Scott Jennings: Why I'll Play Star Trek Online
MMORPG.com Columnist Scott Jennings lays out the reasons, both good and bad, that he'll be picking up Cryptic's Star Trek Online.
Column By Scott Jennings on January 20, 2010
As I may have mentioned, one of the benefits of working at a video game company is that you can play video games on your breaks without anyone really giving you grief. So, while poking my head up from a busy day of coding web tools designed to make gold farmers cry, I walked past a GM on his lunch hour who had the new Star Trek beta on his screen.
"So, what do you think?"
"It's *just like* City of Heroes."
I watched for a minute, and sure enough, he had an action bar of punches and kicks, er, torpedoes and phasers that triggered off enemies using number keys. But... I didn't care. Because he was flying a MIRANDA-CLASS LIGHT CRUISER against a K'T'INGA CLASS BATTLE CRUISER and omg, there was a z-axis and he was strafing shield angles and yes, I am a horrible, horrible Trek fanboy who knows the correct spelling of K't'inga from memory. I am the target market for Star Trek Online, made manifest.
And yet, I'm not. You see, I am a horrible, horrible Trek fanboy who can spell Klingon words from memory. I am That Guy. I am the person who is going to recoil when all the many, many compromises necessary to translate an hour-long five-act drama into a hundreds-of-hours massively multiplayer interactive game make themselves manifest. My fingers will fly, nay, dance across a keyboard as I post (on my completely anonymous "Capt. Tim Watters" account) how allowing Pulse Phaser 360 degree turret mounts on Defiant-class ships completely destroys the entire experience of Star Trek. Oh, and, uh, diplomacy would be nice, too. And meaningful PvP! And trips to Risa! WTF, Cryptic.
See, at this point I don't even *care* about the skill system (which destroyed my enjoyment of Champions Online before I got very far into it), or how soloable it is, or how much polish the game may or may not have. I am a license fanboy. I have lived and breathed Star Trek for the past 30 years. God, I only wish I were exaggerating. I am a community manager's worst nightmare.
;)
So of course, I have to pre-order. And what do you know, right there on Steam as part of the advertisement, pre-order the game and get into the beta RIGHT NOW GO GO GO.
Which tells you one important thing: this is a marketing "beta". Access was part of the sales pitch. Pre-order and PLAY RIGHT NOW! Which means that it should be feature complete, the interface should be ready to go, all the content should be in... yeah, I think you know where this is going. There's already a community note that talks about "a build you're not playing yet" that fixes things. Um, why am I not playing that build? It sounds better. You sold me access to a beta. Which means it's not really a beta, it's the launched version of the game that you don't feel as guilty about taking down during prime time yet. Whether or not you know it - whether or not you *like* it - that is how the players will perceive it, whether or not they can put it in those words.
But that's fine. I've been to enough of these dances to know that my partner may, if I'm lucky, change into a hotter dress at some point. So I dork around with my Lieutenant, begin to learn the ins and out of the combat system, think space combat is pretty cool in a shallow kind of reminiscent of Star Fleet Battles way, think ground combat is less cool but sort of grows on you (and a perverse part of me wants to field an all-melee away team just to get that Original Series karate-fu action), and... I run into something beta.
It could be a randomized mission that totally destroys my tiny little newbie Miranda due to a bad luck of the dice roll. Or maybe it was supposed to be a team mission. Or maybe I just am bad at this! Oh well, it's beta, I'll learn.
Or an away team mission where my away team stays behind. "Oh, you need to log back in and then 'request reinforcements' so they come back." OK. Except when I try to get back in, I'm told the server is full. Oh well, it's beta!
Or it's an entire faction with almost no PvE content at all. Oh well, it's... well, that's probably not going to be fixed on release day. I'm still going to play one, because, well, I'm the guy who can spell 'K't'inga'.
But the most typical "something beta" that I run into is a mission where I'm told to find five things. It doesn't really matter what they are... I'm sure the server doesn't care what they are, either. It's a Find Five Things Quest, and we all know and love them and it's one more step down the road towards unlocking a starship that isn't a Miranda.
But... um.... You know? Space is big. Can I have a hint? Just a little one. Maybe a pointer. You know, a little arrow on the minimap. Come on, you know where those five things are, you want me to find those five things as much as I do, can't we meet half way here? It's the 25th century, give me a QuestHelper arrow already for crying out loud. I'm waving my tricorder at my monitor and nothing is happening. Well, my wife is laughing at me. That's something. Maybe if I shout "Computer!!" at my mouse?
Oh wait, from the official site: "On ship and on ground, pressing the scan button located near the mini-map will point you to the nearest object that you can interact with." You know, it's in that build we don't have yet. And to be fair, I would probably gripe about more if we did, because it probably also crashes to the desktop every time you fire a torpedo and they might want to fix that part first. But I don't care, because it's beta.
;)
I really shouldn't even care. They're going to wipe all the characters before the game goes live, and all my finding of five things will be for naught. At which point I'll be able to play the cool build that the official site is taunting me with (unless release day comes and it still crashes to desktop when you have a Vulcan tactical officer) and the server won't give me "Server Full" errors any more (unless they sell more than they anticipated, in which case it'll be even worse) and... Oh well, it's an MMO!
But I'm still going to buy it. And play it. And write bizarre fan fiction about my half-Romulan engineer. And post spittle-flecked screeds about the total and complete lack of ship and faction balance. Because I am the Star Trek Online community team's worst nightmare. And a twisted part of me is kind of looking forward to that.
More Scott Jennings Features:
More Columns:
More Features:
Aside from this column, Scott is also currently contracting with NCsoft.
Every Wednesday he provides us an insider's look at the MMO industry.
ROTFL.
I get it.
Give 'em hell!
My only issue though is that in addition to giving 'em hell - he also gave them his money... so do they care?
Considering that SW:TOR is now delayed , This well known space franchise will have more of an opportunity with those looking for alternatives to the current offerings /wink
I'm THAT guy too. I gave up on this game a long time ago. But I keep an open mind on things, so I gave the beta a shot.
Yeah, it *IS* CoX with a Trek Skin. And that's not a good thing. There are no new or innovative features in this game compared to Cryptic's CoX games. There's nothing really 'Star Trek' at all.
I could make a really long list of what's wrong with ST:O (in my opinion of course), but I don't think there's any point really. All my gripes with this game can be summed up with one line:
"Pretty much every single thing you love about Star Trek is NOT in ST:O"
They didn't have to make for me an EVE-sized galaxy, where every ship function has to be filled by a player. But neither did they have to make City of Whatever with a Trek re-skin. But they did. Graphics, sounds and animations are pretty. Some of the opera music is way out of place. I think the ground combat was working nicely. But I wanted some trek. I wanted to at least get my mission briefings on my bridge screen, and not a CoX pop-up screen with a Vulcan face instead of a Police Officer..
And that's why I will NOT be playing.
But I enjoyed your article nonetheless.
It may be a Star Trek MMO, and that might appease a few Star Trek fanbois, but it's still a bad, shallow, buggy, clunky, boring, content-less, trite videogame by almost every other measure.
You know what they say, you can shellac a turd, but it's still a turd.
Yeah but you then get a shellaced Turd. So, you know, "bonus"!
The truth is that Crypitc is looking for the people you are trying to satire. They know their game is a pile of sh!t, half assed, paper thin game with lots of pretty graphics and some IP related materails. They don't care! They are only looking to see how many lifetime subs they can get out of people cause selling 20 months of subs on the first day you play is really cool when the game won't last much beyond 12 months.
This, along with the push to make games more Casual (I blame consoles for that), is why gaming hasn't moved forward since Crysis. Nobody cares about pushing the boundaries and bring new concepts out cause too many suckers are willing to drop cash into shallow, PVE oriented games.
/endrant.
I have to say that this article made me laugh out loud here at work. I completely understand where your coming from, I may not be the uber star trek "nerd/geek/whatever" but I love the movies, tv shows and most of the games. I can't speak klingon or any other language like that but I love it when people do, I also can't spell it but it is impressive that a tv show could spawn not only a fan base like the star trek fans but also a whole language that people want to learn.
I know that while we will all, uber star trek fans, expect to much from STO but it won't stop us from supporting it, heck even Enterprise made it for what 6 season, actually I think it was 5. As long as the game is Star Trek, it will survive just look at how long Star Wars Online has being going after Sony destroyed it, this game will last a long time.
I can't wait to hear more of your ranting about things in game or even wish lists...LOL
I have to ask one question though, do you REALLY have a tricorder that you held up too your computer with your wife watching you and listening? Because that is Epic.
hehehehe.... well Scotty ......let me know how it feels a few months after gold.......
and it has Zachary Quinto's voice. the newest, hottest VILF.
Hah, I really laughed.
Nice one.
I just posted this to Ten Forward over at Cryptic's site but I think it might well speak to "Why I'll Play Star Trek Online" as well.
"The folks in my Fleet are pretty happy with STO and they're far bigger Trekkers than I am.
The reality is we actually come from a background playing MMOs and MMOs based on IPs at that. Compared to Age of Conan or Star Wars Galaxies (and close to a par with Lord of The Rings Online), Star Trek Online is doing yeoman's work bringing us gameplay that's enjoyable in a format that at least doesn't violate the basic concepts of the setting. If you're willing to accept the Federation is at war premise at least.
For folks not experienced with how crappy a job developers tend to do with established settings it may be all to easy just to see the shortcomings and not everything they've gotten right. Because you don't always notice what's working for you only what isn't. The best gameplay and content, and gameplay and content truest to source material, tends to be invisible because it's intuitive and something we'd assumed would be there.
Of course there are NPC crews. Of course every character is a uniformed Starfleet officer. Of course Klingons can't attack newbie ships around earth. Of course we'd have ship's bridges. Of course we'd have well written stories based on Trek lore. Of course there'd be something like the Genesis Engine to give us an illusion of exploration in randomly generated, and often visually stunning, worlds and systems. Of course there'd be an amazing character generator. Of course we'd have a plethora of Trek specific emotes. Of course there would be exciting tactical ground and space combat. Of course....and it goes on and on.
None of these are "of course". Any of these could be something else and something that wouldn't be nearly as good.
Deeper, more thematic than just pew pew, content would be good and may be coming (is coming according to the devs). The Genesis Engine could always be expanded in complexity and possibility making for a deeper exploration experience than we currently have. Memory Alpha will allow us do invent based on our discoveries of anomalies as we go allowing the imaginative to see themselves as scientists and explorers. The more literal minded may well find adventures that will go into more detail about the weird science of Star Trek or more convoluted mission types like first contact.
But for now, what we have is pretty damn good and could be much worse. I've been through this many times before and I know whereof I speak."
Its was a good read, and I see what the OP is saying, but while I'm a long time fan of the IP, the game and its design just doesn't interest me enough to fork over the cash to play it.
Maybe in its next life.....
I think the point is that there are enough of "THAT GUY" out there following this IP that zantax is right - this game will last years maybe.
The obvious solution for Cryptic at this point however is to allow people to only register for the forums in one role... (Engineer for technical complaints, tactical for game play complaints, science for IP lore complaints etc) and....
... charge them for respecs?
>:-]~
You are correct, Sir!
Anyone who pays for crap, just encourages more crap.
I think the point is that there are enough of "THAT GUY" out there following this IP that zantax is right - this game will last years maybe.
The obvious solution for Cryptic at this point however is to allow people to only register for the forums in one role... (Engineer for technical complaints, tactical for game play complaints, science for IP lore complaints etc) and....
... charge them for respecs?
