test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Bygone days...

colonelmarikcolonelmarik Member Posts: 2,199 Arc User
So, I've been rummaging around on my PC lately, and came upon a folder of old screenshots from when I first started playing. There was some neat stuff there, like my Andorian crew all walking with their guns held up as if aiming (they don't do that anymore), or my crew exploring one of the many random worlds generated by the old exploration system.

It made me very nostalgic, and rather sad. How I miss being able to beam down and just wander on a planet. I mean, I almost never see my crew anymore. Am I the only one that misses the old exploration system, limited as it was?

I also miss open missions. I remember being in a mission and suddenly another player would enter, and we would complete it together. That never happens anymore. I seem to remember it happening in the new patrol missions (limited as THEY are), but it doesn't seem to happen anymore.

How I long for the old days. Anyone else feel this way?
Once, I was simply called Mojo. Now, I'm forced into a new name, but don't be fooled, I'm the original STO Mojo!

This game needs detailed crafting, exploration and interaction systems.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
«1

Comments

  • westx211westx211 Member Posts: 42,206 Arc User
    Many many people still long for a revamped exploration system, but I doubt Cryptic will ever put forth the effort to do it. Hell they couldn't even be as*ed to revamp the foundry to make it easier for them to program and that was a massively popular system.

    I do long for the old days when I just played for fun, not because I have to log on to do some boring daily thing because the reward is too good to pass up.
    Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
  • baudlbaudl Member Posts: 4,060 Arc User
    Not missing the "Exploration-System" of yesteryear, because it was basically a 1d5 random grind for ... actually no reward.

    Yet, I understand what you mean...many games have the "Classic" experience these days, I can see STO getting a "Classic" Server appart from Holodeck.

    I think STO has gained way more than it has lost and I get their reasoning behind removing these Exploration Randoms...they were content fillers to actually get to max level and keep players engaged until new content was shipped. Once they had a solid base of story missions they were able to remove sub standard content.
    Go pro or go home
  • Good old days.
    But now I only see more money based stuff and more grinds in the future.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    Yeah I miss exploration too.

    The old system of randos joining a mission was interesting but awkward.
  • lordmerc22lordmerc22 Member Posts: 776 Arc User
    I also remember long time ago our ships started from the landing pads in Qonos which may not be much but felt more convincing
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    No win scenario, terra dome & mine trap. :'(
    animated.gif
    Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
    felisean wrote: »
    teamwork to reach a goal is awesome and highly appreciated
  • nikephorusnikephorus Member Posts: 2,744 Arc User
    No win scenario, terra dome & mine trap. :'(

    Oh man Mine Trap! I miss Mine Trap -that was a great way to earn Romulan Marks back in the day.
    Tza0PEl.png
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited October 2020
    > @nikephorus said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > Oh man Mine Trap! I miss Mine Trap -that was a great way to earn Romulan Marks back in the day.

    You are right mate it was. And even though it took 20 players to start it always had the habit of starting. :)
    animated.gif
    Looking for a fun PvE fleet? Join us at Omega Combat Division today.
    felisean wrote: »
    teamwork to reach a goal is awesome and highly appreciated
  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,844 Arc User
    let alone discovering the Third Borg Dynasty
    Spock.jpg

  • livinlifejb90#4082 livinlifejb90 Member Posts: 218 Arc User
    edited October 2020
    I wasn't around in the Elder Days. I didn't discover STO until around 2014 (i think?). But I do remember the Foundry and sorely miss it. It filled the gap in content that has been created by Cryptic. I never got to experience the Exploration or Diplomacy systems. And I wish I could have. I really wish there was more to STO. If its not the long wait between episodes, then all you're doing is space combat. In a game about exploring space, the world of STO is just very small without much to do at all. And I suspect that's because this game is just getting old, and deemed not worth pouring new resources into. STO is probably heading for the "maintenance" stage every MMO reaches before it shuts down for good.
    gQytlm7.jpg
  • rattler2rattler2 Member Posts: 57,973 Community Moderator
    And I suspect that's because this game is just getting old, and deemed not worth pouring new resources into. STO is probably heading for the "maintenance" stage every MMO reaches before it shuts down for good.

