I'm very much enjoying STO these days. Of the 3 Cryptic games currently out there STO is by far the best. People will always complain about lockboxes and F2P, but it's just the nature of the beast. The reality is you don't need to spend a single dime if you don't want to. None of the content is gated. Yes there are better quality ships in the cash shop, but NONE of them are needed for PvE, you can do just fine with the ships that are given to you for free along with the space/ground sets you get as missions completion rewards. So while the lockboxes do tend to get irritating, it's easy enough to ignore them, trash them, or sell them.
I'm no fan of PWE. Honestly, I hate them with a passion, but this is a really fun game, especially if you're into Trek even just a little. Not only do you have 3 classes to play (tactical, engineer, science), but there are different types of ships (escorts=DPS, cruisers=tank, science=buff/debuff) so you can mix and match for a unique playing experience. And once you go thru all the story arcs of one faction, guess what? There are TWO MORE factions to go thru. Add in the foundry and you literally will never run out of missions to do.
And yes, the rep system gets grindy, but no one says you have to do it. None of it is necessary to having a viable character to play. The only time this stuff comes into play is in PvP. If you don't PvP then none of it matters.
The announcements every time a Player got a Ship from a Lockbox was completely annoying for me.... the whole Lockbox and Announcements thing was ultimately why I quit. If another Player Captain wants to tell me they got a new ship, then cool, but it shouldn't be announced to the Galaxy.
I feel bad for Craptic because their vision of the game was taken from them once Perfect World took over. Now its a chinese grindfest just like every other Perfect World game. If you've played one, you've played them all. I thought it was funny how Neverwinter played EXACTLY like STO, just with a fantasy rather than a sci fi theme.
And I'm a Lifetime STO member. Oh how I wish I could get that money back
I got this game back before it launched. I had money back then, and bought the Lifetime subscription they offered (waste of money that I still regret to this day).
Anyway, like a previous poster mentioned, if another company was running this game, it would probably be completely different. Cryptic, although they want to try hard and actually accomplish something, they just don't seem to know how. When they went f2p, and the Chinese Overlords took over, it seemed to me that Cryptic no longer gets any kind of support for the game. They actually came out with the Romulan expansion, which is a great expansion, but much of the base game still needs to be worked on and fixed because much of it still has bugs. They are too numerous for me to list, just go to their forum and check it out, they have a running list.
I am a fan of Star Trek, but not of this game. Every time I try and do something within the game, I get tired of it after about a week, then I uninstall it. I did get my moneys worth out of the game at least when I did play it, but it just isn't for me.
I will say though, that it's still a very populated game. Klingons got some much needed love, and I hope they continue to add more to them. At least they now have a story that sort of lives up to the federation side. They actually start at the same level as feds, and it's story content up to about when the feds story ends, I believe. I honestly did not play much of the Klingons, I just know they now have the story stuff at the start, at level 1.
It's a great game, but there are better games out there to play. I will now ever play a game that PW has their fingers in, because they just ruin the game. That's my opinion.
I'm also a huge star trek fan but the combat in this game i just don't like. I find it very boring unfortunatly. Ive tried it several times because i really want to like it but just can't get past it.
I feel bad for Craptic because their vision of the game was taken from them once Perfect World took over. Now its a chinese grindfest just like every other Perfect World game. If you've played one, you've played them all. I thought it was funny how Neverwinter played EXACTLY like STO, just with a fantasy rather than a sci fi theme.
And I'm a Lifetime STO member. Oh how I wish I could get that money back
Hardly. Craptic was well into this model under Atari, before PWI. Let's not change history here. Just not as in your face. don't make excuses for a failed model that was always in the place. Just because ownership changed doesn't mean the design changed.
I was having a moderately good time playing the f2p version of STO. Then I advanced to a point where I could have more bridge officer slots on a ship (5) than I could have in my 'crew' (4). At that point, it became totally counterproductive to try to advance any further. PWE wasn't going to have access to any of my electronic payment methods, and none of the local stores had a PWE ZEN card. (The price on unlocking extra bridge officers was pretty steep, PWE doesn't really list the $-to-ZEN conversion, and the game is full of blasted locked loot boxes). The near linear nature of the game makes replay almost nonexistent.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
So I played this game at launch. Picked it back up two weeks ago. I have to say, early on I found the game too simple and smallish. Fast forward to today...