>:-]~
Hey I'm a free market guy. Good for Cryptic. They found the IP with the greatest amount of suckers who have deep wallets.
I wouldn't be suprised to find out you are correct with respecs and character slots etc.
It still sucks for those of us who actually want a game tho.
cool story bro
This article is EXACTLY how I feel. (Except the playing it anyway and spelling Klingon perfectly) Well done!
vilf???? hun wtf is a vilf
Every time an MMO is released, people say it wont last past a year. Yet almost every single one has lasted longer than that.
The ones that have failed in the past few years could be counted on one hand (ok maybe two), yet there are still dozens out there that are successful and have much smaller fanbases than STO. Heck, even AoC is still going. Darkfall is still making a profit and has an expansion coming out.
While STO isn't perfect, it's pretty fun and game play gets more complex as you level and get past a Miranda (which people seem to judge as the entire game).
vilf???? hun wtf is a vilf
Vulcan I'd Like to F... well I can't finish it here. Kinda like a MILF. I suppose a Vulcan could be a VILF and MILF.. hmm..
You are correct, Sir!
Anyone who pays for crap, just encourages more crap.
I completly agree. However how am i too know it is crap? Do i believe the egregious amount of trolling on mmorpg???? Or the fansboys??? I dont know of a single person or sight where i can find good reviews that arent bias in 1 way or another. Also your definition of crap may differ from mine?
So tbh the only way is to get lucky and try the beta and even then with a lvl cap of 16 i cant really rely on just that. I have pre order + i got 7 beta keys which ive given to friends and family. I like the space combat end of story. Ground combat is chunky clunky and a 2 shot fest for those with good equipment. In space PVP if feds ball up its near impossible to kill them. But if klingon can pick 1 or 2 off and stop the ball they will win. Overall the game is good in space crap on ground and needs a chunk of work. Releasing early because ATARI is retarded, they finished 1 race , while the 2nd is still being worked on and is expected to be on par 45 days after launch. So i will be lvl 45(Not 50 those bastereds) so most of the fixes and content wont apply to me. Unless I reroll( YEAH GOOD LUCK WITH THAT 3 SLOT BASTERDS).
Oh and they tease us with the faction page showing 4 factions but only 2 are avaiable. Help me out here. The other 2 faction are cardasian and romulan yes?????
Yes, they will be added later. Currently it's just Starfleet vs. Klingons. I'd also expect to eventually see other factions such as Marqui.
Bravo! Great article. You have got me geeked up about STO. I think this game is going to be quite good. It isn't some snorefest ez mode game either. This game is tough! I hope it stays that way.
Maybe if I shout "Computer!!" at my mouse? LOL! That clip was awesome.
The game would have to inherit some of the tried and true MMO UI elements so people can control the ships. I have Champions and CoX and this really does not have that feel. I am not exactly sure what people expected for a user interface, maybe voice activated.
As it is I think a large amount of people will like it or at least give it a try, they did do some nice things with the weapons targetting that does remind me of scenes in the series. The space sectors do look nice and suitably big, but maybe not as big as some would want them. So far I have not seen my in the way of scientific exploration or diplomacy other than a quest device or normal scanning of anomolies. Much is still centered on combat, was in an area or Orion Sector last night, before servers went down, and it was near constant battles. It may not conform with many technical lore concepts concerning what weaponry or technologies can work on what types of ships, but a lot of people probably would overlook those aspects in favor of the fun factor of having disruptors on a fleet ship.
I am luke warm trekkie, plus I am burnt out on sword and board fantasy games, I am lifer in lotro, great game, but even as good as it is you gota take a break, I like STO something different to play all my friends are coming over as well, I have played other cryptic games and they all have been good for short term play.. of course the big game is TOR.. but I have lerned to keep expections low...STO for me is a break and a filler until TOR...:)
Yes, they will be added later. Currently it's just Starfleet vs. Klingons. I'd also expect to eventually see other factions such as Marqui.
also Borg...and not just the liberated kind, they want to work in...at some point...but yeah i'm kinda on the fence, especially since the login server is the same as CO and while the games are seperate login/friends/chat are shared so if one goes down...like it did last week...champions cant be accessed....
also
I completly agree. However how am i too know it is crap? Do i believe the egregious amount of trolling on mmorpg???? Or the fansboys??? I dont know of a single person or sight where i can find good reviews that arent bias in 1 way or another. Also your definition of crap may differ from mine?
So tbh the only way is to get lucky and try the beta and even then with a lvl cap of 16 i cant really rely on just that. I have pre order + i got 7 beta keys which ive given to friends and family. I like the space combat end of story. Ground combat is chunky clunky and a 2 shot fest for those with good equipment. In space PVP if feds ball up its near impossible to kill them. But if klingon can pick 1 or 2 off and stop the ball they will win. Overall the game is good in space crap on ground and needs a chunk of work. Releasing early because ATARI is retarded, they finished 1 race , while the 2nd is still being worked on and is expected to be on par 45 days after launch. So i will be lvl 45(Not 50 those bastereds) so most of the fixes and content wont apply to me. Unless I reroll( YEAH GOOD LUCK WITH THAT 3 SLOT BASTERDS).
Well, if you discount any one sight in particular, and go to several others, the general community opinion of a game, be it good or bad, tends to be correct much more often than wrong.
In the case of STO, many more people have negative feelings towards the game, based on what it has and what it does not have, at various sites. Had I not played the beta myself, it would have likely been enough to get me to hold off the initial release.
Having seen and experienced what the game is, I do not need to spend $50 to see if it is magically better the day after launch.
So, I will stick by my original opinion, that paying a company full price for a game that is "crap" only encourages them to put the same out the next time. I think we have seen this exact example here from Cryptic, going from CO to STO, only wasting the chance to use a first class IP in the process.
I completly agree. However how am i too know it is crap? Do i believe the egregious amount of trolling on mmorpg???? Or the fansboys??? I dont know of a single person or sight where i can find good reviews that arent bias in 1 way or another. Also your definition of crap may differ from mine?
So tbh the only way is to get lucky and try the beta and even then with a lvl cap of 16 i cant really rely on just that. I have pre order + i got 7 beta keys which ive given to friends and family. I like the space combat end of story. Ground combat is chunky clunky and a 2 shot fest for those with good equipment. In space PVP if feds ball up its near impossible to kill them. But if klingon can pick 1 or 2 off and stop the ball they will win. Overall the game is good in space crap on ground and needs a chunk of work. Releasing early because ATARI is retarded, they finished 1 race , while the 2nd is still being worked on and is expected to be on par 45 days after launch. So i will be lvl 45(Not 50 those bastereds) so most of the fixes and content wont apply to me. Unless I reroll( YEAH GOOD LUCK WITH THAT 3 SLOT BASTERDS).
Well, if you discount any one sight in particular, and go to several others, the general community opinion of a game, be it good or bad, tends to be correct much more often than wrong.
In the case of STO, many more people have negative feelings towards the game, based on what it has and what it does not have, at various sites. Had I not played the beta myself, it would have likely been enough to get me to hold off the initial release.
Having seen and experienced what the game is, I do not need to spend $50 to see if it is magically better the day after launch.
So, I will stick by my original opinion, that paying a company full price for a game that is "crap" only encourages them to put the same out the next time. I think we have seen this exact example here from Cryptic, going from CO to STO, only wasting the chance to use a first class IP in the process.
Yes paying for a crapy game only makes them do more crap. I played the beta for 3 days and hated it, my wife even came over and played it for about 2 hours. She then went to her computer pulled up a website and i head her typing for a minute. I asked whats up. She said that after I got the key for open beta she had ordreed it for my birthday (not the pre order), she said she had canceled the order.
Oh well I wish you guys who want to play the game good luck as I refuse to play another crapy star trek game.
Yeah but you then get a shellaced Turd. So, you know, "bonus"!
ROFL
Somehow, Sovrath, I think Jennings will laugh at that too. ;)
I just want to know where's the game that makes me feel like I did when I played Earth and Beyond way back when.
I am using every fiber of my being not to preorder and play in the beta as I am huge Star Trek fan as well.
I did this with Crappy-ons and it was a big mistake. Lesson learned I will wait a year or so before giving Cryptic any money. Im sure this game will be launched full of holes and be backed by some of the markets worst customer service and excuses.
How could Star Trek let such a slack ass developer take control of what could potentially have been the biggest MMO of all time? This will make 2 great Sc Fi franchises gone into the pooper with SWG and STO.
I'm sorry to be so negative but do not have very high hopes for this title with Cryptic behind the scenes.
Perfect! In a 'hit the nail on the head' context.
rofl, great read :)
I look forward to reading the rantings of Watters the mad, with the occasional flash video making fun of starship mechanics.
How can something without a release date be delayed?
Hilarious! :)
If you can't stand a game that isn't bug free or plays like a traditional MMO (just in a Star Trek universe), you probably won't want to give this a try at release. I have found it to be entertaining so far and will subscribe at release. Can't say they have anything ground breaking, but they did include most elements found in other MMO's. The game is more complex than I anticipated and may turn some off because of its learning curve. You actually have to think before entering space combat and use tactics or you will become space debris rather quickly. Nothing is hand feed to the players including what the skills actually do or mean (could definetly uses improvement in that area), so a lot of trial and error is needed. Ground combat is pretty much the standard MMO fare of locking on a combatant and using actions to weaken him and then other actions to do the damage. Once again a little stragety helps, don't just charge in as you will receive all the damage! You can improve your lot by croaching down or sprinting and diving. The NPC team members are very helpful with the ground combat. Right now theres so much to do I haven't been able to try out the PvP or Exploration missions or much of the other things to do. The servers appear to be getting much more stable and the dreaded can't get logged in seems to be better. Can't understand why they didn't develope a que though! If you enjoy the present MMo's available today and like Star Trek, I think you will like this game and should give it a try.
"write bizarre fan fiction about my half-Romulan engineer"
I didn't think Romulan was a playable race. Oh, unless you mean RPing that you are a Romulan even though it's not in the game.
Yes, sadly there are too many of those that will eat a double helping of cow dung and smile, as long as it comes with a side of Star Trek IP.
This will undoubtedly lead to other developers looking to cash in on their recipe for a heaping pile of cow dung with <insert popular IP here>.
I was sorely unimpressed with the beta. Space combat was fun but repetative, ground missions were an excercise in pulling teeth out. Despite my Trek fandom I thought i'd be able to dodge it...
But the "Digital Deluxe" version kicks straight for the nerdticles with it's damn /khaaan! emote. So I folded...
So i'll be right alongside you getting annoyed at the server down message come launch. Ka'Plah!
Well i'm also a star trek fan but HELL i'm not going to encourage that company in the release of such a turd like that. I'm still amazed how some companies getting major IP can ruin it like that, it should be illegal to be that mediocre.
I LOLed @ the article... good read!
To add fuel into the flame...
So when are they adding jedi?
Star Trek Online
JestorRodo,
Thank you for joining the Star Trek Online Official Site community. Registering also gives you access to the Star Trek Online Official Site forums, so please join us there to discuss the game with fellow fans and Cryptic Studios staff.
We're happy to have you join the community!
Sincerely,
Cryptic Studios
Wait until they get a load of me.
I'm in ebat and it's not perfect but it's far better than some of the crap out there (that and the little sci-fi geek in me is happy to finally have a sci-fi MMO with ship and group combat besides SWG). It's not bad and I'll be there early release with teh rest of teh trekkies even though I'm not considered one. But it's a fun romp and worth looking into.
