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Bygone days...

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  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,301 Arc User
    angrytarg wrote: »
    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.

    The current event certainly has taken its toll.
    I just casually did the mission and turned it in on a character on days i did not feel like doing the TFO or simply did not have the time for a time gated 20-25 minute run.
    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.
  • theantisainttheantisaint Member Posts: 170 Arc User
    szerontzur wrote: »
    but the lack of new long-term goals(Reputations, Specializations, Fleet Holdings, Endeavors, etc.) for the players to master does concern me.
    They stopped doing reputations and fleet holdings because people complained there were too many of them, and they didn't want more.

    Unfortunately, the various fleets I've been in have fizzled out...especially the Klink fleets. If they did have new holdings...they'd never get completed; a majority of the players have moved on to other games/greener pastures.

    As for reps...a Cardi rep...with an omni-spiral, and a playable Vorta/BOff would be nice...
  • szerontzurszerontzur Member Posts: 2,723 Arc User
    szerontzur wrote: »
    but the lack of new long-term goals(Reputations, Specializations, Fleet Holdings, Endeavors, etc.) for the players to master does concern me.
    They stopped doing reputations and fleet holdings because people complained there were too many of them, and they didn't want more.

    I'm aware of the hearsay excuse, although I don't subscribe to it. (The only issue I have with more reputations is that Elite Marks take up inventory space for NO justifiable reason.)

    We still don't have any good fleet consoles for 'healing' builds - I would love to see some 2xSIF or 2xEmitter Arrays akin to the 2xDrain ones we have. There's plenty of room to make more hybrid kit abilities as well. Heck, they could even do something really wacky and make energy weapons with kinetic damage types(or vice versa) as a new style of fleet gear.

    Slowly chewing on Max Reputations on my various alts is probably one of my main motivations to hop on during events and whatnot(that and damage type endeavors help to keep the daily event grind semi-interesting). That said, I would much rather see them go back and add more stuff to the existing ones(especially if they don't really want to make more). Specifically: Add a hangar pet, experimental weapon, and Warp/Sing Core to all of the existing reputations that do not have them. This seems like the very least that "should" be done.

    In terms of new Reputations, There are 3 I'd like to see. A Rep in Alpha Quadrant dealing with the Breen and the ability to get Cold Damage/Resist themed (space)gear. It would be a good excuse to revamp the Breen/Defera arc too. Second, I'd like to see a Beta Quadrant 'Pirate League' reputation involving the Orion Syndicate and other criminal organizations(with various 'policing' gear as rewards - maybe some Judge Dredd homages). Third, I'd love something a bit more tongue-in-cheek like an "Anti-Space Monster Task Force"(Space-EDF) reputation with more exotic damage types(Fire/Electric/Psionic) - both weaponized and resistances against it(there could also be new fleet gear to combat these damage types). I really do wish we had more 'Space Monsters'/Exotic Lifeforms in this game(it's probably one of the biggest things I miss from an old MMO called Earth and Beyond). "Attack of the Giant Killer Space-Dragons and Amoebae!!".. and all that; maybe make it a Captain Proton holo-saga thing.

    As for Specializations.. I would love to see a full Strategist spec with inverse weapon attacks(a cannon mode that has 360 cannon coverage like BFAW; a beam mode that can focus fire down a 'cone' like CSV) and stuff like an AOE(absorb hits in place of nearby allies) version of Reverse Shield Polarity and Deployable Fire Base/Targeting Satellites that pulse firing haste and accuracy to nearby allies. Likewise, Constable could be expanded with "Police" ships that could be equipped with various interdiction abilities like a built-in blink/micro-warp and conal snare/drain projectors.

    Outside the box, what I've really wanted is more localized space-ecologies. One thing I miss about the old sector maps is how each region of space felt like it had its own flavor as you traveled through it. Even background ambience like seeing Gorn Ships cruising to-from Gorn systems would help immensely. It'd be even more interesting if you could actually fly up and interact with them to initiate a patrol where you escort/intercept them. Alternatively, you could speak with merchants aboard stations and contract a trade route patrol/queue to built reputations with the local micro-factions(perhaps earning things like visual cosmetics - Bolian engine trails or whatever). However, some factions don't like each other, so you couldn't please everyone(at the same time).
  • theantisainttheantisaint Member Posts: 170 Arc User
    Unfortunately, the various fleets I've been in have fizzled out...especially the Klink fleets. If they did have new holdings...they'd never get completed; a majority of the players have moved on to other games/greener pastures.

    As for reps...a Cardi rep...with an omni-spiral, and a playable Vorta/BOff would be nice...
    Actually, according to Cryptic, the last two years for STO have been in its two three years, with the Discovery content breaking records of even ViL. I've generally seen more people on, and more active fleet, recently. So I can't really agree that a majority of the players have moved on the other games... when theres more people playing now then before.

