State of the Game: July 2012

By PWE_BranFlakes @ July 27, 2012 at 3:47pm

136 Comments »

• davepearson84 @ Aug 8th, 2012 11:17AM

  Hi First post for me, Ive been with the game pre launch and had a bit of a absence period and then came back beginning of this year and all i can say is WOW!!!!! i even played season 6 as a tester and very impressed with the changes and as some earlier people have said if you dont like it leave!!! The only problem ive had was the linking of my Cryptic Acc to the Perfect world ok i didn't have a link passcode or anything so contacted support tried what they recommended and hey it i didnt work but i didnt spit my dummy out i just created a new perfect world and linked that and hey presto. One thing though when is Foundry gonna be back to create im gagging to create some missions for you possible enjoyment :-P , also ive logged into my Cryptic acc only and can create foundry but not with my PW linked with Crytpic acc if that makes any sense. Anyways GREAT GAME GUYS Whoop Whoop

• mgmirkin426 @ Aug 3rd, 2012 3:58PM

  So, what happened to the promise of a new featured episode each week with maybe 2-3 weeks between episode series?? Has this been completely abandoned? I'd love to see more storyline to play through. Why aren't we getting more content? I mean, yay starbases. But what happened to all the grandiose content plans? Is there nobody working on STORY at all? I think we got all of like 1 featured episode series sine that promise. Maybe two? We probably could have had 4-5 buy now. It's been MONTHS AND MONTHS. Where's the content generation? Will any player storylines ever get green lit as actual "featured episodes?" Are any that good?

• trekfan831 @ Aug 1st, 2012 10:44PM

  I will be playing for the first time soon!!!!

• diddy13 @ Jul 31st, 2012 5:13PM

  STO better step up there game before Nov. Old republic will be free to play by then. Good luck.

• naval10 @ Jul 31st, 2012 3:27PM

  I agree with ghostofachance, this way we (preferable the admirals) could have "a fleet" as we have many "old" ships at our corrent caractere. It will be great if could be possible to send bridge officers commanding our old ships in missions in the duty oficers model. Please considered this carefuly, if it could be possible to be done. Tks.

• ghostofachance @ Jul 31st, 2012 11:25AM

  In an upcoming patch, can you guys change it so that once someone is made an Admiral they have the ability to promote their first officer to Captain? Also, perhaps at the Admiral rank you can make it so that a player has the ability to use all of the ships under him/her as a fleet in a manner similar to Duty Officers currently can now. The current way of things has allowed me to have all of my Bridge Officers at the Commander Rank, but I really am unable to further use them so have actually dismissed fully qualified NPC out of an inability to further use fully developed characters. With a change I detailed above, if I am a player who has advanced to Rear Admiral (lower half) I could promote my first officer to captain; reassign him to be the commanding officer of one of the other ships I own (as well as some of the other bridge officers to other bridge positions on other ships I own) and gain from their missions I assign them to do much the same as the NPC Duty Officer assignments I now have. Also, perhaps on the upper-level ships the Bridge Officer Slots should require higher ranked minimums in order to maximize their abilities.

• marman01

  that would be awesome to have in the game because i agree a lot of fully trained officers are dismissed because of Very Rare officers and all, i think that would be an extremely good update

• oldjerseydevil

  It's been mentioned a few times on the forums as I recall and even in a audio blog posted here on the Dev blog. Heck I've mentioned it in my own comments. I think it was said the "First Officer System" as it was tentatively called, was put on the back burner for the Fleet Updates with Season 6. Which were supposedly promised since way back.

• marman01 @ Jul 31st, 2012 9:43AM

  It's funny what you all say, if you dont like the game as much and dont think its even close to the actual shows, then your all wrong. It connects to a lot of stories, like the borg missions and pve's they connect to Picards history of them(the time travel in Star Trek: First Contact). You just need to keep an open mind about this, lot's of companies own rights to different Star Trek series, they need to be given the rights to put certain ships or storylines on here. I'm only 12 and yet i can enjoy a heck of a game. This game has gotten people back into Star Trek, and it's brought people like me into who had never heard of it. So just stop your complaining and just be happy there is a game like this out, it's truely amazing that they have been able to get 6 major updates done before 3 years, i cant wait to see what it's like in 3-4 more years, then all of you guys complaining can just be amazed by what you'd said earlier and then you'll feel like you said crap. They've added so much that incorporates the Star Trek Series, but again keep an open mind, this is set in time way after all of those series. This is an awesome game, not a bad one. :D

• oldjerseydevil

  Well said mamrma01!