Awesome article I lol'd the entire time because it is so much my experience with the game so far, well I'm not a Trekkie (I'm the guy who used to beat them up in school) but all the game play issues are so familiar it isn't funny and I feel the same way I'll be playing STO alot longer than I'll be playing any other mmo on the market or on its way so far (unless of course Bioware finishes SWTOR sometime soon.).
but that is just it
it isn't a Star Trek MMO :(
i hope everyone that purchases the game and or a lifetime sub really enjoys the heck out of their shellacked turd
sounds like your the type of player that keeps MMO developers making crappy halfassed games like this.
Im a fan boy too im just not so fanboy that ill buy a pile of crap with a star trek lable on it
STO doesnt follow mr roddenberrys vission it is a mockery of it
its all combat with bairly a few sprinkles of engineers or science totally missed chance for educational content
no exploration no charting or scanning other than a function of canned quests no mining ot hauling
group ship play is a brawl theres little or no group powers or activities like I cant regenerate my group members wounded shields or hull
but ya theres gonna be a mad hord that will buy STO and all i have to say is that they get what they deserve and they can buy the hext cursed franchise game and the next .
I really wanted to like STO being a refugee from EVE I was looking for a nice deep rich space scifi game that didnt have that jerk filled PVP that eve has but STO is actually even worse in many ways its very much a wow or coh reskinned to star trek.
oh well guess us older players have nowhere to spend out money if they can screw up star trek there is nothing else left that isnt allready dumbed down hack and slash.
I've opted not to buy Star Trek Online myself... it's actually a pretty solid game with reasonably novel gameplay, and I appreciate that, but I've simply decided that MMORPGs (especially heavily instanced ones like this) are just not worth $15/mo anymore. If they introduced some kind of F2P payment model (like DDO or Guild Wars) I'd totally be on board... but until then, I'm skipping out on all the fun of a Star Trek online experience.
Champions Online was largely responsible for this turnout, I suspect. I shelled out for a 6 month subscription for it, and regretted it because I got severely burned out about 2 months in. It caused me to question why I should bother to pay for any monthly subscription game when there's all these nice alternatives (e.g. Atlantica Online, DDO, Guild Wars) available. What's more, the experience offered by these games is not all that different than has already been done better in single player games (e.g. various Star Trek fleet battle games or RTS).
Cryptic Studios seems committed to producing casually-accessible, simpler MMOs. They can have my money after they start charging the appropriate price.
Funny, reading this article made me want this game even less. Yes, I paid five bucks (fully refundable) to check this thing out, and yes, I saw in a heartbeat that it was a shallow attempt to recreate some of the magic that is Star Trek. I'm sure it will appeal to some, perhaps even many, and all I can say is that this is wonderful, because for as long as they are enjoying themselves in STO, they won't be injecting their low standards into a game I actually DO enjoy! And no, I don't mean this as an insult, I'm just in the same camp as many others, who feel the game is too superficial to really entertain me. That, and it just doesn't play very well. The thing is all herky-jerky due to massive server strain and it just doesn't feel right. I think even in a lagless world, this game would feel pretty bad, like I'm missing some key FPS that would make everything look good.
Sorry, Cryptic, but if you want to snow me, it's going to have to be something more akin to a blizzard... (yes, pun intended!).
Heh i have seen the bugs though closed beta till now. I saw the nerf of Klingon battle cloaks when feds screamed it was unfair. I saw BC fixed when the COO of crpytic got online and played a klingon to see why we were screaming. I have lived though the crash to desk top if you left teh ground to go into a space PvP instead of sitting in your ship and going from there. The bugg that if you are disentergated in ground combat you come back invis to yoursel. However, as the OP said it is Star Trek. Nothing beats having your group of Klingons decloaking behind a fed Fleet in the neutral zone open pvp area and all firing their cannons flowed by our torps into the rear of their ships then recloaking to make another run at them. Setting up a defensive positon inside an abandon space station laying out your mines settting up turrents havign people get behind crates for cover and waiting for the other side to attack.
Does it have the Grand scale of Eve no. Is it fun to play for some of us yes for others no. To me it feals like POTBS and COH/COV pushed togeather into one game. The combat looks simple ( and peole QQ and scream all the time when they first get into pvp about the other side being OP) but as you get exp at it you see how complex it can be. What is nice to is that if you are a casual player you do not feal like you are being left behind. I know our house has gone out into the netural zone to fit and have brought out people in their start Bops to fight along side us. Characters are not cookie cutter in their builds even how you equipe a ship is more personal likes than a require min max set up.
correct it is not a preset playable race. However, both factions creators have the option for you to create your own race. There are quite a few Romulans ( shockingly they look like vulcans) running around on both sides of space. From what i have seen most Fed Romulans just make vulcans and call themselves Romulans.
when they release the lvl cap this week you will be able to explore as a FED. It was in closed beta (abit with a few bugs they have suppossedly worked out since then). So hopefully you will try that bit out.
"Just like City of Heroes"... Really??? I thought it's more like CO than CoH, I like CoH, I don't like STO as much and I certainly don't like CO.
Why I Won't Play Star Trek Online:
It's designed for console audiences. Consider this a summation of all the negative things said about the game over the past 6 pages. As soon as they released the tidbit of info that it would be released for consoles as well, it started the marble rolling downhill to its inevitable conclusion - a game that underachieves on most fronts to keep people happy who are even harder to please than PC fanboys. I almost wish they would have soon followed that announcement with "As a follow up - oh no! Our licensing agreement caught fire and disintegrated! Welp, guess we won't be making this one after all."
>:) Nice
It just goes to show that the ST geeks have some cash.. or access to their parents cash anyway.. to be able to drop into lifetime memberships.
Its a marketing coup... one that if sucessful (as in, enough players pony up the dough right away) it might set the precedent for future MMO releases. I mean.. hey.. if you get recoup a lot of your development costs with selling lifetime accounts during the Beta stage... it takes away some of the investor's risk.. right?
Well.. I am not sure. As much as a ST fan might be willing to drop money for lifetime members on this game before its even proven itself... there are quite a few guys and gals like me who are going to wait it out a bit, and judge the game based on its qualities.. not its hype.
This way, I have the luxury of seeing hundreds if not thousands of Star Trek fans go up in arms about every single defect in the game and you'd better bet they will be very vocal about in on forums like this. Players will have disproportionate expectations and will have equally disproportionate reactions... I am sure the forum drama will be epic.
The thing is.. how much with the developer care? Oh.. probably 'just' enough.. but still.. they know that there is no way in hell to satisfy even the majority.. middle ground will be good enough.
And you know what.. it just might be. ST games I know have not been outstanding as a whole.. a middle ground game is still better than the few and far between alternatives.
Ideally, STO should be about the COMMUNITY.. and the mechanics should support interaction as such. That still might happen regardless of the quality (or accuracy) of the game.
Will I play this game.. not in Beta.. nope. But I will keep an eye on it, to see if there is some fun to be had.. after the dust settles.. and the community either gels or self-destructs.
I find it amazing that crytpic did pretty much everything right with City of Heroes, keeps fumbling games all of the sudden. Champions was a huge disappointment, it was like they were desperate to be as different from CoH as possible. When it came to STO, I already was a bit leery considering how badly they were screwing up the lore.
If you ever met a trekkie, they are very serious about their trek lore. Every trailer they released pretty much showed that they either weren't familiar with the trek lore, or just didn't care.
I still think Earth & Beyond was the best space mmo. I did try EVE and maybe someday I'll try STO. Right now I'm in a wait and see mode, until I hear word of mouth and after release reviews.
Great write!
Kinda reminds me of being a kid and waiting for Spider Man and his Amazing Friends to come on. It was a silly crappy cartoon where spidey wouldn't even punch anybody, BUT IT HAD SPIDERMAN! Same with the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. It was just awesome to see your favorite things on another medium, poor quality or not.
STO almost had me with its space combat, but with the news of the past day or so, I've slipped off the hook. Thank God for my policy on preordering MMO's that I've nothing to cancel...
Haven't posted here in a while, but as I've been in the STO beta since October of '09 I figured I'd relate some of my feelings on that game.
After CoH, a game I personally adored and played for nearly four years (a feat which hasn't occurred since AC1) I felt that Cryptic was a rising star in the game development market. When I heard they were planing to 'fix all the mistakes they made with CoX' when they made CO I was thrilled, since to me those mistakes were heavy instancing and repetitive 'cookie cutter' missions. Apparently I was wrong and the mistakes that 'they' felt like they had made involved server camaraderie, replayability and having an intuitive LFG system... Brand loyalty -1
Then I get the email inviting me to the STO beta. Now, I'll admit, Star Trek has never been my bag. I liked TNG and DS9, but I was never 'into' the whole Trekkie mythos, and wouldn't know a K't'inga from a Batliff without a description. But since I haven't had a game to play in a while I decided to give it a go.
Character creation was very deep and had a lot of options. This is a Cryptic hallmark and something I really appreciate. At least when I am standing around bored looking for something to do rather than hang out doing dance emotes I don't look like everyone else...
Space combat... The starting ship felt like maneuvering a battleship in a tub full of molasses. That ship, which is supposedly one of the smaller cruisers, took more room to make a turn than one of those annoying flatbed trailers hauling a modular home that you always seem to run into on the interstate. Of course I could tweak my settings so it would turn almost as well as a parade float at top speed, but then I'd be effectively replacing my shields with bargain brand plastic window insulation. Maybe higher level ships function better, but I never got to try one out because the game is so mind numbingly repetitive.
Patrol missions are like the standard fetch and return missions with the added bonus of having to do 5 or 6 of them, most of which are basically cut and paste with a different color background, to progress. If you could even call it progression. Leveling in this game is so slow it's like watching paint dry.
Ground combat... When my 'away team' wasn't busy trying to put out a fire by running into it and shooting it with phasers, or seeing how many times they could run into a wall without incapacitating themselves, they were quite often just sitting there doing nothing, even in the middle of combat. The enemy AI seemed to know what they were doing, why is it that I get stuck with the short bus rejects? Movements are awkward looking and choppy and weapons have a built in cooldown that completely takes away from any arcade like feel that the game might have hoped to present.
All in all, from what I've seen of the game and mind you I made it to Lieut 9 before abandoning ship a month ago, I feel like STO is shallow, repetitive, buggy, boring and, most of all, completely unready for release.
Brand loyalty -10.
Funny how people say "This won't be around in 12 months" or "Lifetime subs are just a ripoff to make easy cash"...
No game so far has closed as early as 12 months, even Tabula Rasa was around for 4 years, Matrix Online, 4 years. SWG, every week someone sets a new 'won't be around by'-date since 2005. Warhammer, still around, AoC, still around, Vanguard, still around...
NEWSFLASH guys: As much as you'd like to see it happen. These games stay profitable for a long time. They cut servers, personnel, expansions, updates before they really shut down a game. Even on 'life support and a skeleton crew', there's a "finished" product that yields money with a minimal subscriber base.
And as far as STO goes: I really don't expect any jaded bohooo-mmorpgs-go-down-the-drain veteran to join this game, but I'm sure as hell a quiet but huge majority of people _will_ join it and maybe Star Trek and essentially PvE can sustain a decent community. Trek nerds are mostly nice people after all...
M
Or maybe the hefty marketing fee's they paid also entitles them to some liberties with the IP? Why is it no one ever seems to consider this? Lore in fact changes if it is based off of anything it pretty much has to.
For the life of me I can't understand why it's so easy to go and see a movie about an IP that changes the IP or ignores it but then when we play a game we get all up in arms when it isn't done exactly as we personally see the lore.
Meridion nice post and truth as I've seen it so far, while so many of the standard "mmo tramp" comes on these boards to give us there personal predictions of doom and gloom I can say from my in game experience I've not seen such a nice and excited community since maybe SWG (though I don't know if I'd say those folks are as nice as Trekkies have been).
