Would be nice to know why they took it out of the game.
It may not always have been accurate (i.e. showed a dil weekend when it was a marks weekend) but it was super usefull to see how long an event was still going and count how much days you have left. I used it quite a lot.
It was a good QoL thing, and now it's gone without a replacement. They should give us more QoL stuff, not take away the ones we have o_O
(also to Cryptic/PWE: for the love of whatever, stop announcing things only on twitter, not everyone is using it, you have a website AND a forum, at least copy your twitter stuff over here, it's f*ing annoying to always ask others for stuff which should be on the site/forum. The forum has it's own part specificly for Patch Notes, USE IT -_-)
There are exactly 2 other (current) threads (about the removal) if you search for 'calendar', the first one is the patch note thread which is locked, and the other one was locked because it developed into a 'doom thread'.
Also there is no remark from the devs WHY the calendar was removed, or if there will be a replacement.
Maybe there are more people who want to say something involving this topic. Would be nice to at least hear the reasoning behind the removal.
"The calendar was an automated system based on what was scheduled in the event system.
The problem is, if the schedule was changed, the calendar would change only when we updated the game via a patch. So the shortest time bad info would sit there was a week, some times much longer."
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,565Community Moderator
And considering how Corona through a planetary sized Monkey Wrench into plans... yeeeaaaaa... And I can see how the calendar can give bad information. I mean look at how many times it called for a DL weekend, and it wasn't a DL weekend.
Honestly the only thing I used it for was identifying upcoming major events and seeing how long it was. But even when it accurately showed what was coming up, there was confusion over the last day of events because people assume that the last day shown is a FULL day. Not 10 AM Pacific or whenever a patch comes up. And people have complained about feeling cheated despite previous knowledge of Cryptic's patching schedule if it falls on a patch day.
They were supposed to be Dilithium Weekends but then when they decided to do another Infinity Promotion they swapped in Junior Officer Weekends for the Synergy. There were two other 'Events' going on simultaneously. So to not have four things going on, Dilithium was dropped.
'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
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,565Community Moderator
Basically... the schedule is subject to change. And the in game calendar wasn't adaptive enough without "emergency" maintenance on the server just to update the in game calendar.
Tnx for linking the Twitter message and Reddit thread. But why is the only info you get on the OFFICIAL FORUM from people copying what they said on Twitter/reddit/whatever...thats super annoying.
So basicly instead of fixing what was wrong and didn't work, they just killed it for good? I really hope they bring back a better version in the future, maybe a version which is taking the data from some form of online calendar? A possibility to access an online calendar/a calendar app ingame would be much better than no calendar at all, and wouldn't require a patch to be updated...
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,565Community Moderator
Don't forget we are talking about a 10 year old game with speggetti code. Pull on a noodle about something broken with the Tholians, the Borg break.
I won't deny that the forums don't get as much attention as social media platforms, but at the same time its partially our fault (our being general for forum users here) because of the vitriol that gets thrown at them so often on the forums for not doing something, or doing something, or just frankly existing.
Would you want to poke your head into a room knowing you're most likely going to take flak to the face point blank over some decision or change made to the game, even if you weren't involved with said decision or change?
> Would you want to poke your head into a room knowing you're most likely going to take flak to the face point blank over some decision or change made to the game, even if you weren't involved with said decision or change?
See: the complaints in the personnel tab unlocks thread.
Cryptic: hey players, here's a gift!
(Some) Players: Spits on Cryptic because it's the wrong gift, the food is terrible, and the portions are too small.
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,565Community Moderator
Pretty much.
Fact of life on the STO forums:
Cryptic does something, people complain.
Cryptic doesn't do something, people complain.
Cryptic EXISTS, people complain.
Fact of life on the STO forums:
Cryptic does something, people complain.
Cryptic doesn't do something, people complain.
Cryptic EXISTS, people complain.
Lazy. Keeping your players appraised of upcoming stuff is CUSTOMER SERVICE.
"Can't Bother to Put This Detail on the Website or Forums."
Also lazy. I don't CARE how much vitriol you encounter here, it's CUSTOMER SERVICE.
If I couldn't do these two simple things in my job, I'd be FIRED.