• p3aussie

  i am not saying that STO has become bad or doesn't deserve applause for the amount of time and work that has gone into this. i am merely noticing things that i feel that they can improve upon. but as oldjerseydevil has said, there was thing that were mentioned which were suppose to come out, which then got put back cause of other things that they wanted to do... some of the people who have mentioned things as such have been here since beta and so on. I do agree that i should be that people should keep an open mind as such... but a change in scenery would be great, or being able to play the borg would bring a more indepth and insight into the borg for those who aren't fully familiar with them....

• midnitejoker78 @ Jul 31st, 2012 6:43AM

  ladies and gentlemen. I agree with everything that you all have said, but I have something to suggest: if it is this bad here at this game, just leave. Wait for another Star Trek game, hope it is better, and run with that. Just a thought

• matteo716maikai @ Jul 30th, 2012 6:47PM

  pvp?

• marman01

  Player vs Player

• flauren @ Jul 30th, 2012 2:02PM

  for example... I have always been a huge geek, and have -TONS- of friends that are huge geeks, and huge mmo players. They didn't play STO because of both of those things, its bad MMO content wise, and it holds no torch to anything star trek unless you put that torch there. The most star trek I've felt in STO were in player created missions that were severely limited, other than that, it feels like a bad version of Wow with laser beams at times... the BC modding community is more respected by real hardcore trek fans as a better trek game than STO, with all the man hours put into it... that's just the sad truth. A true trekie might enjoy STO for the eye candy, but other than that it doesn't make you feel any more into the world of star trek than one might hope logging into a game titled "star trek online". It should just say "Generic Power Gamer Grinding Simulator now with Star Trek Skins!"... would be more accurate ;p lol. The game could be saved... but it wouldn't as much take hard work as it would admitting your approach is completely wrong, and I just don't see that ever happening.

• flauren @ Jul 30th, 2012 1:56PM

  I honestly half think STO should just be called as a wash at this point and sell the rights to someone who will actually make a good star trek game :( hard for me to say that as a fleet admiral since STO's headstart but... er... =/ kind of true, hah. You guys still haven't made one mission that goes anything like any part of even one star trek episode, just making a game with star trek skins and weapons doesn't make it star trek. Bridge Commander is still better than STO, and that is sad, lol.

• maltinpolar @ Jul 30th, 2012 12:48PM

  State of the Game: Yeah, game is going to hell, and we don't know how to fix it. Sorry about that. See you in Season 7.

• kirkepsilon1 @ Jul 30th, 2012 10:55AM

  State of the game what an interesting question? For the most part some of the community will say things are ok while the rest of us will disagree for multiple reasons, one example is the new EV suits which seem to be causing some ruffling amongst the natives well I can see why they did it although I do not believe it to be a good idea in the long run since I think the majority of people will either just get it for their main or just not bother at all and spend their points on something better like new clothes for their avatar. As for the latter I do not believe things are very good season 6 is to be honest is a bit of a disappointment not because of what it contained but mainly because it lacked relevant improvements to the current game play experience which I think most would agree is a tad stale at the moment for example the never ending conflict with KDF makes no sense since logic dictates that at some point the Federation would seek a diplomatic solution to the crisis with KDF so we could be allies again and deal with more pressing threats. The dull ground combat mechanics does not feel very engaging, the huge amount of CXP needed each of the ranks is just stupid since it does not add the gaming experience nor does the dillithium cost for crafting. For me these are just couple of the issues that exist in STO at the moment.

• p3aussie

  Exactly my point...... if i was to compare to what kirkepsilon1 is refering to is, WoW each time they bring out an expansion to their game they have bring a closing to that expansion to open itself up to something else whilst still following its main story. And as flauren as said STO is starting to look like WoW but with laser beam instead...... Star Trek wasn't just about the constant combat and pew pew that it is.... It should be more about you follow a story line that has a positive and negative consequence to the player actions. and from those actions the outcome of the next story will slightly alter from the choices made in the previous mission.

• palpha2clearance @ Jul 30th, 2012 7:24AM

  State of the game........it still sucks, and could be vastly improved if nickel and diming the player base under the premise of f2p was not the main focus, f2p really has never been good for the subscribers/ LTS and we have seen nothing to indicate the future is looking any brighter. Since PWE and zen have been introduced resources have been hightened, but not for the betterment of STO, mostly to hock pay to win lock boxes that are in game rewards that should be free to subscribers (we already pay to much for what we have not received). Someone has lost their mind as to what Star Trek is about and to my knowledge CBS been contacted with that view point and has been advised to watch the forums to see the star trek fans reaction to the poor customer satisfaction we have received through the star trek brand.