1. HUGE
2. Complex gaming and lots to do, duty officers, crafting, its pretty neat
3. Looks great
4. Missions are fun
5. Events are fun
6. A ton of variety
7. Its a space game!
I am so surprised and wonder why more folks are not taking a look at this game.
Khm, resisted to play for week or two (only because big ST lower) ... then game over. I can not agree on signle point of yours except for 7.
Originally posted by Vorthanion Like all Cryptic games, the new paint feel disappears after the first couple of weeks. Too much instancing makes the game feel like there are only one or two zones that are alive with general chatter, the rest is sheer silence unless you have an active guild. In a genre that is full of repetition, Cryptic has mastered the art. Most modern updates to the game exist primarily through the cash shop and it was so in your face as I played the game, I sometimes felt like I was playing retail sales online.
If STO had miningfull PVP I would have stayed 4evva. Now it's just some instanced battleground-like matches. Totally pointless. Should have had the three factions fight for recources/territorial control etc. Somewhat like they do in Pirates of The Burning Sea. That would have made this game EPIC. Now it's just carebear gold, since the PVE is good. But for the PVPers, theres nothing to hang around for. Sad.
So I played this game at launch. Picked it back up two weeks ago. I have to say, early on I found the game too simple and smallish. Fast forward to today...
1. HUGE
2. Complex gaming and lots to do, duty officers, crafting, its pretty neat
3. Looks great
4. Missions are fun
5. Events are fun
6. A ton of variety
7. Its a space game!
I am so surprised and wonder why more folks are not taking a look at this game.
Installed. Started as Romulans. Laughed at how bad everything looks and plays. Threw the game in trash bin.
Pretty much my reaction. It felt nothing like Star Trek at all. How Cryptic got the IP to make a Star Trek MMO is still one of the greatest mysteries to this day. It isn't as if they've ever made an MMO that wasn't instanced to hell, with ugly character models, and a sucky game engine.
And then they got the rights to make a MMO based off of Neverwinter? How, I ask you. How?!
It felt nothing like Star Trek at all. How Cryptic got the IP to make a Star Trek MMO is still one of the greatest mysteries to this day.
And then they got the rights to make a MMO based off of Neverwinter? How, I ask you. How?!
Don't forget Marvel CO was developed as a Marvel MMO, just got canned sadly, that's why they had to turn to the Champions IP. That's a nice IP as well, under "sadly" I just mean I'd love to play a real Marvel mmorpg one day, this lame Marvel Herpes...Oes is not an rpg at all (at least for me, I know there are folks who even consider diablo as an rpg... Lol)
STO is not fitting into the canon all the time, but I think it does a pretty decent job. Plus, it brought many Trek likers together into a game and gave them the Foundry, so they could made truckloads of great Trek-inspired missions and storylines. That's more than enough for me.
Neverwinter... well... it's a fun game, not exactly a deep rpg but the Foundry alone put it on the list. For the IP it's maybe not dark enough, but the Lore pieces are decently written. For the d&d roots, I've never played anything above 3.0 so I don't really care how well is it implemented... I like to play Neverwinter on and off inbetwen other games.
For the How?! question: dunno, probably because they make good games? (if you like, you can insert "profitable" in place of good)
They got Marvel because of CoH was a great game. Got Neverwinter because they managed to turn STO into a great game from the mess it was after the launch, and because PWE's f2p model seem to be profiting enough.
But I have to agree with you, in the middle of the line how they got the Trek IP, it's a mystery CO was a good game, in some parts even better than CoH, but it never was a huge success.
Originally posted by Vorthanion Like all Cryptic games, the new paint feel disappears after the first couple of weeks. Too much instancing makes the game feel like there are only one or two zones that are alive with general chatter, the rest is sheer silence unless you have an active guild. In a genre that is full of repetition, Cryptic has mastered the art. Most modern updates to the game exist primarily through the cash shop and it was so in your face as I played the game, I sometimes felt like I was playing retail sales online.
