I'm curious about the Foundry.  It is one of the most intriguing features of the game for me.  Does the Foundry require the cash shop or extra expense to operate?  Is their store connected in any way to the Foundry?  I think it would be cool to generate content for a game, but I wouldn't like having to pay extra to do that or needing to buy things in their cash shop to make cool adventures.

I'm mostly interested in this because I'm watching Neverwinter and so I'm curious how the Foundry works in STO.  This is one area where I do wish the reviewer had spent a little more time detailing because user generated content in online games is by far the exception to the rule.

The foundry is currently a free application in STO. That would probably change in some form if STO goes F2P. NwN will give you an idea of where Cryptic will probably go with the F2P model when the time comes with regards to the foundry.

The Foundry allows great and bad missions. Some time ago the devs said something about additions to the Foundry which would have to be bought from C-Store. Also you don't  have the tools to create content comparable to Cryptics missions.

This smacks of a very lazy review, I fear that the reviewer is someone who thinks that the genre of 'MMO' is defined only by the very popular MMO titles. Cryptic offer orignality into a stale genre filled with Everquest clones. Reviewers such as this once labeled Ultima Online as 'mediocre' simply because it wasn't to their personal liking or outside of there personal understanding. I would really love to have seen a review which showed the improvements made, and gave a feeling of satisfaction to the person playing the game. STO is a diverse and expansive game, filled with the excitement of single player games and mixed within a MMO context. It is also strikingly similar to a very much loved Earth and Beyond (another game that reviewers didn't get, but communities loved). The Foundry is a fantastic idea, and should be applauded, it is a throw back to the paper and pen origins of our much beloved pass-time. User generated content is likely to be the one thing that can be different in a world of MMOs currently dominated by mediocre clones of WoW and Everquest. Come on MMORPG.COM re-do this review with somone else.. or hang up your boots as the voice of independance.

Here is an example of what a balanced re-review looked like:

http://www.geektown.co.uk/2011/06/19/star-trek-online-re-review-pc/

Oh and one final comment, I'm running 64bit Windows 7 on an Alienware Aurora R3 (so mid spec) only 4GB RAM, Intel5i (3.30Mhz overclocked) and a medium spec Gfx card (Geforce GTX460 1GB). Running everything set to max with 200% bloom. Played for 7-8 hours non-stop. Never had a glitch, not a bug, not a crash not so much as a frame drop.. and smooth frame rates of between 30 and 60fps.

Originally posted by osawtell

Cryptic offer orignality into a stale genre filled with Everquest clones. 

By making NWN... yet another entry into the sword and sorcery MMO market ... Cryptic is being "original"?  How do you figure?

Originally posted by osawtell

STO is a diverse and expansive game, filled with the excitement of single player games and mixed within a MMO context.

"Diverse" and "expansive" in comparison to what?  Even including the Foundry, STO is still far lighter on content than most every other MMO on the market.  Heck, CoH had more content before the very first patch than STO has a year out of the gate.

Furthermore, what you call "exciting", other find mind-numbingly boring. 

If you want to attack the reviewer and the review, stick to quantifiable facts and not subjective opinions.

Originally posted by J4ck_5p4rr0w

STO\'s Foundry means that every single time I log in I have a new mission that I have never played before. I\'m not aware of any other game that does that.

 

 City of Heroes has User generated Content.  Cryptic isn't doing anything innovative on that front.

I would also ask if all those "new missions" you have each day are worth playing or are they mindless accolade farms or other nonsense missions?

If you want to hold up the Foundry as the shining jewel of STO, please be honest in your analysis and include all the negative points about it.

Originally posted by depain

STO clearly took advantage of hardcore collector fans with their microtransaction store.

Cryptic, an entity who wishes to go both the subscription+item shop method, will never get my dollar.

To be fair, they have offered a LTS since before launch.  They need to have a cash shop in order to continue generating income from those who purchased a LTS.  After a time, a person with a LTS is no longer paying for the game.

I don't really blame them for having one.  I would agree they are dumping way too much into the store vs. adding more content to the game.