The model that Cryptic follows to make games is not one I'm partial to, they seem to like to make games that are more "arcade" like and easy to get into which is not necissarily what I look for in a game but it's one that for this game so far seems to be able to workand considering that Star Trek doesn't even have many decent offline games to play this is going to be around for some time I just hope that Cryptic can move as quickly adding new content as they did in developing the game.
I am a bored mmo addict , i need something new , also expansion of aoc attracts me but i will give this thing a chance .
Tabula Rasa ran from November of 07 through the end of February 09 that was 15 months, not 4 years. Hellgate London....Auto Assault...
OMG.... I have no doubt that Capt. Tim Watters... er.. Scotty, is the targeted demographic for STO. Oh wait.. so am I !
I totally agree with this article, well written there Scotty! May I see you in game and blow your ship to bits and pieces.
I guess alot of people will buy/preorder the game but almost as many will quit in a month or so. Cryptic games simply has no longetivity, depth and complexity that wants you to stay longer than that.
One month to get the biggest Fed ship and the baddest Klingon ship and by that time you have done most of the interesting content and there will be nothing else fun to do. Just wait and see...
The irony... Scotty was about anything but combat and this game is all about combat.
From 'Last of the Mohicans':
Magua understands that the white man is a dog to his woman. When they are tired he will lay down his tomahawk to feed their laziness.
Paraphrased for MMORPG:
WHPSH understands that the IP fan is a dog to his developer. When they are uninspired, he will lay down his scathing review to pay for their laziness.
Even though I am not a StarTrek fan I am finding STO VERY fun. There is no other game where you can do space and combat missions in one game, thats one of the biggest pluses for me.
Here is my review: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=1545112
I strongly suggest to try this game to anyone who likse space MMOs.
Kinda hard for SWTOR to be delayed when no official release date or time line was ever posted or advertised. A slip up saying Spring next year is hardly a delay..more like a ploy to get WoW to release Cataclysm.
btw STO ...stinks... but I can see why Trekkies like it.
Actually, Star Wars Galaxies has Space Combat, Ground Combat, Crafting and Housing.
So while its nice that STO also has this feature, its not exclusive to this game.
Ummm... SWG has had that for years, and EvE is putting in avatar combat within the next little while, and has superior space combat to any other MMO.
also Borg...and not just the liberated kind, they want to work in...at some point...but yeah i'm kinda on the fence, especially since the login server is the same as CO and while the games are seperate login/friends/chat are shared so if one goes down...like it did last week...champions cant be accessed....
also
I hope they put the Orion Sydicate as a faction... would love to play as a Romulan Ale smuggler, or Slave Trader.
Good article Scott, the same as I've enjoyed all pieces I've read from you meantime.
I for myself come to a different conclusion though. I like the IP a lot but can't speak Klingon or such, so I'm not a die hard fan. I'm a big fan of the fantasy genre and so far no SF or space MMO (except Ryzom, which is in between) could make me curious enough to try it. The IP of Star Trek managed though. I didn't play CoH or such too.
And I must say while it is a fast paced game that has its immersion and tension and action ... I miss what makes Star Trek to Star Trek. It is all fighting!!! Flying around with my ship and fighting ships, running around on planets or stations or ships and fighting invaders. Maybe I'm still far too young, just 10 hours beta or so yet. But where is ... diplomacy? Making first contact, settling disputes, exploring new worlds and cultures. Of course I'm a MMO vet and I've been on the commercial side of them too and apart from my private still illusioned point of view I know reality, technical limitations etc.
But I plain don't enjoy this twitch-like battle gameplay enough (otherwise I'd play CS or such games too) to keep me playing or even paying. I feel like an animal trapped in a cage. All feels real and well (Star Trek like) from atmosphere but still it is a cage and I want to get out into the "REAL" world of what defines the substance of the IP for me.
But the "REAL" world just doesn't seem to exist and I'm too used to it to not be constantly reminded that I'm (fast) pacing the cage.
Since you love Star Trek so much. I'd thought I'd give you this little gem.
I present, 25 hot Trekkies!! (Only Women)
www.holytaco.com/25-hot-trekkies
Im that guy also. I love the game, hope they fix some of those bugs before release
I find it funny people keep bitching about combat and everything being "shallow" but if it was Blizzard releasing it and it was an orc instead of a spaceship people would be screaming "INNOVATION!" The combat is exactly the same shit as every other MMO, if not more due to the variables and positional shielding and on the fly stat adjustments. Anything for a reason to bitch though.
It's the internet so I guess you should expect that :P
Nice article, I thought it was funny.
The issue is not why you will play Star Trek dear Scott, the issue is when you gonna stop playing it...................
Many people will try it, like they did with AoC, WAR, Aion...........and then guess what happens next?
Because that s the real issue with modern MMORPGs..................it's LONGEVITY
After reading the TTH article regarding the 3 slots and lvl 45 cap. I changed my mind about even getting this game. the last question just put the last nail in the STO coffin for me.
"Ten Ton Hammer: How long do you expect it will take the average player to get to the endgame?
Zeke: It’s roughly about 80 hours I think for the average player."
So if anything I will wait till they have a free download of the game available with 14 day trial and then I will maybe have to pay for a 1 month sub and get to try the whole game out since really 80hrs to get to end game... this sounds like WOW to me.
Bahahaha this article was hilarious. It kinda confirmed a few of my suspicions about the game, and I don't think I'll get it, but I only wish the best to all who do. This is a fantastic IP, and I hope they got it right.
I usually don't comment bad games but I have to with this one as I expected much more since I'm a star trek fan. It's worse then bad. It's shallower then shallow. It's... a waste of time to even write more about it. but I need to add one more comment:
Star Trek Online makes Star Wars galaxies look like an excellent game.
The article was entertaining and the game is actually pretty decent if you can understand it's currently in beta and know what a beta truly is. A lot of the responses and things floating around the forums that shout out negativity of the game is just another reminder that opinions on mmorpg.com are just laughed at. 9 out of 10 people I chat with on STO or EQ2 say they stop by the forums every once in a while but honestly really pay no heed just because mmorpg.com forum posters tend to be 1 of two things...a) the WoW fanboys who think their game is god and want to try to ruin every game before it's out or b) the SWG fanboys who are pissed off at S.O.E for the crappy changes to SWG and are just venting.
Honestly if you brows the forums here it's a lot of hate regardless of game. But if you go to the STO forums or unofficial forums there's a lot of support. Star Trek is probably one of the biggest IP's to be made into an MMO and a lot of people want to see it succeed and many will do what they can to help. If you really hate the game that much just go wallow in your self-righteousness somewhere else. It seems the opinions here just ruin credibility with the serious gaming community, more mature gaming community.
I understand people are sketchy because of CO, or because of the C-Store but face it it's not entirely their fault. Microtransactions are actually the prefered method over in foreign countries and to really compete in today's market to be a major contender as an MMO a microtransaction store is almost mandatory. The grind from CO felt that way because it wasn't a gradual change in xp gain but it felt more like a sudden drop. If they could have just did a gradual change with xp gain then the game would probably be better.
I played darkfall 9 months after launch and it still did not have half the stuff they claimed the game was going to have at release and another 4 companies such as turbine ect created mmorpg's ie ac2 made a bunch of claims and never lived up to them what makes you think cryptic will not do the same?.
I have seen this too many many times and have been burned with claims that it will have all these features at launch,i have been watching start trek since it launched on tv ,followed all series up to star trek enterprise but will i play sto? well i have tried CO and its nothing more than city of heroes 2, i played champions the game rpg from book it was nothing like it.
I agree if i took 4 days off of work and played 15 hours a day i'm sure ill be done with the game 80 hours for average player is 40 to 60 for a good mmo vet. From that dev's response it sounds to me about like as much content as the old FFVII and other single player rpg's.
I played the closed and open beta, and as a Trekkie i love Star Trek but the game is too simple for me.
To the OP, Happy to hear you are enjoying the game, hope you have a good time in it.
I enjoyed the article. I disliked the beta. I will not play the game but I will keep reading the articles!
Ha Ha
I guess your to yong to remember SWG had JTL for years. You can do both. Now we can debate how valid the game actually is now, as I have not played it in 2 years.
Wow I thought the game was bad buy I have to agree this made swg space coombat actually look great. I almost want to resub so I can get back on my decimator and fly around and blow up a corvette.
So I've gotten about as much time into STO as the Giant Bomb guys have and I have to say STO is so City of Star Trek. :(
City of Heroes wasn't too bad how many years ago when it launched? As it is today I really none to happy about it. While I'm not "That Guy" (since I'm not a huge Klingon fanboy) I'm pretty darn close. As such I've been wary of STO since it's original announcement. As such while I enjoy the space combat (I loved Star Fleet Battles thank you very much) it is not enough to sell me on the game. Especially with everything else you have to do, if it was all space combat I'd probably be happier, but then again I'm an Eve player too. :p
So yeah unless the "better" version they've got up their sleaves is WAY better, this is a no buy for me. Not now, and probably not 6 months from now.
does COx play like the starfleet command series?
because 70% of the game plays like the SFC series...
anyways the game is average, but fun. trekkies who didn't like the recent trek movie aren't going to like this game i don't think, but they suck and makes mmo nerds look cool, so who gives a poop amirite?
edit: does the word filter not work?
EXCELLENT article. Thanks -- I really got a good laugh and enjoyed it. (yes, I bought a lifetime sub)
You will play it and give it an above average review because gaming sites like these need the mmo genre not to fail this year like it has been failing for the past several years.
Yea what we really need is some of the bad ones to go poof. So the rest of them will realize that people dont like to play crud.
I would love to see SWG finally take it's last breath followed by vangaurd, and a few others that have been on life support.
I refuse to play crudy games any more and the only way I have to vote is with my walllet, I don't care what the ip name is on it. If its total crud it needs to go. Fire the devs who just want to be so so and lets get folks who want to make a game great instead of just so so.
Jestor will you even be allowed to have a SW:TOR acount? I mean after that whole being place on SOE's nutjob that might walk into the office with a gun list and everything?
I'd agree, with a caveat. The mmorpg genre wont fail despite itself, but this site will give this game an above average score, even though, by all accounts, it is one of the most shallow mmorpgs to be launched since Champions Online, and that game garnered a 7.5, I believe, from this mmorpg site.
Where are the honest reviewers that lack the giddy school-girl mentality?
Another one of "those fan" here. Yet I will not be buying this game. I say game because to me a MMO does not have the confining corridors of play that makes up this game. This makes it more a pc game that happens have some moments of interaction of a small group. Give me large tracts of sandbox to explore and come into contact with greater numbers.
My prefered character choice has no PvE content. Character design is a cookie cutter, producing a limited number of variation. Starfleet is not the only fleet within The United Federation of Planets. Where is the ability to play as a Andorian or Orion fleet member?
Crypyic has greatly missed the mark. The numbers will tell as game purchases will be a fraction of the open beta keys. Rushing a poor product to market sours a companies reputation with the gaming community.
The only two good things about this game, as I'm in the beta, are that the loading screen is 10% faster than Champions Online and the Star Trek theme music. Everything else is crap as the company pulls resources from one dying game to another that will fail. The company has the awful mentality of releasing a game when it's only "good enough". There games are never polished at launch and always have a ton of bugs & issues that they will spend months addressing, while adding new bugs as they go along.
I'm tired of the attitude that a game can be launched so long as it doesn't crash. There's no since of pride in this tactic and doesn't make me want to buy or play their games.