Every pure F2P feels like retail sales online, the problem is so many new players don't know it to be any other way, they are born into the in face item mall as part of the gaming UI.
For someone who remembers a time when a developer wasn't trying to reach into your pockets every 10 mins for dollars F2P games are unplayable.
When I jump into an MMO I don't want to be reminded every 10mins that I'm not escaping into an online world I'm just playing a delivery system for an online store. That's all todays pure F2P games are, a delivery mechanism to see how much money they can get you to spend. The funny thing is some people now think that's the game, to see how much money they can avoid spending and the gameplay is almost secondary.
Like all Cryptic games, the new paint feel disappears after the first couple of weeks. Too much instancing makes the game feel like there are only one or two zones that are alive with general chatter, the rest is sheer silence unless you have an active guild. In a genre that is full of repetition, Cryptic has mastered the art. Most modern updates to the game exist primarily through the cash shop and it was so in your face as I played the game, I sometimes felt like I was playing retail sales online.
I never had a problem with instancing until I played this game. I understand having it when you go from planet to planet but it felt like I was seeing a loading screen every 10 minutes. Ground combat was clunky and companions got stuck too many times. Plus as a Trek fan I feel they didn't stay true to the IP.Some of the iconic structures were completely wrong and you never really felt like a captain since you were always doing what your crew told you to do.
Comments
I'm very much enjoying STO these days. Of the 3 Cryptic games currently out there STO is by far the best. People will always complain about lockboxes and F2P, but it's just the nature of the beast. The reality is you don't need to spend a single dime if you don't want to. None of the content is gated. Yes there are better quality ships in the cash shop, but NONE of them are needed for PvE, you can do just fine with the ships that are given to you for free along with the space/ground sets you get as missions completion rewards. So while the lockboxes do tend to get irritating, it's easy enough to ignore them, trash them, or sell them.
I'm no fan of PWE. Honestly, I hate them with a passion, but this is a really fun game, especially if you're into Trek even just a little. Not only do you have 3 classes to play (tactical, engineer, science), but there are different types of ships (escorts=DPS, cruisers=tank, science=buff/debuff) so you can mix and match for a unique playing experience. And once you go thru all the story arcs of one faction, guess what? There are TWO MORE factions to go thru. Add in the foundry and you literally will never run out of missions to do.
And yes, the rep system gets grindy, but no one says you have to do it. None of it is necessary to having a viable character to play. The only time this stuff comes into play is in PvP. If you don't PvP then none of it matters.
You know you can turn those off, right?
try running it on ultra on a rig not from 10 years ago.
I feel bad for Craptic because their vision of the game was taken from them once Perfect World took over. Now its a chinese grindfest just like every other Perfect World game. If you've played one, you've played them all. I thought it was funny how Neverwinter played EXACTLY like STO, just with a fantasy rather than a sci fi theme.
And I'm a Lifetime STO member. Oh how I wish I could get that money back
I got this game back before it launched. I had money back then, and bought the Lifetime subscription they offered (waste of money that I still regret to this day).
Anyway, like a previous poster mentioned, if another company was running this game, it would probably be completely different. Cryptic, although they want to try hard and actually accomplish something, they just don't seem to know how. When they went f2p, and the Chinese Overlords took over, it seemed to me that Cryptic no longer gets any kind of support for the game. They actually came out with the Romulan expansion, which is a great expansion, but much of the base game still needs to be worked on and fixed because much of it still has bugs. They are too numerous for me to list, just go to their forum and check it out, they have a running list.
I am a fan of Star Trek, but not of this game. Every time I try and do something within the game, I get tired of it after about a week, then I uninstall it. I did get my moneys worth out of the game at least when I did play it, but it just isn't for me.