    And run that rep past everyone else.

    Color me a skeptic on the population increase...that is a metric I cannot, nor will I ever be able to, verify for myself. I go from what my personal experience tells me, and that experience involves many dead fleets.
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User

    Color me a skeptic on the population increase...that is a metric I cannot, nor will I ever be able to, verify for myself. I go from what my personal experience tells me, and that experience involves many dead fleets.

    For sure!

    That the player population declines feels obvious on multiple fronts:

    - fleet roster
    - friend list
    - number of instances in public maps
    - activity in public chats dedicated to in game activities
    - waiting time for queued PvE maps
    - post counts in all game related forums

    For those around long enough it is also obvious that this decline did not happen slowly but in clear intervals after particularly BAD Cryptic releases:

    - Delta Rising with its increased character progression demands to cope with increased difficulty
    - Balance checks of game items/powers of S13
    - Dranuur Colony holding requiring to trash 50-80 mil Dil for getting nothing

    One can even see it as an acknowledgement from Cryptic that they errored with those releases as we never got anything like those again. If so only in very small and guided amounts (character progression curve, singular nerfs) with fleets being not supported at all anymore.

    A shill advertising here that Cryptic is happy with how the game is doing and that "modern mmorpg player" play games all that different (lol yea by constantly replaying story content on their own for sure) does not change the impression I have to the slightest. ;)
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    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
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,164 Arc User
    My understanding is there was a lot of influx of new players but they wouldn’t stay around long or be as active spending both less weekly hours in game and mostly be gone after 6 to 8 months with an average of around 50hours of play time.

    As was shown in another thread the steam active user data seems to corresponding with server population’s of active players and there are clear spikes and drops. There was a steady drop in active players throughout 2019. But on 20th Jan 2020 there was a large spike of new players followed by an average drop over Jan 2020 till Oct 2020

    The average daily players is lower than past years but has been higher throughout 2020 then 2019. So I think its fair to say the game is more health this year then last year.
  • westx211westx211 Member Posts: 42,205 Arc User

    Color me a skeptic on the population increase...that is a metric I cannot, nor will I ever be able to, verify for myself. I go from what my personal experience tells me, and that experience involves many dead fleets.

    For sure!

    That the player population declines feels obvious on multiple fronts:

    - fleet roster
    - friend list
    - number of instances in public maps
    - activity in public chats dedicated to in game activities
    - waiting time for queued PvE maps
    - post counts in all game related forums

    For those around long enough it is also obvious that this decline did not happen slowly but in clear intervals after particularly BAD Cryptic releases:

    - Delta Rising with its increased character progression demands to cope with increased difficulty
    - Balance checks of game items/powers of S13
    - Dranuur Colony holding requiring to trash 50-80 mil Dil for getting nothing

    One can even see it as an acknowledgement from Cryptic that they errored with those releases as we never got anything like those again. If so only in very small and guided amounts (character progression curve, singular nerfs) with fleets being not supported at all anymore.

    A shill advertising here that Cryptic is happy with how the game is doing and that "modern mmorpg player" play games all that different (lol yea by constantly replaying story content on their own for sure) does not change the impression I have to the slightest. ;)

    I believe there's a meme about Delta Rising from something Cryptic said as the playerbase numbers plummeted. "Delta Rising is the Best Expansion ever and the players love it"

    Some people on the forums refuse to accept that these drops happen, as they seem to not understand that of course Cryptic isn't going to admit that they lost significant amounts of players due to poor decisions they made. It would be bad business to admit that they messed up on that scale, better to act like nothing happened and sweep it under the rug.

    (Another bit of evidence is how Fleet Actions, the 20 player queues were removed steadily after Delta Rising, which had the biggest player drop because queues suffered so much after that exodus)
    Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
  • fallenkezef#4581 fallenkezef Member Posts: 644 Arc User
    As far as colony holdings go, an oupost in the mirror universe could be fun.
  • varethaelvarethael Member Posts: 79 Arc User
    pottsey5g wrote: »
    The average daily players is lower than past years but has been higher throughout 2020 then 2019. So I think its fair to say the game is more health this year then last year.

    It was higher because of Covid-19 and quarantine lock-downs. If not for this i, and many other players would never returned for this broken (most of the systems not works as it should) game.
  • pottsey5gpottsey5g Member Posts: 4,164 Arc User
    edited November 2020
    westx211 wrote: »

    Color me a skeptic on the population increase...that is a metric I cannot, nor will I ever be able to, verify for myself. I go from what my personal experience tells me, and that experience involves many dead fleets.

    For sure!

