A system that allows us to rebuy or reclaim traits is already in place with the Trait reclaim inside the dilitium store. Does anyone not have like a million expertise points? or fleet marks? or even dilitium?
    We were told that the "Account is the Player", the suggestion from the OP is valid and makes sense, Cryptic could monetize it too if they thought about it for more than 30 seconds.

    It's always funny when your players are actually asking you, "please let us spend money." But even this I have to say is better then the grind. Make it 10-50 zen coins to reclaim a trait for all I care, but something that lets us move on and get away from a tedious grind.
    Dont get me wrong, I like grind, when it is rewarding... Unlocking a trait you already unlocked (Maybe 6-10 times if your like me) NEVER feels rewarding. I'd gladly spend a buck or two to get over it. Supports STO, we get what we want, and people who hate spending money can still grind, Whatever.
    I'd much prefer they just unlocked across account with no cost, but my point still is, makes no sense not to address this issue in some way.
  • baddmoonrizinbaddmoonrizin Member Posts: 10,238 Community Moderator
    Buying the Trait is a bad idea. You already bought it when you bought the ship. You shouldn't have to buy it again to unlock it. Playing the game is enough to unlock it. Just make everything eligible for Mastery XP.
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  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    valorim wrote: »
    They didn't forsee anyone having 5 alts and wanting to unlock multiple masteries?
    Most MMO players in general tend to simply have one main, and rarely, if ever, make alts.

    Altaholics who create 5+ alts are in the extreme minority, so game devs rarely, if ever, design things in their favor.

    Whaat? You're joking right? I don't know anyone who doesn't have at least one of each faction, and most have several for each career. In other MMOs it's similar. We were told that the "Account is the Player", the suggestion from the OP is valid and makes sense, Cryptic could monetize it too if they thought about it for more than 30 seconds.

    I agree. A game with 3 careers and 6 factions totally encourages alting and claiming anything else nothing but a joke. :)
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    felisean wrote: »
    teamwork to reach a goal is awesome and highly appreciated
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    valorim wrote: »
    They didn't forsee anyone having 5 alts and wanting to unlock multiple masteries?
    Most MMO players in general tend to simply have one main, and rarely, if ever, make alts.

    Altaholics who create 5+ alts are in the extreme minority, so game devs rarely, if ever, design things in their favor.

    Whaat? You're joking right? I don't know anyone who doesn't have at least one of each faction, and most have several for each career. In other MMOs it's similar. We were told that the "Account is the Player", the suggestion from the OP is valid and makes sense, Cryptic could monetize it too if they thought about it for more than 30 seconds.

    That is largely how my alts have been, and moreover none of my alts fly the same ship, in order to differentiate them more with a different playstyle. Of course I was doing this since launch when alts weren't as punishing as now, but because of the huge reputation grind for a new character I've been very reticent to create new alts or to buy any new ships, because who is going to fly it?

    Still, my problem with the mastery system is how it largely does not work when playing most content. I was really hoping for a temporal recruit replay this year for a number of reasons, but among them was one thing I was really curious about. If I take a brand new character through the entire story in their T6 ship of choice, will it actually unlock mastery by the time they finish? I'm not sure it would.

    One thing I'd suggest is to give some bonus mastery progression for doing say a story mission or STF, just a once a day boost for that particular episode or STF so it makes doing those things more worthwhile for mastery progression. Maybe even just on the first completion for story episodes since they already alter dilithium rewards for that.
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    The 5 year anniversary infographic said 3.8 million captains across 2.5 million accounts, averaging 1.52 toons per account.

    Later infographics have not included both numbers in the same sheet, but the 8 year had 5.2m "players" (presumably accounts) and the 9 year 7.3m captains so the ratio has actually gone down. Which is to be expected as the game has turned more casual.
  • ltminnsltminns Member Posts: 12,569 Arc User
    'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
    Judge Dan Haywood
    'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
    l don't know.
    l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
    That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
    Lt. Philip J. Minns
  • valorimvalorim Member Posts: 36 Arc User
    I'll have to agree that any statistic which involves the words "accounts" is taking all numbers including both inactive and abandoned accounts (I had a mess up with my email once and there is an account under another email just sitting there, no characters at all)

    Sliding back towards the issue, stats and gaming culture aside. Even if there is a vast majority or a visible minority (I hope this is visible) who want to Alt, they shouldn't be penalized for doing such.
    You want to play our game MORE then everyone else? Okay we'll increase your "funload" (workload) by a order of magnitude.

    The impact of appeasing those who do want to alt, does not diminish those who don't. And I have to state that it is true that alting makes more money. Plain and simple, if you are buidling an alt, and you need something you otherwise wouldn't for you main character and you spend money on it. You have sucessfully spent additional money on alting, and anyone who does alt, knows this is true.
This discussion has been closed.