• craigtw1984

  As a subscriber i totally agree with what you are saying, it's blatant day light robbery at the end of the day!!!

• dracounguis @ Jul 30th, 2012 7:16AM

  I have to agree with the other posters about the people who subscribe or are lifers, they really are not getting much true value. They still get nicked and dimed for everything new. The Stipend will get you 1 free retrain a month on 1 character. Oooo! How about add a BIG quarterly gift too? Like choose a non-current lockbox ship or a respectable pile of Lobi or 100M EC even?

• krell83sto @ Jul 30th, 2012 6:53AM

  Well at least other people are still logging in........

• p3aussie @ Jul 30th, 2012 6:25AM

  I am in full agreements with what everyone is saying. STO has come a long way in a very short amount of time. Yes, there are thing that really do need to be corrected. and Yes the approach of STO is to be expected of a MMORPG. I want to see STO come from a different angle, to see when i am in a battle again a borg that the borg have locked a tractor beam on to my ship, and start cutting into the hull of the ship. While this is all happening to have borg drone beam aboard the ship and try to assimilate the ship. Pretty much the whole battle of Wolf 359 unfolding as such. I would really like to be able ot see my ship get dismantled/destoryed in the same manner as any of ship does. And being able to properly rank up in a Starfleet enviroment as such that it appears in the TV series and Movies as such. I can understand the story lines which do flow smoothly into one and another, but i am personally sadden by the how my character seem to be all about 80% battle (and yes i do realize that the Federation and Klingons are at war with it other) and the rest is made up of questioning and small. Why not having the main story line with class story line intergrated with it. I would have thought that would have been a great approach to. Which speaking of that, What is the mean purpose of the Wolf 359 System? i have always wondered what was the purpose and gain of having it there. Would be great to see the system getting used for something. To make this short. I went from being a subscription member to F2P, the cost to play this game for the benefit dont seem to weigh out. But Season is the right step towards make the game more important. Just rethink about the main story and adding in the class story into this.

• zev92 @ Jul 29th, 2012 12:30PM

  Where is the promise of more KDF content.... AGAIN

• zaynar

  I'd say, what we got is all we're going to get. I'd bet even less for the Romulans.

• oldjerseydevil @ Jul 29th, 2012 1:09AM

  My $0.02 worth. I've been with the game since Feb 2012, so I'm relatively just a babe in the woods with all of this. But I am in a strong Fleet that has a lot of subscribers and Lifers. I liked Season 5 a lot, as I am a fan of the Franchise and like story based content. I'd like to see more like that, especially if someone can move the story in a more tactful, diplomatic and less tactical direction. Everyone and their cousin in STO can level up Feds and Klingons to max and blow stuff up fairly easily... How about more peaceful resolutions? Actually play out some of the "story" that the Doff system hints at. Negotiate Trade or Diplomacy with species in remote parts of the galaxy. All sorts of potential there if some devs could work an interesting mechanic besides "Vaporize x amount of Enemies." How many Vice Admirals out there are ready to manage a real fleet of their own, meaning more than one ship at a time, like other Trek games have done, (Some better than others!) How many of us are ready to mentor our First Officer when she takes the "Big Chair" Herself. That being said Season 6 is starting out really strong for our Fleet, as the Base actually grows and defends itself in Fleet Action. The grinding for the Fleet starbase seems worth it as it tends to be a "for the greater good" sort of effort. And my fleet has started to work around the whole gambling angle by having "Box parties" as a social event. If enough of us have lockboxes and ground Dil or are willing to throw real cash in we get together on someone's bridge or the base and pass stuff around. Whoever opens the box gets first dibs at what comes out and passes the rest around, same goes for Tholian Requisitions. I had enough Lobi to upgrade the crystal shell so I wont open any more of those on my Fed main. Give someone else a chance to get a piece of the set, but someone opened one of mine and got a Phased Tet weapon. He passed it back to me and I got a nice DH Cannon ACC x 2 I can't use but could sell on the exchange for an obscene amount. It's a business for PWE, not a labor of love. I for one like some of what I've seen over the last few weeks. There are a LOT of neat graphical enhancements in old story maps that have blown my mind. And a lot of little sloppy code bugs that only an experienced programmer can pick up on. No big deal most should be easy to fix with a few patches. In my opinion the games gotten a lot more interesting and can only get better. To the haters I offer this in closing; something I've been saying to my friends in the game for a while; "You can't please all of the people all of the time Mr Lincoln, so try to enjoy the play, just remember to duck."

• mccarronxld @ Jul 29th, 2012 12:05AM

  I like how they show a picture of an armor set 90% will never be able to get. Sure, this is a great time to come back to STO: if you have a disposable income and love to grind.