Originally posted by osawtell

This smacks of a very lazy review, I fear that the reviewer is someone who thinks that the genre of 'MMO' is defined only by the very popular MMO titles. Cryptic offer orignality into a stale genre filled with Everquest clones. Reviewers such as this once labeled Ultima Online as 'mediocre' simply because it wasn't to their personal liking or outside of there personal understanding. I would really love to have seen a review which showed the improvements made, and gave a feeling of satisfaction to the person playing the game. STO is a diverse and expansive game, filled with the excitement of single player games and mixed within a MMO context. It is also strikingly similar to a very much loved Earth and Beyond (another game that reviewers didn't get, but communities loved). The Foundry is a fantastic idea, and should be applauded, it is a throw back to the paper and pen origins of our much beloved pass-time. User generated content is likely to be the one thing that can be different in a world of MMOs currently dominated by mediocre clones of WoW and Everquest. Come on MMORPG.COM re-do this review with somone else.. or hang up your boots as the voice of independance.

You're offering not one single example of this "Cryptic Brilliance", that you preach of. The only example even close to that is Foundry, but you have to remember, it's free content not made by developers. Fan made content is not official nor rewards the player like it.

How's Cryptic coming with games that offer 2 factions by the way? Current count seems to be 2 tries and 2 plunders.

Originally posted by osawtell

Here is an example of what a balanced re-review looked like:

http://www.geektown.co.uk/2011/06/19/star-trek-online-re-review-pc/

 

You hold this article as shining example of what MMORPG's should be . I need to ask ? Did you actually read it ? It's not the feel good , touchy feely article you were hoping for that's pro-Cryptic.

Firstly 8/10 , really ? Based on what criteria ? Other then bashing the engine and the graphics , which incidently is the core of the game , what's good? 

Foundry ? Okay he likes it. Whose doing the all the work , the player base.

Trekkiness ? Come on that's so arbitrary. The games set in 2409 , but you've ship uniforms etc that would have long ago been retired and scrapped , but I guess that irrelavant. It's the a couple of stories that make it Trek , huh ?

Interface is such A HUGE part of this game and makes or breaks it, please.

Combat , what can be said that hasn't already been said at some point.

The author gives it an 8/10 for what feel good ? he likes the foundry ? he likes Trek ? Honestly the rating system of the majority of gaming magizine/websites is based on 5/10 = 0/5,  6/10 = 2/5 , 7/10 = 3/5 etc... This article is more about an emotional expressof support of STO then a factual based narrative.

Far from being a 'Pro Cryptic Junkie' I'm the first to point out when things are wrong, and will vocally put that forward. From what I have seen on their forum, they seem to have listened to the people who love to play the game and have changed things. What I object to are reviews that don't factor in originality and real improvements to core gameplay as part of their assessment. This one did just that.

As for 'trekkieness' I think thats pretty damned important for a game titled "Star Trek'' thankfully the licence didn't go to a developer who thought that killing tribbles as part of some starting zone would be a good idea - no doubt Trion or Blizzard would have. Rift is an example of a WoW Clone with some pretty graphics.. and yet it is held aloft as the best thing since the last slice of Everquest v2000 - I got bored so fast I couldn't belive I spent money on it.

At least Crypic are TRYING to be different and get no bloody credit for doing so in the press, and like so many sheep in a raid in wow the haters and trolls follow suit, and before you know it you have good games being left on the shelves due to bad reviews. I'm not saying that STO doesn't have faults, it does.. are they big ones? no not really? is it fun to play, god yes.. I don't want a game the size of EvE Online that will take a lifetime to see most of the content.

I want a fun world within which to spend some time in a theme that I enjoy with friends. That is the heart of what makes an MMO a great thing. 'Professional' Raiders of MMO frankly have very nearly spoiled the whole genre, but thankfully there are a few developers out there, like cryptic, who now have Chinese money behind them who will (I hope) produce something orginal and for what is stupidly termed the 'casual' gamer.. I put in over 30 hours a week playing various MMO but am considered 'casual' - if your playing more than that boys and girls I'd suggest a meeting with my Pshychiarist.

On orignality  'theme' can be anything that doesn't make it orginal.. orginality comes from game dynamics not new fictions within which to house old game dynamics - thats formularic and lazy 'x-factor' games development, its very cost effective however.

Last point I did read the review before I linked it, it was clearly writen by someone who cared about the content of the game and liked what it offered for the fan of the franchise, but who also appreciated the content changes and the possiblities of user created content... given the name of the game.. isn't that pretty important damn important to be 'for the fans' ?? I say yes...

Oh and one final point, quantative assessment on games is utterly impossible, all reviews are subjective opinions.. thinking differently to that obvious fact is rather fatuous to say the least.

The Pros and Cons read like pretty much every MMORPG on my radar in the last 6 years.

I am an EVE refugee  mainly I left eve because their core play system  makes it unfun to continue to play,  largly the eve developers  highly favor  a lawless  hard core PVP univers that is very anti-casual player. not to mention they have a huge but largely repetitive universe that lacks inspiration.