I will say though, that it's still a very populated game. Klingons got some much needed love, and I hope they continue to add more to them. At least they now have a story that sort of lives up to the federation side. They actually start at the same level as feds, and it's story content up to about when the feds story ends, I believe. I honestly did not play much of the Klingons, I just know they now have the story stuff at the start, at level 1.
It's a great game, but there are better games out there to play. I will now ever play a game that PW has their fingers in, because they just ruin the game. That's my opinion.
Hardly. Craptic was well into this model under Atari, before PWI. Let's not change history here. Just not as in your face. don't make excuses for a failed model that was always in the place. Just because ownership changed doesn't mean the design changed.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Khm, resisted to play for week or two (only because big ST lower) ... then game over. I can not agree on signle point of yours except for 7.
This ^.
/Endthread
Installed. Started as Romulans. Laughed at how bad everything looks and plays. Threw the game in trash bin.
You missed openly pay to win
Pretty much my reaction. It felt nothing like Star Trek at all. How Cryptic got the IP to make a Star Trek MMO is still one of the greatest mysteries to this day. It isn't as if they've ever made an MMO that wasn't instanced to hell, with ugly character models, and a sucky game engine.
And then they got the rights to make a MMO based off of Neverwinter? How, I ask you. How?!
Smile
Don't forget Marvel
CO was developed as a Marvel MMO, just got canned sadly, that's why they had to turn to the Champions IP. That's a nice IP as well, under "sadly" I just mean I'd love to play a real Marvel mmorpg one day, this lame Marvel Herpes...Oes is not an rpg at all (at least for me, I know there are folks who even consider diablo as an rpg... Lol)
STO is not fitting into the canon all the time, but I think it does a pretty decent job. Plus, it brought many Trek likers together into a game and gave them the Foundry, so they could made truckloads of great Trek-inspired missions and storylines. That's more than enough for me.
Neverwinter... well...
it's a fun game, not exactly a deep rpg but the Foundry alone put it on the list. For the IP it's maybe not dark enough, but the Lore pieces are decently written. For the d&d roots, I've never played anything above 3.0 so I don't really care how well is it implemented... I like to play Neverwinter on and off inbetwen other games.
For the How?! question: dunno, probably because they make good games?
(if you like, you can insert "profitable" in place of good)
They got Marvel because of CoH was a great game. Got Neverwinter because they managed to turn STO into a great game from the mess it was after the launch, and because PWE's f2p model seem to be profiting enough.
But I have to agree with you, in the middle of the line how they got the Trek IP, it's a mystery
CO was a good game, in some parts even better than CoH, but it never was a huge success.
star trek was losing ground, so they prolly got the IP for cheap
note the short Development time, and the small budget
of course, we customers got mad, for having to pay for beta testing a half game
they have turned it around, with lots of hard Work, and faith in their product
of course, P2W, and perfect Worlds buyout did their parts too
they started small, and with a big vision
after 3 years, they have a solid spot in the world
STO is one of the most versatile mmos on the market, and i would be surprised,
if they didnt continue, to grow
Every pure F2P feels like retail sales online, the problem is so many new players don't know it to be any other way, they are born into the in face item mall as part of the gaming UI.
For someone who remembers a time when a developer wasn't trying to reach into your pockets every 10 mins for dollars F2P games are unplayable.
When I jump into an MMO I don't want to be reminded every 10mins that I'm not escaping into an online world I'm just playing a delivery system for an online store. That's all todays pure F2P games are, a delivery mechanism to see how much money they can get you to spend. The funny thing is some people now think that's the game, to see how much money they can avoid spending and the gameplay is almost secondary.
STOs F2Pmodel is one of the best on the market
yes, the devs are very much in-your-face these days
if theyre not, the player will escape to another game, and spent his Cash there
its the Blessings of capitalism, and the free market
I never had a problem with instancing until I played this game. I understand having it when you go from planet to planet but it felt like I was seeing a loading screen every 10 minutes. Ground combat was clunky and companions got stuck too many times. Plus as a Trek fan I feel they didn't stay true to the IP.Some of the iconic structures were completely wrong and you never really felt like a captain since you were always doing what your crew told you to do.Currently Playing: World of Warcraft