There are a lot of "simple things" on my to-do list, almost always more than there is time to include in the next product release. I do as many of the higher-priority items as will fit into the schedule, then hold the rest for the next release or later.
That's the real world: there isn't always time to do everything you want to, or that our customers want us to do either.
(My employer is not Cryptic.)
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,565Community Moderator
Also ignores the fact that AmbassadorKael even said that the removal of the Calendar SHOULD have been in the Patch Notes.
This seems to be the Cryptic motto lately. Seems we're hearing this more and more lately and frankly, I find it surprising that some people consider this a valid reason for everything.
This wouldn't even be a big deal if we received regular and accurate news from Cryptic, but we don't have that either. So now we have basically nothing to go on without an in game Calendar. The Calendar was worth fixing, it was the only way the players had to know of upcoming events. Unfortunately, since we're left with a CM that doesn't give accurate or timely information, there is no alternate avenue for players to take for information. When news is posted, it's sometimes posted here, sometimes only on Twitter, sometimes on Reddit or Facebook.. it's anyone's guess. And then if you do find the information.. who knows if it's accurate?
Is this a sign of Doom? Certainly not. Is it a good direction for the game? Absolutely not. Personally, I am getting tired of hearing 'it was too much work to fix.' That to me is not an acceptable reason to just remove things that have an actual purpose.
Also ignores the fact that AmbassadorKael even said that the removal of the Calendar SHOULD have been in the Patch Notes.
Again, lazy. Should have been.. but wasn't. Why? Because no one checks they just hit 'post.'
If it sounds like I am being harsh it's because people have been asking nicely for years without any improvement in this area. The time to be nice is over.
And now the people that do this, the people that can't take 5 minutes to proof read or spell check an announcement are our only source for current information. Spell Check is 'too much work' but they're going to take the time to make sure we get timely and accurate information?
This seems to be the Cryptic motto lately. Seems we're hearing this more and more lately and frankly, I find it surprising that some people consider this a valid reason for everything.
They certainly could do better.
I just take the glass half full view and remind myself that we're still getting new ships, TFOs, and even a new story episode now and then, unlike the withered husk of SWTOR.
If they have to shed nice but less important features in order to keep the core game moving forward, I can accept that even if it's not ideal.
This seems to be the Cryptic motto lately. Seems we're hearing this more and more lately and frankly, I find it surprising that some people consider this a valid reason for everything.
They certainly could do better.
I just take the glass half full view and remind myself that we're still getting new ships, TFOs, and even a new story episode now and then, unlike the withered husk of SWTOR.
If they have to shed nice but less important features in order to keep the core game moving forward, I can accept that even if it's not ideal.
This is how I feel too.
Now a LTS and loving it.
Just because you spend money on this game, it does not entitle you to be a jerk if things don't go your way.
I have come to the conclusion that I have a memory like Etch-A-Sketch. I shake my head and forget everything.
> @rattler2 said: > I won't deny that the forums don't get as much attention as social media platforms, but at the same time its partially our fault (our being general for forum users here) because of the vitriol that gets thrown at them so often on the forums for not doing something, or doing something, or just frankly existing. > Would you want to poke your head into a room knowing you're most likely going to take flak to the face point blank over some decision or change made to the game, even if you weren't involved with said decision or change?
There is just as much complaing/vitriol on reddit as there is here, but the devs still post there way more than here. So for whatever reason they simply prefer other places to this one.
...because of the vitriol that gets thrown at them so often on the forums for not doing something, or doing something, or just frankly existing.
And those exact people giving all that vitriol, would be the ones crying the *loudest* if Cryptic actually disbanded or discontinued STO.
Also... a calendar. That's what people cry about. A frikkin' calendar, the symbol of time's slavery. Got no other hobbies? Almost everything has a calendar nowadays... open the news-page of STO and note interesting announcements into Windows' calendar if you're that keen on it. Problem solved.
Twice, now, "It was too hard to fix" has been one of the excuses given for the removal of an element of the game.
I don't remember if they actually came out and said it, but exploration was too hard to fix as well... Whenever they found a bugged exploration map, they never actually fixed it, except for very early on. It wasn't long before the offending maps were just removed from the pool.
PvP is too hard for them to fix.
Ship interiors are too hard to do anything with
How long before these elements are just removed as well?