    Actually its doing pretty well for its age. We still have at least one confirmed arc after the current one that we the players know about, AND its active at the same time as current running shows. So the potential for new story arcs is still there.
    db80k0m-89201ed8-eadb-45d3-830f-bb2f0d4c0fe7.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2ExOGQ4ZWM2LTUyZjQtNDdiMS05YTI1LTVlYmZkYmJkOGM3N1wvZGI4MGswbS04OTIwMWVkOC1lYWRiLTQ1ZDMtODMwZi1iYjJmMGQ0YzBmZTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.8G-Pg35Qi8qxiKLjAofaKRH6fmNH3qAAEI628gW0eXc
    I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
    The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
  • shrimphead2015shrimphead2015 Member Posts: 527 Arc User
    Back in the day, I used to go into the exploration missions and play through them. Once they were done, I'd go back out into sector space (well, the cluster space), go to my bridge, and write up a Captain's Log that added depth to what had been going on.

    For example, suppose it was one of those supply missions, where a colony was asking for a number of shield generators. I'd provide them, then come up with a more detailed explanation... such as:

    "We arrived at Delta Vega (or whatever) in response to a distress call. Their astronomers had detected a stellar core fragment passing through their system. They already had sufficient equipment to handle the tectonic stresses, but their shield generators are 80 years old, and not up to protecting the colony from the radiation. I assigned Chief Engineer Rockford to upgrade their systems before the fragment arrives. He anticipates no trouble, but I have also assigned a medical team to the colony to assist with any problems with exposure. Just in case."

    I have a BUNCH of such entries in my logs. Some are pretty simple, some are pretty detailed. It was fun. I really miss it.

    It would have been cool if they could have set it up where you can talk in your mic and have the words type out on the log. It's worth the odd looks you'd probably get from anyone around you.

    "There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,165 Arc User
    edited October 2020
    There are a lot of good features that are missing now. TFO’s used to rank your performance with a player score and you got a bonus reward for being in 1st, not just DPS but teamwork, tanking and healing counted. Its still in use in CE and a few other TFO's today for getting first place and accolades. But we can no longer see the score while playing nor the rank chart at the end of the TFO. As the score and rank is now hidden few people know how to earn pts to get first place.

    There was also the hidden things. SB24 had that semi hidden Dreadnought at the back of the map to fight which gave you bonus points towards 1st place if you know about it and had the skill to take it on solo. Back then soloing a Dreadnought was a real challenge. Back then Dreadnoughts where real Dreadnought's. SB24 also had that semi hidden area where you fly to the middle of the space map, board the station to fight off ground NPC’s then rejoin the space map.

    The original Romulan Imperial Minefield I think it had a different name back then. In the space TFO you could fly to one of the damaged ships leaking plasma, board it, explore the ship and fight though NPC’s to the bridge to save the ship then re enter the space map. It was a little secret few people know about as it wasn't part of the mission. Kind of pointless to do mind you but was fun. Really wish they brought back SB24 as it had so much more depth to it then its replacement.

    I do miss the drop in and drop out of SB24 / Romulan Imperial Minefield map. I know we have battlezones but they are not the same. Also we went into the story missions and other random players would join. When and why did they remove that?
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,301 Arc User
    nikephorus wrote: »
    No win scenario, terra dome & mine trap. :'(

    Oh man Mine Trap! I miss Mine Trap -that was a great way to earn Romulan Marks back in the day.

    The perfect mission for Halloween.
    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • westx211westx211 Member Posts: 42,206 Arc User
    > @nikephorus said:
    > (Quote)
    >
    > Oh man Mine Trap! I miss Mine Trap -that was a great way to earn Romulan Marks back in the day.

    You are right mate it was. And even though it took 20 players to start it always had the habit of starting. :)

    Well back before Delta Rising all Fleet Actions were fairly quick queues, they were fairly popular, but after the mass exodus that happened with so many people leaving the game, most of the Fleet Actions died off, and I think at this point most of the fleet actions have either been converted into a 5 man "TFO" or are just removed from the game.
    Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    Back in the day, I used to go into the exploration missions and play through them. Once they were done, I'd go back out into sector space (well, the cluster space), go to my bridge, and write up a Captain's Log that added depth to what had been going on.

    For example, suppose it was one of those supply missions, where a colony was asking for a number of shield generators. I'd provide them, then come up with a more detailed explanation... such as:

    "We arrived at Delta Vega (or whatever) in response to a distress call. Their astronomers had detected a stellar core fragment passing through their system. They already had sufficient equipment to handle the tectonic stresses, but their shield generators are 80 years old, and not up to protecting the colony from the radiation. I assigned Chief Engineer Rockford to upgrade their systems before the fragment arrives. He anticipates no trouble, but I have also assigned a medical team to the colony to assist with any problems with exposure. Just in case."

    I have a BUNCH of such entries in my logs. Some are pretty simple, some are pretty detailed. It was fun. I really miss it.