10!
I'm not a fan of Star Trek - like the series in a sort of "I'll watch it if it happens to be on when flipping through the channels" kind of way, and dug the old movies... but not to any level of "fandom". I'm not really looking to play the game.. so I have no comments on any points made. Regardless... that was a damn fun read.
Well done, sir.
ROFL !!!!! Great piece on what sounds like a great game for trek peeps.
Good luck capt. And always be on the watch for Tribbles! Trouble, ya'know.
Great....article...Mr. Jennings. Now I must know...how...will..this game end?
Thanks for the article. I enjoyed your sarcasm and passion for Star Trek and games in general.
Must....not... be....assimilated!
I'm not sure about what you guys think about the game, but the beta was great, especially when everything is on max, details and stuff is good, but really...If I/others have to pay for it, it's not going to last for long.
I get what you're saying. I 'll be there too, for some of the same reasons but mostly due to peer pressure from my gaming buddies, one of which I'm fairly sure trumps you in Star Trek Fandom. I won't be in STO long I think as WoDO should hopefully be entering beta this year and I'm interested in FFXIV as well.
The game is a diamond in the rough to be sure but I think the core play is fun and it's got potential.
I'm a fan of the IP and I'll be there at launch. Fact is there probably will never be another Star Trek mmo the way Paramount is with the license. Or if there is, it will be 10+ years down the road. So this is what we have to work with at the moment.
I agree. And some of the things that bother me now should get cleaned up once the game goes live and in the following months I think. I love having ground and ship combat.
well, i definitely won't be buying it... and on another note, to those who bought a lifetime sub... you know.. the lifetime bit, isnt the players lifetime.. but the games lifetime... so.. wonder how long that will be
I will only disagree with your first part, it is beta you never were promised a full game you bought the game and preordered for the option to play a beta version early period. You paid for the game and one month of online access and maybe a free gift the beta part is a bonus after all the price of the game was not more jsut becasue you get beta access. so really as long as you have been doing this please stop supporting the idiots that think betas mean full function game it never has and never will you dont get to keep anything from it not ven your name. It wasnt that way in EQ, WOW, SWG, DDO, AOC , LOTR, or any other betas you have played they were all there for one purpose to get you into the game to find the bugs. It is kind a like a soft opening of a casino they let the poor people into find all the bugs and then kick them out if they cant afford the 2k a night grand opening rates. so just enjoy being the worst nightmare and keep reporting the bugs, after all they made it easy they put a green bug on your screen.
have fun and keep playing WOW, but soem of us were ready for soemthing new and since sony killed SWG and the new star wars is at least 18 months out, lifetime means cheaper then any other 15 buck a month game.
It's a game that was made in 18 months. In a global downturn we haven't seen the likes of since the Great Depression (something the OP himself has not only blogged about, but lost two jobs as a result of). By a relatively small, independent developer. Before Atari picked them up (who isn't exactly Electronic Arts, either). Before JJ Abrams' super sexy smash summer blockbuster. After Enterprise was cancelled, and Nemesis tanked.
Seriously, some of you folks need a healthy dose of reality, not to mention perspective.
But keep dreaming for a seven course meal with linen tablecloths... on a McDonald's budget, while pinning away for a pre-CU SWG redux or pre-Trammel UO. Really, it could happen!
The game is far from finished. Even if they plan to launch it soon; they still have a long ways to go with it; before I would consider it ready. There is a lot there for the developers to expand on and improve. It could easily become a worthwhile game without a lot of greifing and effort. The one thing that had me concerned though is the way they have been selling this game so far. First you had to either win the lottery or buy a life time subscription to CO to get into Closed Beta. Now they are trying to sell life time subs to this game for the lousiest in game rewards I have ever seen. Why pay that much money for a game that is clearly FAR from being a finished product. It's like paying Ford $50,000 for a car they haven't even built yet. Can't you people find better ways to throw your money away? I mean, hell if you really hate your money send it my way! ;)
The reviewer makes some statements about CO's skill system, but if you read his link it is totally based on something that was fixed in two weeks: overpriced respecs. Boo for misinformation on an almost dead game, and boo for recommending STO just for the license.
The cost of a lifetime sub is equivalent to paying for 16 months of subscription fees.
For those not mathmatically inclined, lifetime > 16 months. Of course that's assuming the game lasts at least 16 months (free trollbait!), but if Age of Conan can pull it off (not to mention Darkfall), I see no reason to believe this one won't.
You also get the exclusive privilege to play a "liberated" Borg (ala 7 of 9), and two additional character slots.
Seemed like a pretty good value for my entertainment dollar, but then again I've been known to spend more on a bag of weed. Your mileage may vary.
'Delayed' from the imaginary release dates people were throwing around without even pretending to have evidence, mind you.
'Delayed' from the imaginary release dates people were throwing around without even pretending to have evidence, mind you.
The most realistic of which (as I recall) was 2012. Sounds to me like they're ahead of schedule.
'Delayed' from the imaginary release dates people were throwing around without even pretending to have evidence, mind you.
/agree
The most realistic of which (as I recall) was 2012. Sounds to me like they're ahead of schedule.
there never was a release date for TOR until recently. everything else was thrown out by people who thought they knew something and didnt.
Um...small point here...
It has nothing to do with how long the game lasts.
It has to do with how much you play it or want to play it.
Will you still want to play in 16 months? How much content is there?
Well, the Devs have answered that here http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/79456
Ten Ton Hammer: How long do you expect it will take the average player to get to the endgame?
Zeke: It’s roughly about 80 hours I think for the average player.
So once you get to 'endgame' how much longer will the game keep your attention? That is what will decide if a 'lifetime sub' is worth it or not.
80 hours over 16 months is only about 1 hour a week.
If you play for 2 hours a night then you will be at end game in a little over a month and will play 'endgame' from then on.
So - is there 15 months of endgame content?
Even if you play all the Alts (that would make 5 total characters?) that equals 400 hours of play - which is about 6-7 months at two hours a night. (Probably less since once you know a quest you tend to do it quicker?) So that leaves 10 months worth of endgame?
The most realistic of which (as I recall) was 2012. Sounds to me like they're ahead of schedule.
there never was a release date for TOR until recently. everything else was thrown out by people who thought they knew something and didnt.
On these forums??! Say it isn't so.
Um...small point here...
It has nothing to do with how long the game lasts.
It has to do with how much you play it or want to play it.
I must be dense. If there's a distinction there I'm missing it.
I must be dense. If there's a distinction there I'm missing it.
Meaning a game can last for 20 years, but if you only play it for 5 hours in those 20 years, was it really worth the money you spent on it?
I really dont see whats so hard to understand, this is fairly simple logic.
I must be dense. If there's a distinction there I'm missing it.
Meaning a game can last for 20 years, but if you only play it for 5 hours in those 20 years, was it really worth the money you spent on it?
I really dont see whats so hard to understand, this is fairly simple logic.
Captain Obvious is obvious? Are you familiar with the expression, "it goes without saying"? That said, let's play out your concern...
What's the price of a movie ticket these days? $10?
And what's the average length? 2 hours?
Let's be super generous and make it 3!
80 / 3 = 26.66666
Now let's be generous again and round DOWN.
That's 26 movies.
26 x $10 = $260
Cost of lifetime STO sub? $239
I'm still ahead even if all I get out of it is 80 hours of fun time. And that's presuming they never, ever expand, patch or improve the game. Whatsoever. Over the course of... my lifetime.
I wasn't really a big fan of STO even though i love Star Trek. I played Champions and was thinking STO would be the epic fail that Champions is. Well, after playing the beta I can say the game was decent. It wasn't great, but it was decent. It isn't enough for me to want to go buy it, but I think a lot of people will be satisfied with the game and buy it. Hopefully, Cryptic does well with the game and adds a lot of the polish the game needs. I honestly think I wasn't as harsh on this game, because I have waited for a STO game since Perpetual owned the license and it was great to just see a Star Trek MMO. I will keep tabs on the game and see what they do down the line to improve it, but it's not too bad right now.
Also, the SWTOR game isn't delayed. It was always scheduled to be released in 2011. The community just was never told that.
Meaning a game can last for 20 years, but if you only play it for 5 hours in those 20 years, was it really worth the money you spent on it?
I really dont see whats so hard to understand, this is fairly simple logic.
Captain Obvious is obvious? Are you familiar with the expression, "it goes without saying"? That said, let's play out your concern...
What's the price of a movie ticket these days? $10?
And what's the average length? 2 hours?
Let's be super generous and make it 3!
80 / 3 = 26.66666
Now let's be generous again and round DOWN.
That's 26 movies.
26 x $10 = $260
Cost of lifetime STO sub? $239
I'm still ahead even if all I get out of it is 80 hours of fun time. And that's presuming they never, ever expand, patch or improve the game. Whatsoever. Over the course of... my lifetime.
Your looking at this in the completely wrong way, Look even if you only played 2 hours a week, after 10 months you would have played 80 hours.
You could just have subbed monthly at 15 dollars a month, and your total would be 120 bucks after ten months.
Thats saying that you only played 2 hours A WEEK! Do you realize how little that is, and you are still getting the same amount of time, thats the point were trying to make.
In an MMO, you dictate how much time you spend in a game. If you think that 240 dollars for 80 hours of gameplay is fair, then by all means get a LFT sub, I wont argue that.
But for someone like me, who doesnt want to just throw 240 dollars out, I look at the cost/gain ratio. To me, (If I planned on playing STO at launch) I could probably get through to end game in a few months. So I would spend probably 30 bucks to get to end game (One free month included with the game). So to me, buying a lifetime sub wouldnt seem worth it.
Or lets say I really liked the game, and I played it for a whole year. 12 months. Lets say I clocked in well over 200 hours into the game. I would still be satisfied with the fact I didnt buy a lifetime sub.
Now if this was World of Warcraft on the other hand, I wish they would have handed out lifetime subs, seeing as I have spend well over 300 dollars on that game. But I think thats 300 dollars well spent, because I have played it on and off for 5 years.
See what im saying, Ive spend 300 dollars on WoW, but its been when I wanted to spend the money, when I felt like playing. So like I said, if you feel its worth it, go ahead and buy it, but to me its crazy to spend 240 dollars at once on a game you havent even played for more than a couple weeks.
Well then, allow me to put your fears to rest. Between closed and open beta, I've logged well over 80 hours already in STO (and just an fyi, have yet to reach the level cap or "endgame"). While I'll readily concede the game is faaar from perfect, I'm also fairly confident it will keep me entertained for the next 16 months... easily. And that's without any pie-in-the-sky dreams it's going to radically change for the better.
Now that's just me, speaking for myself. As suggested previously, your mileage may vary. If $239 sounds like too much of a gamble for you (or heck, just the entry fee of $49.99), then by all means, DON'T buy it!
Wow, just wow what an artical. I am a Trek fan as well, but I played beta and there is no way I am buying this game. Played for 5 days, and did a F this I am going back to World of Warcraft. STO should have put off launch at least 6 months, but they could not because they sold the beta. Cryptic's main man should roll heads, as they are taking an IP that should have been a no brainer home run, and screwing it up. Also it was not meantioned how instanced off it is, and how it has next to no lore 'Hello its Star Trek" what the hell is with the no lore.
All assumptions about dollar rate per hour assume that STO releases not one minute more content for the entire time of a lifetime sub. Funnily enough, I think that is an incorrect assumption.
Regarding 80 hours content - that's fine, if it is 80 hours really content, not 40 hours of content and 40 hours of travel time that certain developers like to pretend is content.
