For me here is a lot more to it... but you do nail a huge issue.

Its not so much the lack of bridge interaction so much as how thats an indicator of the raw simplicity of the whole thing. If you sat and watched a couple of eps from each ST series on TV then proposed that you could reduce that experience down to something that would seem simple on a console and yet be a good game, most fans would laugh.

The sad thing is they would be right to laugh, as Cryptic has demonstrated... you cant.

Yeah well those of us that were there said they needed to delay the release of UO.

Its not how its done. You release, you suck the cash, then if there is enough cash you fix.

Cryptic know this better than anyone.

On the bright side since its only champions with ST skins they will have less basic ground work to do working the bugs out.

Well I have to apologise for not having the same opinion as the OP. If I would have known it would make me look stupid to disagree with an obvious fanboy I would have just taken your opinion as mine and left it at that.

I feel so stupid for thinking for myself. I apologise.

Originally posted by mythran7

Bah! MMO elitists the lot of you!

Seriously, I love this game. Maybe it will get repetitive, I never played CO,  

But your gonna comment on the thread anyway when the topic is something you have no idea about.

Nice!

Originally posted by Mazin

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan

Originally posted by Mazin

My one question is how is the flying in space.

Is it a simulator/fps like SWG or is it something else.  What is the movement like in space?

 

It's like Darkspace....if you've ever played that. Except it's actually 3D.

Keep in mind you're flying a large ship with crews of 50+. So if you try it don't go in with the mindset of flying an x-wing or tie fighter (wink, wink), but rather with the mindset that you're controlling a very large ship.

 

Ok thanks, I think I get the jist.  So what is the targeting like is it just tab/target fire specials or do you actually have to aim at what your shooting.

Think of more or less any MMO you have played. Tab target or click. Then hit 1-9 (1-3 for the first 10 levels) to choose your attack. Thats about it really. Simulates the complexity of ST ship combat like GTA simulates the complexity of formula one.

Good review and well written

I must however disagree, if this is your first MMO then I can see why you say the things you say. If this is your second or third MMO then I can only assume you are easily pleased.

If you have been around this industry from the start like many on this site have. Then you will discover that STO is an insult to both MMO players and ST fans in equal measure. All you have to do is play it for say..... 5 minutes...

Well that saved me starting this thread.. thanks.

OP took the words out of my mouth. I Betad both Champions (still subscribed and enjoying) and STO (from early closed, wont be buying)

I wont be buying STO becasue like the OP said this is a very dissapointing effort from a great company with a good franchise to work with.

STO is simply Champions with Star Trek Skins, it really is that simple. It really is that dissapointing.

I wont even bother going into detail becasue none is required. The fans will howl, those who get what im saying will nod.

Everyone though for pity's sake do yourself a favour. DO NOT PRE ORDER! wait until there is a free trial then look back on this thread and say "wow glad I listened to those guys, saved myself $50"

I agree with the notion that the graphics must match the game and if "cartoony" fits then its right. I mean can you imagine Sam and Max done any other way ? I cant.

So it leads me to a comment I love to make on this topic and I have been making it for a long time. WoW's grafix are excellent! If you understood anything about the Warcraft universe then you would understand why I say that. WoW could not have looked any other way than how it does, they nailed it.

Same with EQ2, same with WHO.

As for AoC, a great example of the grafix TOTALLY NOT fitting the game. Funcom described AoC as dark, brooding and adult. Its about as dark as Mario Kart, as brooding as suduko and as adult as hello kitty island adventures. Even AO was a much better graphical fit for the game than AoC, in fact AO was just plain great for the day.

So no... "cartoony" graphics have not had thier day. Grafix must fit the game.

Originally posted by Rayx0r

My first WoW account was suspended when I had an inactive account.  I never recieved an email from blizzard, I could only assume it was because the account was hacked and the email address changed.  They claimed that during the time my account was inactive (by myself anyway) that it was using illegal third party software. 

go figure..

You probably deserved it :D

Merry Xmas

And having been in the closed beta of Ultima Online and almost every major MMO since, I have a tiny amount of experience in this.

The evidence does not support the theory that Beta testing improves games, particularly MMOs.

If I (and you) had a dollar for every MMO that has done one or all of the following, Id be typing this from my beach side villa in Miami.

• Bait and switch skill gain rates and combat effectiveness just prior to release
• Add/Remove/Modify major sections of the game against player advice, only to see the player advice be right in the end
• Charge for beta testing to use it as a revenue stream instead of a testing process
• Seek lots of feedback on major game elements then not listen to any of it
• Implement changes asked for by players in Beta.... after the game has started to tank in release
• Cut beta periods short to meet marketting deadlines despite the state of the game

I could go on.. but anyone whos been around this a while knows... many many games that were not publically beta tested have come on the market in great shape and done well. Many extensively public beta tested games have totally tanked inside 18 months, Tabula, DDO, almost everything by NCSoft etc.

The notion you put forward John is spot on!

If the industry understood and used Beta in the way you describe it, the industry and players would be better off. Sadly Beta is rapidly becoming a pay to test product phase that people seem only too willing to engage in STO took it to a new level... and IMHO not a high one.

Ok not quite sure whats happening to allow so much open discussion about a closed beta.... have the rules changed around here ?

But that being the case I will chime and give my take... its not long...

Champions Online Expansion Pack, Star Trek Skins.

thats it.