I was really looking foward to the new star trek game,, before the first company folded  the game descriptions and quality  were very high   and the universe and gameplay had alot of depth  and diversity  you could  mine astroids, build space stations, explore a large and diverse universe and the ships a great and working LCARS type system also great socialization and fleets

after criptic took over all that was stripped away to the epic insult it is now.   repetitive over instanced combat arcade game

they have an amazing charactor generation system  why dont they have a way to  input your image and create an avatar with your face?

i'm a builder and explorer  of which there is only token examples

I like hauling cargos and trading I know its not specificly trek nor is mining  but they would have been worthy additions

even scanning or sensor sweeps is a single button joke  thus could have been very involved!  players could go out on missons to survey a comet or astroid field   or sun   or even   scan some alien entity  to learn about it or to learn to kill it.

intra ship combat support was also very crude  and almost none of the "star trek" tactics wre possible in the game

I think the bigest insult to me was when I went to SOL system and there was NO SOLAR SYSTEM!!!  just a picture of the earth and moon and sun in a box like arena!! where is star fleet acadamy?   mars  saturn?  titans turn?  I might have been able to let it go about the outer planets   but no mars or earth or moon locations???!   unacceptable!

they need to retool STO  and restructure the game to be a full blown MMO  not just another franchise fan leach  

I am not currently playing any MMOs I dont see any games in the works that have mature interesting content

realistic world  and interesting deep content,, if anyone knows any please let me know

Originally posted by osawtell

What I object to are reviews that don't factor in originality and real improvements to core gameplay as part of their assessment. This one did just that.

What is this "originality" you mention?  What exactly is so "original" about STO?  Also, what are the "real improvements to core gameplay"?  The sector space toggle?  Lastly to this point, Cryptic could have added numerous things to the game in the past year.  If all those additions stunk, guess what?  The game would still stink and get a poor review.

 Originally posted by osawtell
 

At least Crypic are TRYING to be different and get no bloody credit for doing so in the press, and like so many sheep in a raid in wow the haters and trolls follow suit, and before you know it you have good games being left on the shelves due to bad reviews.

Again, what is so "different" about Cryptic here?  STO is a Star Trek game?  There have been many of those.  Their games are more "casual friendly"?  Cryptic was not the first to do that either.  Offering UGC?  Nope.  Cryptic did not do that first either.  So what is so different about them?

I'm not saying that STO doesn't have faults, it does.. are they big ones? no not really? is it fun to play, god yes.. I don't want a game the size of EvE Online that will take a lifetime to see most of the content.

To you the faults of STO are not a big deal.  To others, they are.  You find it fun, others do not.  You want a shallow game with little content to blow through quickly.  Others would like more value for their monthly subscription fee and play in an exapnsive universe.  Nothing you have said here has done anything to disprove the review or the rating. 

I put in over 30 hours a week playing various MMO but am considered 'casual' - if your playing more than that boys and girls I'd suggest a meeting with my Pshychiarist.

One could say the same to you. 

Oh and one final point, quantative assessment on games is utterly impossible, all reviews are subjective opinions.. thinking differently to that obvious fact is rather fatuous to say the least.

Actually, this is not entirely true.  Yes, reviews can be subjective and opinion based.  However, you can do a quantitative assessment of a game in comparison to others.  You just do not know how to,  Instead you go the easy route to come here and footstomp and cry and whine about a fair review of a game you are a fan of.

 Complain all you like, you still have not said anything worthwhile that would make the review incorrect or invalid.

C-Store Online

It did get better!!! Now the offer 3 types of Horta that you can purchase!!!

Finally, a fair and unbiased review of this game. Well done. 

Personally I give this "review" a 4/10.  The bugs you find aren't any more severe than what you'd find in any other MMO.  And does it mention the new s4 stuff that's coming out?  How about community relations?  The people at STO really do listen and act accordingly to players.  Where was the review of the Featured Episodes?  I've played more than a few MMOs in the past few years and not one of them had crafted TV-like episodes.  And for that matter, only one sentence on the Foundry?  It lets players create and share original missions completely from scratch.  Name me one other MMO that has that.

Honestly, this review reads like someone who did a 3 day trial version and spent their entire time in the newbie area (around the Sol system) looking for things to complain about.  Yes STO launched too early in my opinion and it still has its issues but I saw no mention of any of the real improvements made in this review.  I suggest the writer try again.