All in all, STO is fun enough and stable enough and Trek enough. It doesn't hit things out of the park, but it does what it does well enough which is a minor miracle in and of itself. I want a diplomacy system, but can live without it. I've found open teaming in instances have worked pretty well too, outside of the alpha strike issue.
STO's going to sell over 1m boxes at launch and probably have 300k of those players still around in 6 months time, provided content is pushed out regularly enough. Someone else used the term dismissively, but yes, STO is good enough.
Also, no matter what STO contained, there would always be people out there who felt it didn't meet what they thought 'Trek' was.
I'm not buying it, but it turned out better than I thought it would.
You must have missed the memo. You know, the one that tells you the release date and the time they have been open beta and that date. Oh, and the part that you typical beta the game you are going to release, not the game that is hiding in your sock drawer to pull out at the last minute, without proper testing, and present to paying customers.
Finally, a "AAA" (*chuckle* *snort* *guffaw*) game that will make the launches of AO and AoC look like perfection in comparison.
Someone throw some snowballs into Hell, so we can accurately assess the chance of this game succeeding past a skeleton crew of subs.
This whole lifetimesub discussion its funny , all those "ni" sayers talk about game in his current state , Cryptic already stated they will start adding content right after relase , in Borg space , star clusters , pvp missions ect. ofcourse there is always risk develeopers just take subs and let game die , but imo ST ip have too much fans worldwide to let this happen.
Even if some people compare STO to CoX still STO game have big potential to be really good game its depends on ways Cryptic will take about it, and yes i preordered STO after my week in beta even if in his current state its contatins wall of bugs i belive at end this will be great game, everyone needs to start somewhere even WoW was totally unplayable after relase with all bugs .
And yes i'm big Star Trek fan and i see lots of things i love in ST series , everyone got his own point of view.
those are my 2 c.
Dude your twisted, "this game sucks but I'm gonna play it anyway". WTF
And we all wonder why these companies keep pumping out complete trash MMO's
Three months after launch the game will still be there, it is not going to be knocked into an alternative dimension. I will give it the once over then, after the reviews have come in and people are giving a considered opinion of the launched game on forums.
Its very simple , to develop good MMO you need lots of cash , days of indie games maked in garage ends quite some time ago , if i see potential in game i will buy it to help develop game i belive in, nothing twisted in there.
Its very simple , to develop good MMO you need lots of cash , days of indie games maked in garage ends quite some time ago , if i see potential in game i will buy it to help develop game i belive in, nothing twisted in there.
My post wasn't a reply to you, it was a reply to the original poster. Just didn't think it appropriate to quote his whole post.
And yes the original poster is twisted, read the body of his post and then read his conclusion, it's twisted thinking and quite simple f'ing retarded.
Likely the only reason I will never even try it is because of Cryptic behind and what they did with CO.
Nice article. Gave me a bit of a laugh, but still can't erase the big pit of emptiness this game left when I realized I didn't like it. Maybe in six months or a year it will get better, but I doubt it. The death of STO is, in many ways, the death of all MMOs for me.
I think this article is some kind of joke. Its a rip into Cryptic about how bad the game is and that, even if your a Star-trek fan foy there is only so much 'stary-eyes' will get you past the games deep and cutting flaws.
I'm just waiting for them to announce the first expansion, then maybe the community will have screamed enough at cryptic that they may actually do something about it.
The cost of a lifetime sub is equivalent to paying for 16 months of subscription fees.
For those not mathmatically inclined, lifetime > 16 months. Of course that's assuming the game lasts at least 16 months (free trollbait!), but if Age of Conan can pull it off (not to mention Darkfall), I see no reason to believe this one won't.
You also get the exclusive privilege to play a "liberated" Borg (ala 7 of 9), and two additional character slots.
Seemed like a pretty good value for my entertainment dollar, but then again I've been known to spend more on a bag of weed. Your mileage may vary.
You really are uninformed arent you or all that weed smoking may have impaired your reasoning.
I mean have you played Champions Online?
Have you been in beta and seen that you can hit level 16 (the cap in beta) in less than a week?
Have you read the interview where one of the devs said it will take 80 hours of gameplay for an average player?
Can you then honestly tell me you see no reason for this game to last less than 16(!) months?
I will be happy if this game lasts two months. 16 months?? What a joke...
The game leaves me yawning and uninterested. Im a huge Sci-Fi fun and deep-space i'd surelly say but such a scheme in a game is.. yawn? That w/o taking in account anything else ofcourse. The game might be good for those that like that kind of "arena" such as the EVE is (only deep into merchantise).
Im feverisly waiting for SWToR whenever that is but i doubt i even try the Trek Online.
Soz guys.
Anyone who likes and plays eve (even a small amount) would not enjoy ST:O as an alternative 'space' game. They would absoloutly rip the game to shreds.
Even the most basic noob ships on Eve have more customisation than on STO. Granted not the visual kind of customisation.
Cryptic must be in some financial troubles. Why else would they release a game after a few months in development. have a huge drive on Lifetime Subs even before the game launches (or even before it have a trial...!), make people pay full price for the game box on top of the monthly fees AND have microtransactions on top of it all... (lol?)
Either Cryptic have a money problem, or the MMO companies finally get that the general MMO player are so mentaly handicapped compared to the normal gamers that it dosnt really matter what kinda trash they release anymore or what price they make them pay.
Ah well, you keep playing and paying it, ill be playing this while you play wow in space: http://www.fz.se/filmer/20100108/battlefield-bad-company-2-battlefield-moments-episode-3/
ocf you know every EvE player by heart. i was just a low 18m SP in EvE but canceled my account 2 month ago. yes i still love EvE but at one point you lose the fun in it and need to recharge your fun meter by playing other games and maybe 6 month later go back to EvE. and what i tested in STO OB is enough that i pre ordered it.
and if you did follow the game bit more you would know that there was many on forum that whined that there was no life sub 3-4 weeks ago. i see nothing wrong with a company doing life sub and its the only company that does it. but my self im not gona buy one for a game that will have me playing around 6-12 month or how long my next MMO takes to get out.
Nice justification but the game is still boring and doesn't bring out an element that keeps me drawn in. I played for two hours and didn't want to go beyond that. For those who are enjoying it, have fun!
WoW !!!! The new BC2 looks NUTS! I know im playing! But unless it turns in the PC market im gonna need a XB360 aswell !! :D
No, I 100% agree with you, Im very much the same as you, got a 21m sp and a 10m sp and I canceled my accounts recently too. As you say Eve is very draining. But with Eve I will always go back at some point, because I'm always going to need that depth of game play.
I too stop and play other mmo's just for breaks, but STO [at the moment] is no replacment for any MMO, let alone a replacment 'space game'
STO is more of a gimmick they knocked up quickly to farm some revenue from the IP. Much like LOTRO was when it first came out.. it will take a few years at least to mature.
I could also mention a few other "IP's" that do this... Warhammer.. Conan.. Dungeons & Dragons..Matrix all EXACTLY the same! - Release early, rubbish early, takes years to polish by which time the user base wont recover. STO will b e no different
I'm a huge trek fanboy as well. But this game is just bad from the first moment you enter the game. I want to love it. I really do. My inner nerd needs this! But I just can't do it.
how many more bad games must be endure? Just look at he ads on this site as an example.....I mean come ....really?
As long as 'you people' hehe you millions of people, continue to fund sub par lackluster games we will continue to see them spit out. I guess thats why I consider myself in the minority these days. I personally don't fund crap and crap is what I see.
LOL great read.
Unfortunately, I am mostly this guy (minus the fan fiction...I'm not THAT big of a geek), and will probably end up not cancelling my preorder, unless they royally eff up even more between now and Monday when OB ends, despite me having HUGE problems with this game. Today's patch alledgedly made combat ridiculously easy, so maybe that will be the last straw.
To be honest, if this was anything besides Trek or Star Wars, it would have been uninstalled already, yet for some reason I still can't pull the trigger to cancel.
oh deer me.
I almost wet myself laughing...., its so true too.
the game is lacking in EVERYTHING, but I have pre-ordered. I'm not sure if that was very wise though. But then again I am a startrek fan, serves me right :(
Thanks a ton for writing this, Mr Jennings! I know I am not the only mad person now, teh. :D
I tested and really dont like it... maybee will be improved in the future but the beta is a disappointment.
You know.... all the comparisons I see here are STO vs. CoX and STO vs. LotRO...
Both games are pretty good so I don't really see the downside atm. What were you expecting?
An EvEesque colossus with diplomacy minigames, player build orbital factories, homegrown phaser-turrets, 5 faction sector-based faction PvP and a cookie?
I'm gonna give this game a shot. If it feels like Star Trek, has pew pew and you can play together, it has the fundamental ability to be fun.
Always remember Diablo. This game had a handful of quests, no crafting, no housing, no diplomacy, no real PvP, 4 players max on one game... But i still had such a load of fun there.
M
Diablo didn't have a monthly fee with microtrans stacked on top of it. This is really a question about value. I doubt there would be such s discussion if this game shipped at 20 bucks and no monthly fee. Personally, I don't think its a crap game but it's not worh the price they are asking, to me.
Hey Scott,
Emjoyed your piece on STO. I might even be able to out-geek you on the Trek front, seeing as my wife and I are such Trek nerds we actually got married on the bridge of th Enteprise-D in Las Vegas.
I've logged a good unmber of hours in the beta, and I'm well along into the second tier now. I can tell you that, from my own experiences, the game gets more fun when you hit the second tier. I hope you'll find that to be true, as well.
See you in sector space!
I've gotta question for the few who keep saying "it get's better once you get the second ship/second tier" and I haven't seen anyone answer it yet. WHAT makes it better when you hit the second tier? What is so different that makes it that much better? I am not being a smart ass, I am actually curious since I've seen quite a few people say it anytime someone expresses a negative opinion about the game.
I really hope it does get better at tier 2. Because I haven't really enjoyed tier 1 very much so far. :(
I've gotta question for the few who keep saying "it get's better once you get the second ship/second tier" and I haven't seen anyone answer it yet. WHAT makes it better when you hit the second tier? What is so different that makes it that much better? I am not being a smart ass, I am actually curious since I've seen quite a few people say it anytime someone expresses a negative opinion about the game.
Well, the biggest change is the way that starship combat feels. Amd starship combat seems to make up about 65% of the game, so an improvement to starship combat is really an improvement to the overall experience.
So, how does starship combat improve in Tier 2?
Well, in my own personal opinion, it improves for these reasons:
In tier 2, starships begin to take on specific roles, establishing a role-driven group dynamic that's at the heart of most MMOs today. Fights are a lot more fun when everyone isn't basically the same; there's a tactical variety, and each player has a specific job to do. There's a great sense of satisfaction derived from knowing that your cruiser did a great job "tanking" the enemy ships to keep your allies safe. There's a tremendous rush when your escort swoops in at blazing speed to do a strafing run with dual heavy phaser cannons on an enemy vessel, only to blast him with a photon torpedo from your aft as you leave him in your impulse trail.And nothing will bring a smile to your face like bailing out an ally with a life-saving nick-of-time dose of shield energy that spares him from a fiery doom at the hands of a Negh'Var-class battle cruiser. So much of that is missing in Tier 1 gameplay,it tends to homogenize the experience. Players like variety. It's the spice of life, after all.
