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My thoughts after reaching Lt Commander
SuprGamerX
Member Posts: 531
I've played STO for about 5 days now , and reached the rank of Lt Commander and in command of my Excalibur Class Cruiser. When I beamed to my ship and saw the graphic I was OMFG KHANNNNNNNNNN!!!! Yea , I was pretty excited there. Besides my new ship, I find the game very interesting (Not in a Vulcan way) but more in the way that in the first time since over a decade I feel part of a storyline , I feel like reading what every NPC has to tell me and what my officers have to report to me. Unlike any MMO where you just Click on NPC and click next,next,next without reading because you know it's the same thing over and over again. For a Beta I'm pretty amazed with the depth of the storyline and most of the big races aren't out yet and the univerve seems pretty big as it is. Yes there are some annoying bugs , but it's beta and it doesn't really bother me. I pre ordered the Collector's edition earlier this month and bought a life time sub , because I know for a fact that I will be playing this game for quite some time. Ground combat is amazing , Space combat takes abit of time to get used to,but once you get the hang of it you'll feel more "in the game".
A tip if your in ground combat, do not equip a tribble to any of your away team , or you'll be stuck with a pretty huge tribble taking most of your screen :P . Only thing we need now is a tribble launcher 
My score out of 5 is currently a 4.7
Why so high? Because STO is something completly new , honestly I don't see myself doing the same thing over and over again. After at least 20 hours of game play in 4 days,It's like I always moved forward like in the episodes. I cannot recall another MMO that delivers the same experience that STO currently delivers. Also I think because every mission completed gives a generous ammount of "exp" and how the ranking system is constructed it gives me a feeling that I'm not moving too fast or too slow , just perfect.
Can't wait to see this developped further after a full year ! And I'll be playing every step of the way ! 
Comments
Yeah I thought the tribble thing would be more cute than annoying, but having it equipped is pretty obnoxious. I hit 12 as well but some of the missions were getting a bit repetetive. I do appreciate the enormous power upgrade of the next ship, as I can tear through things that gave me a lot of trouble before. I'm glad they're fixing the AI for the group vs group battles, I tend to be the first to charge in and having a squad of 12 enemy ships ALL aim and fire at you just because you're #1 in, just means a quick death and having to fly back.. and I hope they fix the AI on the away teams, i spent far too much time getting them unstuck from corridors.
There's a fan born for every game. Glad to see you are really enjoying it, but 4 days does not an MMORPG experience make.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Do what now?
Their "fixing" the best strategy you can employ when fighting: Focus Fire?
Really?
When one of your Kits (I think) has a option for just that? To make your NPC Away Teammates fire at the same target as you are?
WTF!
That's by far the stupidest nerf I have ever heard of! I REALLy hope your wrong about that.
Bartoni's Law definition: As an Internet discussion grows volatile, the probability of a comparison involving Donald Trump approaches 1.
I agree about when you start understanding your ship you feel much more in game. I was really upset with ship combat until I finally started understanding the mechanics. I'm still learning them but already space combat > ground combat for me (altho I'll never tire of crouch, pew pew, roll, take cover, etc.).
I think they really need to open the game up more in OB so more people can get a better grasp at how things roll. It took me almost 10 levels to start grasping ship combat mechanics to the point of it being fun... Some people might be quicker but if they're coming from games (I won't name any) that pretty much cater to them, instead of making it challenging, than they may not even get it the entire 16 levels.
Also, team play is really what makes this game fun. Soloing is okay and doable, but the game really shines when you bring more people into the missions.
However, I wouldn't have rated it so high just yet. With release being so close and as many bugs still remain... this game should be 2-3 months away from release at it's current state... It's too bad the devs have to get rushed like that so we end up with buggy releases.
Bartoni:
"Do what now?
Their "fixing" the best strategy you can employ when fighting: Focus Fire?
Really?
When one of your Kits (I think) has a option for just that? To make your NPC Away Teammates fire at the same target as you are?
WTF!