• palpha2clearance @ Jul 28th, 2012 7:36PM

  State of the Game Review: The season 6 was the smoothest roll out to date, that being said the previous ones were total disasters. As a LTS/ Prelaunch Investor I love Star Trek, but my F2P suspicions and nightmare all came to fruition when Perfect World Entertainment bought Cryptic. We were promised that STO would be the culmination of the "Best of the Star Trek games", by Zinc....so far our expectations have been dashed by a poor engine limitations, lack of content (great depression), forum changes, C-Store prices raised when we were assured they would decrease (no thanks to Steven D'Angelo), Zen conversion, and now we are paying for feature updates (Fleet Ship Modules for ZEN) that we were assured by Dstahl that would not be the case (along with not charging for content). The micro transaction ethic is deplorable....if you want us to buy it put it in the C- Store for a reasonable price....account unlocks for GOLD MEMBERS not these horrifically jacked up zen prices,per character, and not pay for rewards in game that most of the community have condemned as pay to win greed on the part of PWE. Stipend.....prices rise , stipend stays the same, our stipend is so low it could not buy a substandard EV suit for one of my characters (per character unlock) that is crazy, ludicrous expensive for what it is. I would like to issue a drug test to whoever is setting those prices, cause they are out of their mind...... Gene Roddenberry must be rolling over in his grave to see Star Trek Universe has seen such exploitation, and greed, when the whole idea behind Star Trek is that this way of life is archaic, and long forgotten disgraceful behavior in humanities past. In Conclusion: As a LTS and life long Star Trek fan I feel betrayed that something so honorable has been turned into a Assimilated Ferengi, Romulan dishonorable greedy Mirror Universe. I love to play, but most of the time i wonder how next i am going to be nickeled and dimed to death. I wonder where the idea for STO became so distorted from the Star Trek Prime Universe. I designed this game in 1998 Star Trek Online a Turn based MMO with many of the similar features, and many of my own ideas that I have lobbied for that have made it in game, I feel so many have distorted and uncredited, and turned into a money making scheme. It is just a sad state of the game where someone fell down a slippery slope and never recovered, continually degrading the consumer confidence and pacifying the player base with telling us one thing and doing another (bait and switch). Thank you.

• unionmaster

  This game has only had 2 Major releases the rest are just random filler and get us to do the work for you guys by using the foundry. Most updates never contained PvE content and the stupid PWE you may get this ship if you buy keys and boxs as a lifetime subscriber it make me so angry

• robyns

  To be honest I have to agree here. The benefits for those that pay for the game (lifetimers and those that pay 15 bucks on a monthly basis) seem really low. When compared to other games out on the market where this price includes ALL content, for the (small) size of this game, for those that pay or have paid the overall package seems awfully expensive with all the extra cost around for really little things.

• captainden

  well said.

• kevinwheeler

  VERY well said. I agree with every single point, and these are the reasons why I have stopped playing STO pretty much all together. I have been a LTS since DAY ONE of the game, and I am sick of what the Star Trek Franchise has been bastardized into. It is simply deplorable.

• towani

  Well said, rep, if I could ;)

• naz4 @ Jul 28th, 2012 6:45PM

  State of the game: Random malfunctions now - weapons stop working randomly forcing us to quit game and restart. Shields stop distributing, on and on and on........ Fix one thing, break 5 things. Perfect way to keep devs employed.

• teroknor2012 @ Jul 28th, 2012 6:05PM

  I like what they did on Season 6, but now I just can't wait for Season 7 to come out! But really, Season 6 makes me want to play this game every minute of every day!!

• fsmaj11jo @ Jul 28th, 2012 1:42PM

  STO is a great, fun game. Unfortunetly the story is somewhat lacking, which is why I can hardly wait 'till Halo 4 is finished and why I'm gonna try a free trial a free trial of SW:tOR soon.

• unionmaster

  Better story development in SWTOR and I've been in STO scene beta and It has not come as far as they make you think

• ef261 @ Jul 28th, 2012 9:26AM

  Excellent work, Cryptic/PWE. Its a great game. With the introduction of more and more content to make Fleets a major part of the game, sociality and co-operation has rocketed. I know, for one, that Fleets have swelled in size, and more and more people are working together to surpass the challenges laid before us. Keep up the good work!

• cedricophoff

  People being forced to join fleets dont make them good fleetmates though. STO dident revolve for me around fleets so it would be utterly insane for me to say what you just did lol. its not Star Trek Fleets online. WTB exploration revamp not now, not in the future, but months ago.