While they may have only used the words 'too hard to fix' once or twice, we have seen numerous comments about bugs, features or requests being 'on the agenda for when they get time.' They have used this many times that something is being looked into and will be done when they have time. I get that they're a small studio but it starts to make you wonder what they're so busy working on all the time. Ship interiors were at least a slightly different story, that one they just said there wasn't enough money in it compared to the time needed. At least that one had a reason, one that made sense to me. It's an obviously common theme that's recognizable by anyone that isn't deluded by a blind desire to defend Cryptic to the end.
There is just as much complaing/vitriol on reddit as there is here, but the devs still post there way more than here. So for whatever reason they simply prefer other places to this one.
This is indeed true, but I have noticed they're posting a lot less over there as well. Occasionally Kael will post a line or two, but he has clearly been moving toward twitter only as a source of information.
Even just pasting his own tweet on Reddit or this forum is too much work for him these days. It's usually up to the community to do it for him.
That is not a good move Keep the in game calendar. We all use it. Set up one crew member to get the news from the devs and keep the thing up to date. How hard is that? As if you are listening but my vote is to keep it!
That's a good one. The last times I noticed people paying attention to the in-game-calendar, they ended up confused.
I would dare to say that most people just looked at the news-page or into the 'events'-section in-game to see when events start/end.
I would look at the calendar, for Red Alerts, my little nephew and my little niece have their own accounts now, they love the Red Alerts, we get together and run RAs all day lol.
"Nuke the entire site from orbit--it's the only way to be sure"
Comments
It may not always have been accurate (i.e. showed a dil weekend when it was a marks weekend) but it was super usefull to see how long an event was still going and count how much days you have left. I used it quite a lot.
It was a good QoL thing, and now it's gone without a replacement. They should give us more QoL stuff, not take away the ones we have o_O
(also to Cryptic/PWE: for the love of whatever, stop announcing things only on twitter, not everyone is using it, you have a website AND a forum, at least copy your twitter stuff over here, it's f*ing annoying to always ask others for stuff which should be on the site/forum. The forum has it's own part specificly for Patch Notes, USE IT -_-)
search before posting
Also there is no remark from the devs WHY the calendar was removed, or if there will be a replacement.
Maybe there are more people who want to say something involving this topic. Would be nice to at least hear the reasoning behind the removal.
Addition information from a reddit thread
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/hbiwkl/dear_ambassador_kael_can_you_please_explain_why/fv9g2xf/?context=3
"The calendar was an automated system based on what was scheduled in the event system.
The problem is, if the schedule was changed, the calendar would change only when we updated the game via a patch. So the shortest time bad info would sit there was a week, some times much longer."
Honestly the only thing I used it for was identifying upcoming major events and seeing how long it was. But even when it accurately showed what was coming up, there was confusion over the last day of events because people assume that the last day shown is a FULL day. Not 10 AM Pacific or whenever a patch comes up. And people have complained about feeling cheated despite previous knowledge of Cryptic's patching schedule if it falls on a patch day.
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.'
So basicly instead of fixing what was wrong and didn't work, they just killed it for good? I really hope they bring back a better version in the future, maybe a version which is taking the data from some form of online calendar? A possibility to access an online calendar/a calendar app ingame would be much better than no calendar at all, and wouldn't require a patch to be updated...
I won't deny that the forums don't get as much attention as social media platforms, but at the same time its partially our fault (our being general for forum users here) because of the vitriol that gets thrown at them so often on the forums for not doing something, or doing something, or just frankly existing.
Would you want to poke your head into a room knowing you're most likely going to take flak to the face point blank over some decision or change made to the game, even if you weren't involved with said decision or change?
See: the complaints in the personnel tab unlocks thread.
Cryptic: hey players, here's a gift!
(Some) Players: Spits on Cryptic because it's the wrong gift, the food is terrible, and the portions are too small.
Fact of life on the STO forums:
Cryptic does something, people complain.
Cryptic doesn't do something, people complain.
Cryptic EXISTS, people complain.
My character Tsin'xing
Lazy. Keeping your players appraised of upcoming stuff is CUSTOMER SERVICE.
"Can't Bother to Put This Detail on the Website or Forums."