That's by far the stupidest nerf I have ever heard of! I REALLy hope your wrong about that."
Almost exactly what I was thinking, although I was thinking along the lines of "why would they change that?" and "who told you to charge in first?" Although I did it once and didn't die.....maybe I was just lucky......
This is not a game.
Yes but its ok to bash a game after 4 days of gameplay? ok if you say so.
Do what now?
Their "fixing" the best strategy you can employ when fighting: Focus Fire?
Really?
When one of your Kits (I think) has a option for just that? To make your NPC Away Teammates fire at the same target as you are?
WTF!
That's by far the stupidest nerf I have ever heard of! I REALLy hope your wrong about that.
They're not fixing nerfing focus fire or anything - the ships will still (usually) go for whoever is the biggest threat - however, they're looking into fixing what they call the 'alpha strike', where AI-controlled ships are concerned (players can still employ whatever tactics they want) - When you see a giant blob of ships coming towards you, it would make sense to focus fire on key targets, not for all of them to just zerg-shoot the first ship in range. They're only talking about the initial attack, not anything that comes after that.
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Yeah, if you think about it is. To use the frequent marriage analogy, it often only takes one date to decide incompatibility, while conversely a temporary illusion of compatibility can sometimes take years to subside.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
Yeah, if you think about it is. To use the frequent marriage analogy, it often only takes one date to decide incompatibility, while conversely a temporary illusion of compatibility can sometimes take years to subside.
Yeah right, lets bring some more real life analogies while talking about MMOs. It always make sense.
Do what now?
Their "fixing" the best strategy you can employ when fighting: Focus Fire?
Really?
When one of your Kits (I think) has a option for just that? To make your NPC Away Teammates fire at the same target as you are?
WTF!
That's by far the stupidest nerf I have ever heard of! I REALLy hope your wrong about that.
They're not fixing nerfing focus fire or anything - the ships will still (usually) go for whoever is the biggest threat - however, they're looking into fixing what they call the 'alpha strike', where AI-controlled ships are concerned (players can still employ whatever tactics they want) - When you see a giant blob of ships coming towards you, it would make sense to focus fire on key targets, not for all of them to just zerg-shoot the first ship in range. They're only talking about the initial attack, not anything that comes after that.
Thanks for the clarification on that, though not really sure what you mean
.
If your saying that AI ships would all fire at the first ship in range I still see no problem in. They are the most immediate threat since everyone (I think) has only 10KM or less firing range. If one person/ship breaks rank and goes in guns-blazing at a fleet of enemies while the rest of his teammates are out of firing range to help him then of course he is going to get hammered. Change that and you have a nerf.
If you mean that even after more ships are in range they STILL keep hammering at that same ship regardless of other ships damaging them then yes that does need to be fixed.
Edit: BTW I like this game so far. Not bashing it or anything.
Bartoni's Law definition: As an Internet discussion grows volatile, the probability of a comparison involving Donald Trump approaches 1.
Okay, let's say you have a group of 5 player controlled ships approaching a group of 10 AI controlled ships in one of the fleet action missions. The ship in front is one of the tier 1 newbie ships, and while decently equipped, not as powerful as the tier 2 ship that is right behind it. Not 10km away, but RIGHT behind it - 100 meters maybe, and in plain sight to the AI ships.
The way the ship AI works now is that every single ship in that 10-ship group of AI controlled ships will open fire on the tier 1 newbie ship. Not because the pilot is reckless and going in head first, guns blazing, but because he happens to be 100 meters in front of the tier 2 ship that represents a much bigger threat to the computer controlled ships.
The 'Alpha Strike' happens, and all the AI ships open fire with everything they have: phasers, disruptors, torpedoes, cannons, kitchen sinks, you name it. The newbie ship gets splattered in seconds and the player gets to explode, respawn and fly back. However, in those couple of seconds, the rest of the player controlled group closes to within the 10km range and the AI ships, after destroying the first ship in sight, then spread their targets out among the remaining 4 player controlled ships in my example.