    That the player population declines feels obvious on multiple fronts:

    - fleet roster
    - friend list
    - number of instances in public maps
    - activity in public chats dedicated to in game activities
    - waiting time for queued PvE maps
    - post counts in all game related forums

    For those around long enough it is also obvious that this decline did not happen slowly but in clear intervals after particularly BAD Cryptic releases:

    - Delta Rising with its increased character progression demands to cope with increased difficulty
    - Balance checks of game items/powers of S13
    - Dranuur Colony holding requiring to trash 50-80 mil Dil for getting nothing

    One can even see it as an acknowledgement from Cryptic that they errored with those releases as we never got anything like those again. If so only in very small and guided amounts (character progression curve, singular nerfs) with fleets being not supported at all anymore.

    A shill advertising here that Cryptic is happy with how the game is doing and that "modern mmorpg player" play games all that different (lol yea by constantly replaying story content on their own for sure) does not change the impression I have to the slightest. ;)

    I believe there's a meme about Delta Rising from something Cryptic said as the playerbase numbers plummeted. "Delta Rising is the Best Expansion ever and the players love it"

    Some people on the forums refuse to accept that these drops happen, as they seem to not understand that of course Cryptic isn't going to admit that they lost significant amounts of players due to poor decisions they made. It would be bad business to admit that they messed up on that scale, better to act like nothing happened and sweep it under the rug.

    (Another bit of evidence is how Fleet Actions, the 20 player queues were removed steadily after Delta Rising, which had the biggest player drop because queues suffered so much after that exodus)
    Looking at the numbers I don't know how it can be called anything but a plummet for players numbers for Delta Rising. Saying that I do recall enjoying that expansion but it hurt active players badly.
  • lordmerc22lordmerc22 Member Posts: 776 Arc User
    westx211 wrote: »
    I believe there's a meme about Delta Rising from something Cryptic said as the playerbase numbers plummeted. "Delta Rising is the Best Expansion ever and the players love it"
    Whats funny about the meme is that Cryptic never said it.

    Just Al Rivera had overhyped it on STLV but I think he used the term biggest expansion ever

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn0f46zq1HA&feature=youtu.be
  • snowwolf#0563 snowwolf Member Posts: 1,018 Arc User
    I thought this was going to be a fun nostalgia thread where maybe a bunch of older screenshots and experiences would come to show, but its turning into another doom thread as well as the standard Cryptic / Perfect World conspiracy theories...
  • theantisainttheantisaint Member Posts: 170 Arc User
    I thought this was going to be a fun nostalgia thread where maybe a bunch of older screenshots and experiences would come to show, but its turning into another doom thread as well as the standard Cryptic / Perfect World conspiracy theories...

    😥
  • westx211westx211 Member Posts: 42,205 Arc User
    I thought this was going to be a fun nostalgia thread where maybe a bunch of older screenshots and experiences would come to show, but its turning into another doom thread as well as the standard Cryptic / Perfect World conspiracy theories...

    Unfortunately I didn't take many screenshots back then. (And I don't know what you mean by conspiracy theories)

    I used to be friends with the Creator of the Stomasters channel, a small channel that was intended to be used to form groups to go for Elite Optionals on STFs in order to maximize the chances of getting rewards from back when they were random drops. Badiel invited me to a fleet that I've been in for 7 or so years now, and I used to have a ton of fun playing with fleeties.

    But... eventually the fleet began to die down. Delta Rising hit us hard like so many others, and the Fleet leader stepped down and let someone else take over, the new leader drove the fleet into the ground, numbers dwindled even faster.

    I miss those early days, running Infected Space and Ground for optionals, working on getting everything so I could unlock the special Maco outfit, Fleet actions, it was a better time.
    Men are not punished for their sins, but by them.
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited November 2020
    I thought this was going to be a fun nostalgia thread where maybe a bunch of older screenshots and experiences would come to show, but its turning into another doom thread as well as the standard Cryptic / Perfect World conspiracy theories...

    Got one!

    10_1406527475.JPG
    The Civilian Transport has been secured. Ending simulation.
    [GameplayAnnounce] Neela@peterconnorfirst does not believe in a “No-Win Scenario”.
    You received a new title choice: Kirk's Protege
    Accolade complete: I Don’t Believe in a No-Win Scenario



    Was so much fun so see the winners announced gamewide all the time. Oh man... now look at the date, just a few weeks before Delta Rising!

    Back to doom I guess, sorry. ;)
    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
  • truewarpertruewarper Member Posts: 928 Arc User
    In the beginning...the space sectors entries were more gate heavy back then...especially within the quadrants themselves. Like the Beta had like 2 or 3 gates within.

    Then that changed, and Beta was made whole...a great accomplishment back then.