But there's more to it than just that. At tier 2, you unlock a bunch of really neat abilities. You can drop phaser turrets in ground combat. You can target specific subsystems on enemy ships, neutralizing weapons or shields. You can promote your officers and have them man more advanced consoles that allow them to use their tier 2 abilities, but still get access to their tier 1 abilities. For instance, I promoted my Chief Engineer and gave her the Lieutenant-tier skill "Boost Shields II" (or something like that, I forget the exact name. At the Ensign tier, she had "Boost Shields I" - same skill, but an earlier level. Now she has both. And they don't share a cooldown! So I can actually have two rotating shild boosts on my cruiser, making me really tough in space combat, What I'm REALLY talking about here though, is that now I have BUILD. So many new options open up, that you actually start to plan out a future for your character and decide what you really want to be good at. You just don't see that enough in tier 1.
There are other reasons... there's some awesome content at the higher tiers. The loor drops start to get really nice, too. I've been seeing a little bit more 'colored' (IE,greens, blues, etc) stuff that is more rare and powerful than what I was getting in tier 1.
So really, it's all the same stuff you see in other MMOs, and it feels good to know all that cool stuff is there in STO, too. You just have to slog through those early levels to get to it.
Anyway, like I said, that's just my own two cents. You mileage may vary.
SWG didn't have Space missions until Lightspeed expansion... its already a part of the game in STO. You don't need to wait for expansion *wink*. Plus who wants to go back to SWG now...
If I wanted to return to space combat I would resub in a minute back to swg compared to this garbage space combat we have with STO. Sorry I would go back in a minute to swg rather than play this game of epic STO fail. And that saying a lot since i have been swg free for over 2 years.
I'm a veteran SWG player and I really enjoyed the space combat in Jump to Lightspeed. For about five days. Then it started to become really grindy and repetitive. And the content in space was really buggy at first, and there was not much of it.
In my opinion, Trek's starship combat just blows JTL out of the water. It's much nicer-looking, there's a lot more to do in space, and after 12 levels in STO I've encountered scant few bugs in the system. In summary, it feels much more polished and fun than what SWG offered.
Bring on STO, I'm psyched for it.
You know, most of this article could be written about Mortal Online, right up to the part where beta is not feature complete... but it would be lost on the fanboys. Thanks for a good read though :)
Pfft. I am a Trekkie, but I have no desire eating a developer's shittaco just because it says Star Trek on it.
This pretty much sums it up. Why I'll play Star Trek Online, yeah I did...then I quickly removed it from my computer
I MIGHT try this game, but only after it's been out for at least 6 months. There are two advantages to this 1) it gives the developers time to work out some of the bugs 2) I'll be able to read some reviews to get a sense whether it's any good.
I'm sick and tired of throwing away $40-$50 at a whack to find out a game isn't worth the price of the box it comes in.
Well, I had my recoil moment as well with STO it, but...I am having fun in it in a way that is maybe too old for new MMORPG players to understand (yet one that some of us have been seeking for a time). The best way to explain it is by describing it as I felt in during playing it...in character.
*****
Captain's Log: Star date 012010.22
So here I was Warping through the sector on a mission of Transporting a Vulkan Ambassador to P'jem when Com reports a distress call coming from Starbase 24, informing the ambassador of the delay, I ordered Helm to set course to Starbase 24.
Upon entering the area we came under heavy attack by a squadron of Negh'var battleships. And while we tried our best our shields and hull just could not handle so much punishment so we had to retreat.
Grouping with the other Starships in the area I gave instructions to Tactical to coordinate attacks and along with other Captain's engaged the Battleship squadrons one by one.
Once the Space defense of Starbase 24 was completed I approached the damaged Starbase and beamed on board with my Party (two bridge officers and 2 security Ensigns). The place was crawling with Klingons, we fought corridor by corridor, and gained gradual access to the 6 trapped scientists whom we helped beam out of there, then downloaded the Computer core's data and beamed back to the Athena.
Once there the USS Oakley came in the area and I instructed helm to rendezvous with her, so we could beam over the scientists we saved from the Starbase.
Following a successfull transport of the scientists I contacted Star Fleet Command and reported the success of the mission to the Admiral and instructed helm to assume the original mission of transporting the Vulkan Ambassador to P'Jem...
Captain Surak'nar, USS Athena
****
This was just one Episode (quest)..a public quest at that, each one I do is an adventure in itself, and a Log could be written or at least imagined for every episode and to me, the capacity for a game to invite the player to use some of their imagination during play is an element that has been lacking from MMORPG's since some time and has caused way too many players to play these games very mechanically instead of organically.
And that is why I will be playing STO, everything else is details that can be tweaked and adjusted in due time provided Cryptic is lending an ear to it's playerbase in the long run.
also Borg...and not just the liberated kind, they want to work in...at some point...but yeah i'm kinda on the fence, especially since the login server is the same as CO and while the games are seperate login/friends/chat are shared so if one goes down...like it did last week...champions cant be accessed....
also
Your video settings are extremely low, my friend.
Well, I am a huge Star Trek fan. Was a "trekker" before anyone even knew there would be one. I too was a little tripid about what Cryptic might do the the Star Trek IP. So, with some fear, I joined the Closed Beta of STO some months ago. While the evolution of the game has been up and down, most of the direction the game has been going in the last month or so have been positive. Space combat is almost perfect (almost). Ground combat is still clunky but it is improving. Missions, well, this is an MMO and there are just some things that the general public just comes to expect.
That brings me to the point. The "general public". STO is not meant to be a Star Trek game for just the die-hard ST junkie or Trekker. The game is meant to draw in those that have little to no understanding about the lore. It is meant to be a fun game to play. In that, Cryptic has done a pretty good job. The game is fun. I have two friends and two family members that decided to try to get into Open Beta just because they caught me playing the Closed Beta. All four are getting or have gotten the Lifetime Subscription and I didn't have to talk them into it at all. The game, worts and all, sold them. Them enjoyed it. All have played CoX and LOTRO and SWG and EVE. All have told me that they love STO.
So, will STO do well? I suspect it will do well enough. Will it get better? I certainly think so. Will everyone enjoy it? Probably not...but that is why we have so many MMO's out there.
snipThanks Venthrac, exactly what I was looking for.
I hit level 16 in 3 days. I did not find enjoyment levels rise after getting tier two equipment. The mission balancing is consistent with your level, if you don't start grabbing tier two missions before you get there.
Huge imbalance in equipment between the Klingons and Federation. Klingons have no PvE that they can get drops on other than a few drops within an instanced ship kill room.
Over all I would say my enjoyment level dropped as I found it's the same mini games over and over. The lack of hitting a planet side exploring tracts of expanse adds to this down turn. No hint of sandbox, only confinement to narrow corridors and rooms of 1 to 10 other players.
No crafting system, they have a collection system. The scraps you get for the collections leaves many gaps to fill a requirement as you pass the tier level of what it produces. The rewards do not seem to be worth the effort.
I have 50+ million SP in Eve and had canceled my subscription from time to time to revitalize. I did not expect STO to match the sandbox of Eve, I at least want some. I will not be spending my time in STO after it goes gold. I am thankful for my 99 cent purchase at Target for a pre-order to get beta access. They offer a free trial years down the road, then I might try it again being a HUGE fan of the license.
Nice article, personally I need more to convince myself I am in 'Star Trek' but I entirely understand where you are coming from and hope you continue to enjoy it.
I enjoy the Beta very much. I log on and the music makes me smile. I customized my character's look and smiled even more. When I had my ship's saucer, pylons and narcels just perfect, I picked my ship's material, and the window package that looked best to me, sat back and smiled really big.
One of the things I always wished Eve would let me do I could do in the STO Beta... I was able to get out of my ship and walk around a space station interacting with people and NPCs. I had to take a lift to talk to the Admiral and had to use a console to open my bank. It was really cool.
Aaahh, and after loading my ship with bridge officers I launched away from the space station and followed my quests to combat and then I really had a great time.
LUckily the controls are pretty easy to learn. Spinning, firing phasers and torpedos, using my bridge officers to increase shield recharge and redistributing power to level load everything, then having my Red Shirt push some button or another and which allowed me to shoot 3 torpedoes at my target's unshielded side and watching the fantastic BOOM as the enemy was blasted to pieces... made me smile.
Honestly, when I read hatred posts I just shake my head and then... grin.
Honestly, the game isn't all that bad. Space combat is pretty cool though the ground combat would really use some luvin. As long as they continue to advance the game such as adding player crews expanding the universe more as well as expanding on exploration the game will grow. However, if they just leave it how it is now on release then handle it like champions the game is as good as dead.
Hehe ,great article ,fun ,but so very true too.
Diiid try the beta after preordering (and buying lifetime sub, moments after before I had even tried it properly)
Honestly I think it's good value either way, I won't have to worry about the ...bother that is subscription fees ,game-cards or whatnot. It seriously isn't a lot of money.
Also ,as one of the major mmo's it belongs in my collection either way.
The gameplay isn't that varied, I agree, though it -is- fun . Most every major MMORPG I've played the last five years have been fun to play, solid ,and addicting (though not much, since I can't ever make up my mind and stay with one for more than a few hours at a time).
What makes or breaks an MMO in the end ,is it's community, if you find a crew to play with ,if you play
a game with friends, and as such ,have a really good time ,even a mediocre game (by some peoples standards) will
give you a much more favourable impression of the game.
=) The community I've met on Star Trek Online, is a nice one ,a friendly one, and a helpful one.
It was easy to find parties ,and I nothing, of the sickening elitism I've encountered in other games.
Where weaker party members struggled with commands and such , others stepped in to give a few pointers.
It's only beta, and it's not a set game yet (even if near completion) But if the game has this kind of community at launch,
I'm certain to have fun with this game.
<_< funny to see some of the above comments ,so sour and negative, not sure who pissed in their cups of tea but yeah, if they enjoy being like that, let them.
STO , fun game
What's funny is that people are going to pay $49.99 plus a monthly fee to access a game that is just a rehash of what has been released over the last, what, three years on consoles. So, they add a chat box and the ability to see dozens of people in each zone. It still doesn't seperate ST:O from any star trek single player game with multiplayer capabilities that has come recently. It truly is sad that so many are going to be duped into playing this piece of turd and fueling yet another cryptic fail at MMO games.
Two strikes Cryptic. Can they actually make a real MMO or will they strike out. Only the future can tell me.
Look. I'm not a trekkie and i probably just misspelled that. I know some star trek stuff but not much. I watched the show from time to time but i know about humans, romulans, and Warf. That's it and i enjoyed this game even through the beginning of this buggy beta. I have tried to find an action oriented MMO for some time and i sure didn't expect sto be be what i was looking for. I like ground combat (even though its buggy annoying at times and spawning and a ship on the ground means you wont get your crew unless you leave the planet and try again...and again. I do like the slow space combat because it makes you act on the fly and some plans you have get abolished by the end of the fight. Every fight is different in that you cant just stand there and press 1, 2, 1, 4, 3 then walk 4 feet and rinse and repeat. Granted ground combat is like that for me right now and i have this feeling its not gonna change. So yes i like the game and yes it needs work but the core mechanics are solid.
PS...blah blah blah yoinktard fairy
I don't get the people that are so critical of the game. Having played 90% of the MMOs since 1995 lol it fits right in with the rest of the MMOs, and is actually one of the better ones. Graphics are stun-worthy on max, gameplay is kind of fun. Something about the combination of space combat, moving around your ship resources, and the NPC crew is very fun. Although I'm finding the PvP the most fun out of it all. The PvE missions got a little boring after 10 levels.
What I would want to continue playing this game for longer than 2 months:
- Fleet buyable headquarters on a planet, asteroid, or starbase.
-PvP missions to raid other opposite faction PvP fleet headquarters.
-Docking animations that actually show your ship flying in to dock at a starbase.