The basic point? The computer AI doesn't 'see' the player until he is within 10 km. When the AI -does- 'see' a player, they open up with an alpha strike. That means, first man in, is first man dead, and that's not really a satisfactory solution to anyone.
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Gotcha. That makes more sense.
I can't honestly remember that happening to me but I'm usually one of the last ones into a fight. I like to come in slow and see who everybody else is targeting (haven't seen alot of cooperation between people when your doing Open Mission Instances). I just hit 7 so I can't wait to get a new ship at 10.
Edit: Has there been any talk about Voice Chat integration into STO?
Bartoni's Law definition: As an Internet discussion grows volatile, the probability of a comparison involving Donald Trump approaches 1.
Other player ships that target different ships wouldn't draw their target into them, pretty much like an "aggro" system?
Anyway instead of this they should place in a few second targeting timer for enemy ships to acquire targets and start shooting, increasing the sight at which they notice players to something like 13 km. While this is pretty unrealistic, one could also say that magically enemy ships only see targets within 10 km range (creating the "Alpha Strike" issue) and every weapon from a torpedo to a plasma laser being limited to 10 km range isn't quite realistic anyway.
This way both enemy and player ships will have the chance to split targets as long as they have a minimal team play, because this focused fire behavior is certainly unintended, otherwise the ships would keep focus firing on another ship after the first one is dead (which actually happens quite fast on starter ships, no idea if it happens later on).
I should probably note that there -is- a way around the alpha strikes at the moment, but it requires a bit of delicate flying and restraint/patience from other players (which you won't see in fleet actions where you see the problem most often):
'Skimming' the visual range of the opposing ships. Basically, you approach at an angle, target the nearest ship and turn so that you never get any closer than 9.90 km to it. Juuuust enough to fire off one shot to get it's attention and to get it to break from it's group.
This will reduce the initial impact on your ship, and break up the AI controlled groups a bit as well. Easy in theory, not so easy to pull off in the chaos of a fleet battle.
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Nice! Thanks for the tip!
Gives "pulling" a whole new meaning!
Bartoni's Law definition: As an Internet discussion grows volatile, the probability of a comparison involving Donald Trump approaches 1.
I'd think the best solution would be to have the "tank" ship fly in first and take the alpha strike. Isn't that their purpose?
But I do agree with you. The AI doesn't work as a group and it doesn't evaluate threats accurately. I'm curious if you could bring in a "ringer" and have it park somewhere to take all the damage while a bunch of n00bs slip around and beat it down.
Not really - the game scales according to the group - if you bring in a higher-level player in a pimped out ship, the encounter will scale up, and there will be more nasties looking to kill you.
The tier two ships (and I imagine it gets better as you advance) have a few more 'ohshit' buttons, and are generally hardier than the tier 1 ships. Also, as you get more comfortable with your space experience, you learn to switch your power settings on the fly, according to situation and so on. Alpha strikes are still deadly, but you might last a few seconds longer.
Yes, the smart tactic is to have the tank go in first, but for the fleet action and open instances, there is usually little to no organization, so you don't see that happen often.
What I was experimenting with in fleet action, whilst flying a cruiser ( a tank ship ), was to try and fly in first, and as I get close to the enemy, slow from full impulse to normal max speed, use a couple of skills (Evasive Maneuvers and Attack Pattern Alpha, both Tactical Officer skills) to increase my turn rate, and do the 'skimming' I talked about in my last post. With my power settings on defensive, and me activating my 'auxiliary power to shields' power (my engineer bridge officer has that, and I levelled it up quite a bit), it means that I can survive the alpha strike long enough for the rest of the group to peel some ships off me.
Also, if the other players aren't right behind me when I do this, I'm pretty much toast, and get to fly back from the respawn point =P
It's a lot to do though, because apart from maneuvering and managing power settings and skills, I also HAVE to be spamming my directional shield button in whatever direction they're hitting me from. Like I said, not easy but doable... but probably not what Cryptic intended for space combat, so I'm glad they're looking into it.
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