    Greatest wish is more space area to travel and explore...but that is just a wish.
    52611496918_3c42b8bab8.jpg
    Departing from Sol *Earth* by Carlos A Smith,on Flickr
    SPACE---The Last and Great Frontier. A 14th-year journey
    Vna res, una mens, unum cor et anima una. Cetera omnia, somnium est.
  • eladonwarps#6040 eladonwarps Member Posts: 231 Arc User
    Not to distract from the direction of the thread now, but a few people mentioned getting randomly teamed with somebody in story content. That can still happen! It's in your Social menu (default keybind O ) and it happened to me just a few weeks ago. I've seen it for Episode missions and patrols.

    I think the issue comes down to, "Is someone playing this exact mission, at this difficulty, at this same (re)start point chapter, who is also set to Open Teaming?" Any of those come back Negative, you won't join on the map load.

    And admittedly, last time it happened, I turned it off. Some Jem'Hadar in a default ship joined me on Ninth Rule, camped at the start point, yelled at me for not taking the enemy ships down fast enough, and then the mission bugged where I couldn't tractor Madran. I don't know if that is what did it, but either way I didn't want to subject myself to that again.

    I say all of that, but I often team up most of the episodes with family and friends when we can. Definitely makes it more fun. I just prefer to filter who that is most of the time.
    Call me "El," she/her only. I love my wife and I don't care who knows it!
  • khazlolkhazlol Member Posts: 167 Arc User
    remember spending hours completing a borg mission with a full team and the reward was the borg engines
  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,843 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.

    does he drive a gold pontiac firebird??
    Spock.jpg

  • nikephorusnikephorus Member Posts: 2,744 Arc User
    edited November 2020
    angrytarg wrote: »
    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.

    Yeah I feel you there. It feels like its just event after event now. I ended up having to take a break from the game for about a year because I was evented out.
    Unfortunately, the various fleets I've been in have fizzled out...especially the Klink fleets. If they did have new holdings...they'd never get completed; a majority of the players have moved on to other games/greener pastures.

    As for reps...a Cardi rep...with an omni-spiral, and a playable Vorta/BOff would be nice...
    Actually, according to Cryptic, the last two years for STO have been in its two three years, with the Discovery content breaking records of even ViL. I've generally seen more people on, and more active fleet, recently. So I can't really agree that a majority of the players have moved on the other games... when theres more people playing now then before.

    And run that rep past everyone else.

    I have zero numbers to back this up so take this with a grain of salt, but I think the game felt the most active when legacy of romulus was released. I feel like the player base really shrunk after that balance pass and never totally recovered. You see a lot of people on, but my experience is the opposite. My friend list is dead as a door TRIBBLE. I haven't seen 90% of them log in since the balance pass. I'll queue up for certain TFO's and they won't pop even after an hour.
    Tza0PEl.png
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    edited November 2020
    nikephorus wrote: »

    I have zero numbers to back this up so take this with a grain of salt, but I think the game felt the most active when legacy of romulus was released. I feel like the player base really shrunk after that balance pass and never totally recovered. You see a lot of people on, but my experience is the opposite. My friend list is dead as a door TRIBBLE. I haven't seen 90% of them log in since the balance pass. I'll queue up for certain TFO's and they won't pop even after an hour.

    The experience you discribe here is in line with everybody elses. Only thing that works in favor for cryptic could be numerous new players that are atracted to sto in light of the new shows combined with the corona situation. Those players are around here and there to breathe some trek feeling but we hardly percept them in endgame... if they ever reach it before they are gone again.
    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
  • lordmerc22lordmerc22 Member Posts: 776 Arc User
    If we talk for the Armada, the new people coming into, and the full instances I remember ViL actually had a lot but my experience is mostly on KDF side. Maybe during discovery seasons Federation side has a lot higher influx.
  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    nikephorus wrote: »

    I have zero numbers to back this up so take this with a grain of salt, but I think the game felt the most active when legacy of romulus was released. I feel like the player base really shrunk after that balance pass and never totally recovered. You see a lot of people on, but my experience is the opposite. My friend list is dead as a door TRIBBLE. I haven't seen 90% of them log in since the balance pass. I'll queue up for certain TFO's and they won't pop even after an hour.

    The experience you discribe here is in line with everybody elses. Only thing that works in favor for cryptic could be numerous new players that are atracted to sto in light of the new shows combined with the corona situation. Those players are around here and there to breathe some trek feeling but we hardly percept them in endgame... if they ever reach it before they are gone again.

    Whenever there is a big new release, you can feel the presence of the returning players.. it just doesn't seem to last very long. Seems like every time they do a new Episode or a big event like Summer, Winter, or the Anniversary.. I see far more players online. In between these 2 or 3 yearly events though, it's pretty much just us usual suspects hanging around wondering 'where did everybody go?' :lol:
    Insert witty signature line here.
  • vetteguy904vetteguy904 Member Posts: 3,843 Arc User
    I usually log in, do the endeavors and done.
    Lately I've started to finish leveling some theme alts but I think they are doomed to the delete pile
    Spock.jpg

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