    OMG Yes! I did that too, early on. They really did put some fun tools in this game originally, when it wasn't about grinding everything.
    pottsey5g wrote: »
    There are a lot of good features that are missing now. TFO’s used to rank your performance with a player score and you got a bonus reward for being in 1st, not just DPS but teamwork, tanking and healing counted. Its still in use in CE and a few other TFO's today for getting first place and accolades. But we can no longer see the score while playing nor the rank chart at the end of the TFO. As the score and rank is now hidden few people know how to earn pts to get first place.

    There was also the hidden things. SB24 had that semi hidden Dreadnought at the back of the map to fight which gave you bonus points towards 1st place if you know about it and had the skill to take it on solo. Back then soloing a Dreadnought was a real challenge. Back then Dreadnoughts where real Dreadnought's. SB24 also had that semi hidden area where you fly to the middle of the space map, board the station to fight off ground NPC’s then rejoin the space map.

    The original Romulan Imperial Minefield I think it had a different name back then. In the space TFO you could fly to one of the damaged ships leaking plasma, board it, explore the ship and fight though NPC’s to the bridge to save the ship then re enter the space map. It was a little secret few people know about as it wasn't part of the mission. Kind of pointless to do mind you but was fun. Really wish they brought back SB24 as it had so much more depth to it then its replacement.

    I do miss the drop in and drop out of SB24 / Romulan Imperial Minefield map. I know we have battlezones but they are not the same. Also we went into the story missions and other random players would join. When and why did they remove that?

    Yes I miss those old fleet actions and those hidden gems. It made the world feel a lot more real in some ways. Just fighting to get close enough to SB24 to beam over was a challenge sometimes. I think it was Klingon scout force that had another little one to beam into a runabout.
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,165 Arc User
    Back in the day, I used to go into the exploration missions and play through them. Once they were done, I'd go back out into sector space (well, the cluster space), go to my bridge, and write up a Captain's Log that added depth to what had been going on.

    For example, suppose it was one of those supply missions, where a colony was asking for a number of shield generators. I'd provide them, then come up with a more detailed explanation... such as:

    "We arrived at Delta Vega (or whatever) in response to a distress call. Their astronomers had detected a stellar core fragment passing through their system. They already had sufficient equipment to handle the tectonic stresses, but their shield generators are 80 years old, and not up to protecting the colony from the radiation. I assigned Chief Engineer Rockford to upgrade their systems before the fragment arrives. He anticipates no trouble, but I have also assigned a medical team to the colony to assist with any problems with exposure. Just in case."

    I have a BUNCH of such entries in my logs. Some are pretty simple, some are pretty detailed. It was fun. I really miss it.

    OMG Yes! I did that too, early on. They really did put some fun tools in this game originally, when it wasn't about grinding everything.
    pottsey5g wrote: »
    There are a lot of good features that are missing now. TFO’s used to rank your performance with a player score and you got a bonus reward for being in 1st, not just DPS but teamwork, tanking and healing counted. Its still in use in CE and a few other TFO's today for getting first place and accolades. But we can no longer see the score while playing nor the rank chart at the end of the TFO. As the score and rank is now hidden few people know how to earn pts to get first place.

    There was also the hidden things. SB24 had that semi hidden Dreadnought at the back of the map to fight which gave you bonus points towards 1st place if you know about it and had the skill to take it on solo. Back then soloing a Dreadnought was a real challenge. Back then Dreadnoughts where real Dreadnought's. SB24 also had that semi hidden area where you fly to the middle of the space map, board the station to fight off ground NPC’s then rejoin the space map.

    The original Romulan Imperial Minefield I think it had a different name back then. In the space TFO you could fly to one of the damaged ships leaking plasma, board it, explore the ship and fight though NPC’s to the bridge to save the ship then re enter the space map. It was a little secret few people know about as it wasn't part of the mission. Kind of pointless to do mind you but was fun. Really wish they brought back SB24 as it had so much more depth to it then its replacement.

    I do miss the drop in and drop out of SB24 / Romulan Imperial Minefield map. I know we have battlezones but they are not the same. Also we went into the story missions and other random players would join. When and why did they remove that?

    Yes I miss those old fleet actions and those hidden gems. It made the world feel a lot more real in some ways. Just fighting to get close enough to SB24 to beam over was a challenge sometimes. I think it was Klingon scout force that had another little one to beam into a runabout.
    I think it was that and how we moved around the map in the old days that made the entire world feel more alive. The new galaxy map is not only graphicly worse but the way we move around just removes that feeling of a living world. I know the changes are made for the benefit of the players but we lost a lot of atmosphere over the years.
  • psiameesepsiameese Member Posts: 1,644 Arc User
    What I think some veteran player's miss are the means of sharing the Star Trek Online experience more intimately than the game presents after ten years. It's changed. A lot.