-NPCs, behavior on the bridge, and look of the bridge (and other inside parts) of the ship to reflect the current purpose of the ship. Engineering, Tactical, Science. If I'm on the bridge of a Science type ship I want the NPCs, their behavior, and the little details inside the ship to reflect that.
-More intricate and varied PvP maps.
-Through all of the combat, something felt like it was missing. Couldn't put my finger on it and then just today I realized what it was. NPC vocal greetings, taunts, war cry, death wail.
Friendly and enemy NPCs feel very hollow without sound clips reinforcing what they are. I want male and female humanoid NPCs to have a quick vocal greeting when you click on them. I want NPC Klingons, Orion pirates, Romulans etc to have appropriate taunts, war cries, and death wails when my character is fighting them in ground combat. And in space combat I want the same but ofcourse in space they would be ship audio transmissions. Small default NPC voices are standard in MMOs it feels strange that they aren't in this MMO yet.
You do not understand why so many are being critical about the game, and then go on to list off the shortcomings of the game. You answered your own question with your very own post.
Originally I was planning to play STO but I changed my mind when the concepts were changed.
I don't want to be a captain of my own ship. I wanted to be a medic on somebody else's ship.
Though I guess the latter was never in the plans... but I was hoping that in this game a crew in a ship would be the 'other mmo's guild'.
This is what we all were expecting. A guild would run its own ship. You would have a captain, and crew. Instead what we got was a higly instanced pos, with some grouping. I found that most of the groups were auto groups who zoned into a patroll area and got a mission done, then the group fell appart. I played the open beta for several days, quit went back tried it again. All it is is another bad start trek game among the many that we have gotton over the years, except this one you have a monthly fee for.
Sorry no dice for me.
Oh and the one thing I noticed he said that his co worker was doing this at work?? Most companies I work for would fire you for playing games at work much less a competitors game.
If everything else about the game was the same as now, but we could run player-crewed ships as guilds, I would buy this game.
It means that much to me. I think it will be a major factor for most Trek fans. Watch the boards.
They took that away. Guess that means there are no more bugs?
Even if those are valid excuses (and I dispute some of them) - they don't keep it from being a bad game. It doesn't give anyone a reason to pay money for it.
And if the game goes F2P in a year? They already have a cash shop in place. That's half the work done already.
You're ahead compared to going to movies. You're not ahead compared to paying for the game on a monthly basis. Cryptic wins big time.
Get your head out of the sand, there IS nothing new about STO. That's one of, if not THE, major criticisms about the game and Cryptic in general: lack of innovation.
You do not understand why so many are being critical about the game, and then go on to list off the shortcomings of the game. You answered your own question with your very own post.
Nah see you don't get what I said. People are so critical about STO but it like 99% of the other 10+ MMOs I have played. The things I suggested they improve are small additions. Could be added in one patch 2 months down the line easily. Fleet headquarters, docking animations, more complex PvP maps, and NPC sound clips. Those aren't huge changes. The core game itself is fun already.
I decided after reading some of the out right bs in the thread about how it gets better after you get your t2 ship to go back and finish out the beta.
Well I got my t2 ship constitution class looks like the old enterprise form the movies not the series. Long story short it moves better than the marinda class, but the game is still the same. Highly isntance, mostly combat and very little to no social action. The only social action is folks talking in zone thats it. No grouping no nothing.
Im not paying 14.95 a month or whatever the price was for a lifetime pass when this should be f2p.
I hope those who like it are ok with it, and I am glad I did not pre order. Once again Cryptic with the big letdown.
Instead of call this game Star Trek, they should call it Star Shortcut because they have taken every shortcut in the book to get it out this soon. They have not even finished the Klingons. They are basically asking people to pay to alpha test this game and the fools are lining up to do it..
Too much instancing, hard to call it a MMO, the need for grouping is so limited.
Then you see posts complaining about not advancing fast enough that make me laugh out loud. What are they going to do when they make admiral in a month or two?
This game is just another MMO joke on genre population.
That is a good point, but advancing and unlocking new abilities and ships is really the only thing to do.
I just get frustrated and angry that such a rich IP was handled so poorly.
I have other favourite IPs that might make for great MMORPGs (like Dune), but now I just dread the announcement, rather than long for it.
It's like having a movie of your favourite book made, only much more disappointing.
And What inside knowledge do you have? It has NOT been delayed. You cannot delay something that has no release date in the first place. Q1 of 2011 is a reasonable release date considering how huge this game will be. in fact even if it's delayed to 2012 I WON'T CARE. I want bioware to do this right. The Star Wars game to end all Star Wars games. Not this shallow puddle of a Star Trek game. SW:TOR will be so much better then STO will ever be. I feel sorry for CBS, a better studio should have gotten Star Trek online. But the past is replaying it self again, with Star Trek and Star Wars. AND Cryptic has ANOTHER mmo due out next year. I seriously doubt they will put any amount of attention into STO, after all CO is such a powerhouse of features and stability riiight? Cryptic is now my most hated studio by far. Much more then SOE or Funcom. They destroyed one of my favorite IPs ever. But at least SW:TOR will make up for it. The web site alone for sw:tor is so well done and already has more content then all of STO.
I will give Cryptic not one penny for this blasphemy.
"You can never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator" - Cryptic's Moto
And What inside knowledge do you have? It has NOT been delayed. You cannot delay something that has no release date in the first place. Q1 of 2011 is a reasonable release date considering how huge this game will be. in fact even if it's delayed to 2012 I WON'T CARE. I want bioware to do this right. The Star Wars game to end all Star Wars games. Not this shallow puddle of a Star Trek game. SW:TOR will be so much better then STO will ever be. I feel sorry for CBS, a better studio should have gotten Star Trek online. But the past is replaying it self again, with Star Trek and Star Wars. AND Cryptic has ANOTHER mmo due out next year. I seriously doubt they will put any amount of attention into STO, after all CO is such a powerhouse of features and stability riiight? Cryptic is now my most hated studio by far. Much more then SOE or Funcom. They destroyed one of my favorite IPs ever. But at least SW:TOR will make up for it. The web site alone for sw:tor is so well done and already has more content then all of STO.
I will give Cryptic not one penny for this blasphemy.
"You can never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator" - Cryptic's Moto
He knows its been delayed because he can read. EA stated it was delayed and Bioware confirmed it. His inside source is called google, check it out.
In other news, while I like star trek, I would have to agree after playing the game for a while its really does not live up to the Star Trek name. I did pre-order the game because at first I thought it was great, after about 15-20 hrs I found out the game has really nothing going for it. Cryptic shrank pvp down to 5 vs 5. Klinks have no content whatsoever and really its just a combat game all around. No thinking required. The changes they have made to pvp in the last month have just made it worse. Closed beta was really a better game imo. It should be renamed to federation online. I will play the game for the first 30 days that are included to see if they can salvage this ship wreak but it's really not the game I had wanted. Please cryptic don't destroy another good mmo Idea by making it.
I didn't really like this game all that much when I first started playing it, but i gave it a chance, and as you begin to advance in level it gets pretty fun. You ship gets more abilities and so do your foes, it makes the space battles more challenging. Also the planets I have gone to, some have been quite unique looking. While I could stand for the quests to be a little deeper, I am hoping for some epic quest lines to be added into this game. One thing this game has room for is expansion. Space games can expand a little more easily than games that have terrain. I really like the space battles alot, they don't feel repetitive to me. I also tried out PvP, and while I was only lev 13 in a 10 to 20 range, and got utterly destroyed, it was alot of fun. The classes are rather balanced, and because of the variety of looks and weapons avail in ground combat, it is hard to tell how to fight another player, until you see them do something, you don't know how to fight them. And if you are going to have factions, what better than the federation vs the klingons. I will not buy a long subscription, but I will be playing this game and giving it a chance.
I enjoyed the article, thank you. We need more of this on MMORPG.com, this makes it feel like it's written by gamers for gamers.
YES!!! totally agree :) I related to every word written.. I am a trekker from way back.. I even remember the PILOT for the first Star Trek series lol.
I have been in the beta and yes, I found it somehwat wanting but it IS STAR TREK! I can choose the type of uniform I wear and I have a Star Trek communicator! and I get on my ship, use the turbo lift to the bridge (shame about the captain's chair) and warp speed across the galaxy. I can talk to Star Fleet and I can BEAM UP!! I am in heaven :) I have pre-ordered and I will play for at least the first 30 days.. then probably wait a few months until they fix it LOL.
BEAM ME UP, Scotty!!!!!!!
After playing in the head start a few hours I must say I am torn. I am also one of those Trekkies that can speak Klingon and knows the difference between a Hydran and Kzinti. I am old school computer trekking as well, back through all the mess and ending with Star Fleet Command.
STO so far has been interesting, the FPS element is okay but I am not a big FPS fan so I might not judge it fair. The starship element has me torn. It is more tactically oriented than the other star ship mmo scifi offering. This to me spices up the combat. However I am left feeling more like I am flying a fighter than a starship.
STO is trying to walk the middle ground between the rich tactical combat of SFC and the orbit and click combat of EVE.
At the end of the day this is a fun title and gets you your trekkie fix however I do not see it being listed as a great title. EVE will not lose a lot of players because STO does not appeal to the same group, the lack of sandbox in STO saves EVE. The PvP to me in STO sounds better however, I hate blob fights, perferring the quick dance of small fleets.
At the end of the day the success or failure of this MMO will be known in about 6 months. Cryptic has a title on it's hands that wins in some small degree without any game. You say Star Trek and you draw in a nice little group. However they need to put some serious support in for a real win.
The game has a number of graphical glitches that are just lazy quality control. The server problems are to be expected so we get to see how they handle this. The game play has a bit more of an arcade feel than I feel most trekkies will like so it will be interesting to see how they rework that or if they do.
Right now it is a fun change of pace but to make it a down the road MMO they are gonna have to beef it up.
On a side note what happened to my favorite race the Gorn?
The gorn are there I found them in beta, on a mission in the arcanues cluster they are poorly done they look like crud, not very well thought out, same with klingons they just dont look right
I agree and I enjoyed the article. The one issue I have with articles such as these are when the columnist also works for a gaming developer, as Jennings is known to work with the Aion team.
Despite any personal opinions Jennings might have on Aion, I doubt we'll ever see them in print to see as... blatantly... as his opinions of STO are. I highly doubt his employer would look favorably on him if he were to write a negative article on Aion, even if he felt negatively this way.
This is why one of the first rules we learn in college, when studying journalism - as I have myself done - is that you look for the personal bias of a writer. If the CEO of Enron corp writes an article stating why he thinks Oil and Gasoline are the Best Things Ever for the environment, one has to suspect his writings a bit because his bread is buttered by that corporation.
Same thing with columnists and writers who actually work for gaming companies. I have no idea if the MMORPG.com staff will let my post stand unedited, of course - or let me go without a warning on this one - but since it hasn't been said I think it is something that is very relevant to the topic.
I'm not a huge fan of STO, either, but at what point do we step back and look a bit skeptically at op-ed articles written by columnists who actually work for the competition? (For that matter, I'm not a huge fan of Aion, but that is beside the point.)
So, STO has a lot of flaws and was a huge disappointment to many. That much is obvious. STO also has a lot of loyal fans. That much is obvious. The opinions of somebody who doesn't work for any MMO gaming developer, however, are bound to be more valuable in my ultimate assessment of a game than the words of somebody who is knowingly being paid by a gaming development company, on their payroll. I know that few of the companies I have worked for in the past would have regarded favorably an article I wrote expressing any negative opinion about the Corporation or the Corporate Powers That Be.
Just some food for thought. I'll screen shot this in case it's removed quickly. ;)