Also lazy. I don't CARE how much vitriol you encounter here, it's CUSTOMER SERVICE.
If I couldn't do these two simple things in my job, I'd be FIRED.
There are a lot of "simple things" on my to-do list, almost always more than there is time to include in the next product release. I do as many of the higher-priority items as will fit into the schedule, then hold the rest for the next release or later.
That's the real world: there isn't always time to do everything you want to, or that our customers want us to do either.
(My employer is not Cryptic.)
This seems to be the Cryptic motto lately. Seems we're hearing this more and more lately and frankly, I find it surprising that some people consider this a valid reason for everything.
This wouldn't even be a big deal if we received regular and accurate news from Cryptic, but we don't have that either. So now we have basically nothing to go on without an in game Calendar. The Calendar was worth fixing, it was the only way the players had to know of upcoming events. Unfortunately, since we're left with a CM that doesn't give accurate or timely information, there is no alternate avenue for players to take for information. When news is posted, it's sometimes posted here, sometimes only on Twitter, sometimes on Reddit or Facebook.. it's anyone's guess. And then if you do find the information.. who knows if it's accurate?
Is this a sign of Doom? Certainly not. Is it a good direction for the game? Absolutely not. Personally, I am getting tired of hearing 'it was too much work to fix.' That to me is not an acceptable reason to just remove things that have an actual purpose.
Again, lazy. Should have been.. but wasn't. Why? Because no one checks they just hit 'post.'
If it sounds like I am being harsh it's because people have been asking nicely for years without any improvement in this area. The time to be nice is over.
And now the people that do this, the people that can't take 5 minutes to proof read or spell check an announcement are our only source for current information. Spell Check is 'too much work' but they're going to take the time to make sure we get timely and accurate information?
Yeah.. this is going to go well.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/forums/startrekonline#/discussion/1247522/foundry-sunset-april-11th-2019/p15
Look at my post about a Foundry Ship
BRING BACK THE FOUNDRY!
They certainly could do better.
I just take the glass half full view and remind myself that we're still getting new ships, TFOs, and even a new story episode now and then, unlike the withered husk of SWTOR.
If they have to shed nice but less important features in order to keep the core game moving forward, I can accept that even if it's not ideal.
This is how I feel too.
> I won't deny that the forums don't get as much attention as social media platforms, but at the same time its partially our fault (our being general for forum users here) because of the vitriol that gets thrown at them so often on the forums for not doing something, or doing something, or just frankly existing.
> Would you want to poke your head into a room knowing you're most likely going to take flak to the face point blank over some decision or change made to the game, even if you weren't involved with said decision or change?
There is just as much complaing/vitriol on reddit as there is here, but the devs still post there way more than here. So for whatever reason they simply prefer other places to this one.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
And those exact people giving all that vitriol, would be the ones crying the *loudest* if Cryptic actually disbanded or discontinued STO.
Also... a calendar. That's what people cry about. A frikkin' calendar, the symbol of time's slavery. Got no other hobbies? Almost everything has a calendar nowadays... open the news-page of STO and note interesting announcements into Windows' calendar if you're that keen on it. Problem solved.
While they may have only used the words 'too hard to fix' once or twice, we have seen numerous comments about bugs, features or requests being 'on the agenda for when they get time.' They have used this many times that something is being looked into and will be done when they have time. I get that they're a small studio but it starts to make you wonder what they're so busy working on all the time. Ship interiors were at least a slightly different story, that one they just said there wasn't enough money in it compared to the time needed. At least that one had a reason, one that made sense to me. It's an obviously common theme that's recognizable by anyone that isn't deluded by a blind desire to defend Cryptic to the end.
This is indeed true, but I have noticed they're posting a lot less over there as well. Occasionally Kael will post a line or two, but he has clearly been moving toward twitter only as a source of information.
Even just pasting his own tweet on Reddit or this forum is too much work for him these days. It's usually up to the community to do it for him.
That's a good one. The last times I noticed people paying attention to the in-game-calendar, they ended up confused.
I would dare to say that most people just looked at the news-page or into the 'events'-section in-game to see when events start/end.
I would look at the calendar, for Red Alerts, my little nephew and my little niece have their own accounts now, they love the Red Alerts, we get together and run RAs all day lol.