Originally posted by El_Lion

It's indeed a good game, your pro' and cons are also what I think.

It's sad the servers are so empty ... and with empty I mean empty, I met no-one ...

denial is a river in egypt

I would never suggest that popularity = quality, or Britany Spears would be Mozart.

But in this case, the numbers do indeed....... speak for the product.

So let me get this straight ...

The Devs went INTO the game... and looked at it WITH the players...

Then determined that their weapon balance was SNAFU and tried to fix it ???

Clearly these devs have no idea whet they are doing, if they realised how Development is meant to work in MMO's they would have simply not logged in, dissmissed the concerns of the players and gone to launch the next week with a 2x price collecters edition and a 3 month minimum subscription.

With noob devs like this... the game may actually have a chance

Originally posted by Waterlily

Americans are responsible for the crisis. You're China's bitch now.

What no one wants to understand in the US is that a recession is actually needed. That people need to make less money and jobs need to be cut.

Spot on...

The realisation that decades of buying bobble headed dogs from peasants is now biting you on the ass is a tough one to swallow...

But then most of reality is....

Originally posted by Enigma

right now, its fallout 3

A game worthy of a genuine Enigma...

Im still playing WH40K skirmishes and campaign mode almost every night since it released... I have everything else listed and then some.. but 40K has really got the hooks in me.

Of all time though.... I guess Id have to say Dues Ex

I am not still green enough to think the meat I eat came from a smiling sheep in a field full of sweet green grass and butterflies playing about the heads of the lucky animlas grazing there...

But...

I will go without eggs and chicken if I cant verify it was free range, I stopped eating Macs, Burger King, KFC etc about 2 years ago because of this very topic... and again dont get me wrong... I miss my quater pounders badly!

I have one simple view... If we are going to kill animals to eat them, the very least we can do is give them the best life we can afford to while we grow them. To me that is nothing more or less than basic human decency.

You dont HAVE TO eat meat. I like it, I eat it and I will continue to... but I would survive without it, like we all would. So I try to ensure the meat I eat is as friendly to the animal as possible... as impossible as that is.

I simply wont eat anything that I KNOW has been treated poorly.

Originally posted by Draenor

Originally posted by Razorback

Hey Dek, Riki, Teala.... and noobs

Yes Dek first reply and Im getting grief already... my ability to start controversy without even trying has not diminished

I moved to another state in Oz and started a new job that has had me more or less on the road for the last 12 months. Marriage got ganked by my inability to behave like a responsible adult and WHO got boring too quickly... that sums up my year of 08

Ive been sitting here wondering if I dare go look in the SWG threads to see if Joker is still foaming at the mouth after 3 years... but I havnt worked up the courage yet.

Did I miss anything worth talking about.?

Apart from Laura is dead ??? For REAL ?? thats terrible... I still have her on my MSN list and we spoke not far from August..... man Im speechless for once....

 

ahmagawd

I'm playing SWG again...lawl

I missed you!!!!!

NO WAY ?? LOL
 

Loading I thought you were furniture

Im actually homeless right now in terms of an MMO.

I thought WHO was really good and the way Mythic managed to all but remove the grind... or at least turn it into a PVP grind was genius... for anyone who is relatively new to MMO's WHO was a godsend... for the rest of us it really was business as usual...

I guess Im just waiting to see what Champs and Marvel end up like... not even game to speculate on the new SWG... I default to the quote by the senior librarian in WH40K1... "hope is the first step on the road to disapointment"

Originally posted by ste2000

They didn't explain the reasons why the hell he did that
I mean are pigeons that rare in Australia?

There are so many they are regarded as pests

Originally posted by 701kill

 

You know you've lost at this point and now you're just talking.  I play games.  That's a given.  I'm 16, that's been said.  I HAVE kissed girls, I'm not a virgin, I'm not prude, and I don't dislike sex.  I love it.  But at the moment I am single because I choose to be (already said that).  Girls don't dislike me because I game, and I don't spend all my time gaming and none chasing girls.  I just don't chase the girls like I did when I was 14-15 because of the experiences it brought me.

Sex will be more appealing, but I'm not going to bang any girl that walks up to me in a skirt (if I was asked a year ago, the answer would have been different).

Besides that, I like to relax with gaming.  Sex isn't my idea of relaxing.

You can argue it all you want, but honestly, only I really know what I have and haven't done.

Man I am 42, married for 18 years until 12 months ago.

I feel at this time in my life EXACTLY the same way you feel.

Im single by choice, I game when I want for as long as I want. I have "@!#$ buddies" if I want sex.... personally Id prefer to do some more of the side missions in Fallout 3.

Lets face it.... if sex was an mmo... we would call it a grind after 5 levels.

Hey Dek, Riki, Teala.... and noobs

Yes Dek first reply and Im getting grief already... my ability to start controversy without even trying has not diminished

I moved to another state in Oz and started a new job that has had me more or less on the road for the last 12 months. Marriage got ganked by my inability to behave like a responsible adult and WHO got boring too quickly... that sums up my year of 08

Ive been sitting here wondering if I dare go look in the SWG threads to see if Joker is still foaming at the mouth after 3 years... but I havnt worked up the courage yet.

Did I miss anything worth talking about.?

Apart from Laura is dead ??? For REAL ?? thats terrible... I still have her on my MSN list and we spoke not far from August..... man Im speechless for once....