    Cryptic Studios previously maintained a web-based server that permitted the Captain's Logs written inside to be shared outside of the game. We wrote from the perspective that we were the star of our own series. The fandom side of our playing was extremely infectious. The writing being shared served to inspire one another.

    I also miss other player's appearing on the mission maps and sharing in the completion of pretty much any mission.

    The game we share today is an almost entirely different experience. I imagine it would be a culture shock to anyone who played the first couple of years. Departed for greener gaming pastures. And then returned after the game hit ten years old.

    So. Now that we are in 2020. The newer player's can't miss what they never had. And can't understand why any of us could possibly miss such experiences.
    (/\) Exploring Star Trek Online Since July 2008 (/\)
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,001 Arc User
    > @psiameese said:
    > What I think some veteran player's miss are the means of sharing the Star Trek Online experience more intimately than the game presents after ten years. It's changed. A lot.
    >
    > Cryptic Studios previously maintained a web-based server that permitted the Captain's Logs written inside to be shared outside of the game. We wrote from the perspective that we were the star of our own series. The fandom side of our playing was extremely infectious. The writing being shared served to inspire one another.
    >
    > I also miss other player's appearing on the mission maps and sharing in the completion of pretty much any mission.
    >
    > The game we share today is an almost entirely different experience. I imagine it would be a culture shock to anyone who played the first couple of years. Departed for greener gaming pastures. And then returned after the game hit ten years old.
    >
    > So. Now that we are in 2020. The newer player's can't miss what they never had. And can't understand why any of us could possibly miss such experiences.

    Exactly. I did the same, writing logs and making up stories as I did exploration cluster chains. Even saved some of the unique aliens you encounter, made up rough outlines of their society during first contact
    lFC4bt2.gif
    ^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
    "No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
    "A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
    "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
  • lordmerc22lordmerc22 Member Posts: 776 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    westx211 wrote: »
    I do long for the old days when I just played for fun, not because I have to log on to do some boring daily thing because the reward is too good to pass up.

    Same. Wall-to-wall events, with rewards that players don't really want to miss, are clearly Cryptics modus operandi now and they obviously think this is necessary in order to keep players logging in. Not sure who is really responsible for that, but I do find it tiresome.

    Yes they overdone it with the events to the point we cannot pick our own activities for fun cause if we dont do the events we will miss X one time reward and then its only possible to get on Mudds at stupidly high prices. I miss the time when I was picking what I would do today and that next event was actually something anticipated since it wasnt so often as today. My most fun days are the 1 to 5 days we get free between events nowadays
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,001 Arc User
    I actually stopped doing the events. I used to be a completionist, but it was too much. I do the big ones for ships, but I actively chose to not play the three-week-back-to-back events any more.
    lFC4bt2.gif
    ^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
    "No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
    "A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
    "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,723 Arc User
    It is interesting to see this thread pop up while I've personally been having a growing concern of developmental stagnation.

    I realize covid is inhibiting deeper level changes for security reasons, but it also kind of feels like development has been plodding along a treadmill of the same things for a bit too long now. I do find it commendable that the team has been able to keep the content pace still rolling, but the lack of new long-term goals(Reputations, Specializations, Fleet Holdings, Endeavors, etc.) for the players to master does concern me. Furthermore, with the continuous gutting of existing systems(without adding new ones), it's creating a stagnant environment that lacks juxtaposition(each new addition just feels like 'more of the same').

  • snowwolf#0563 snowwolf Member Posts: 1,018 Arc User
    Star Trek Online has sadly developed more into a single player game with MMO features rather than being a full fledged MMO.

    I also miss the old exploration missions, hell.. I even miss the basic patrol missions. That they decided to not make replayable, I don't know why it it makes our huge map feel so much smaller. Because you can only visit most planets, once.

    And most episodes are just in the same places over and over again. STO has gotten a lot better but sometimes I miss the "good old days", heh'.

    For one I really miss Starbase 24 and it's interior rescue mission, we lost the interior mission then we lost the Starbase all together.

    I miss the big dig.. And yeah, these places are still in the game. Just not accessable, it makes the huge map feel so much smaller than it really is.

    Star Trek Online right now is a huge game of set-dressing, the actual places you can visit and explore are small. And most of them are a one time per character exploration.
This discussion has been closed.