If you really evaluate those engineering reports you'll see a great many things are repeated over and over again . They make them longer by adding things fluff, basically reskins . The last few months have been concentrating on the foundry , which i the basis of the NWN game Cryptic is making. Somethings will appear and then disappear , then reappear , mainly to excite the game followers.
If you look at the in testing you'll notice that 4 of the 6 items listed are reskins . One item is a weekly episode that's been neglected for 2 or 3 months.
Under Investigation = Bug hunting of things they've pretty well known about for a while, or recently created.
In Development = mostly reskins to be added , although the ground combat update is a sorely needed item. Although I doubt Cryptic has the ability to make a decent ground combat envirnoment, we'll see ?
In design discussion = gameplay fixes , weekly episodes and gasp , more reskins !
Long Term = things that should be in a MMO , but since we're Cryptic and don't really make MMO's we'll need to add . Although they are trying , albiet not very hard , since the games been out a year and they are considering making fleets actually mean something in the game. Oh, and for good measure more reskins.
It always looks better when you initally read it ,then when you start to breakdown what's actually being done , huh ? One more thing , WHERE'S THE KLINGON CONTENT THEY'VE BEEN PROMISING, FOREVER ! Oh , that's right the foundry will take care of it, how silly of me.
Sevenwind, you can rate Player authored Episodes in the Foundry using a 5 star scale. You can also write a short review which will be published along with your rating for other players to see. Additionally, you all should know that The Foundry has it's own development team, and is quite separate from the STO dev team. Work on Star Trek Online has not slowed since we began work on The Foundry, and it will not.
Regarding the Engineering Reports:
These are our EPs way of making sure that our players are kept up to date with topics that matter to them, and shows what the development team is currently working on. It's not meant to be a complete picture, and just because something drops off the list one month and is back the next doesn't mean all work has stopped on that item, but it has likely slowed. For the best description, please feel free to read this post by Dan (STO's EP), which describes what an Engineering Report is.
The only "reskins" currently listed on the report that I see are the Gorn Customization Options.
All the new ships are just that, brand new ships. Not all new ships go into the C-Store, and the vast majority that do can also be obtained through an in-game means. They all have new "skins" new stats, new bridge officer layouts, and some have new special abilities.
Regarding Klingon Content:
More is on the way. Each Featured Episode Series increases the amount of content available to the Klingons. More content specific to them will be coming as well, albeit slowly.
We realize the amount of content available to Klingons is a major flaw in our game, and are working to correct that. However, to be entirely honest, this is going to take a long time to be fixed. To use the Sapience scale of time, we're talking about, "At some point in the future." This doesn't mean that we're not committed to improving the Klingon Faction's level of content. Quite the opposite.
more than the the developement time (that was about 18 months?) and the year or so the game has been live?
when is cryptic planning on fixing this "major failing" as you put it?
in another 3 or 4 years?
and please let us know what ships have not gone into the c-store (that were not in game at launch), with a list of those that have. it would be an interesting comparison to see what cryptic has actually produced for the paying players (remember the people who payed for the game, and even more so the few that subscribe past the first 30 days).
heres some help, ships that are in the c-store
-guramba siege destroyer
-nx class starship
-b'rel bird of prey
-klingon marauder cruiser
-kar'fi battle cruiser
-vor'cha battle cruiser
-nebula class
-excelsior class
-exploration cruiser retrofit
-science retrofit
-tactical retrofit
-dreadnought cruiser
-constitution cruiser
-comet class
-nomad class
-maelstrom class
-nimbus class
-hephaestus class
-imperial class
hey, i guess your pr department is right there is tons of cusomization options in cryptic games.... if your willing to pay extra for things that should have been in a half finished game to begin with. look at all those re-skins that you have to pay extra for!
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
I will compliment the Engineering Reports as a valid and effective communicative tool. I will critique it for it's use as a method of agrandizing the items that are to be, only in the C-Store. Many of the items , I listed them as reskins , and you ( Stormshade) are correct they aren't technically speaking, they are however meant for the C-Store. This puts it in the category of fluff. There are many goals set that are needed and sorely desired, that's all fine and great . It doesn't diminish the fact that the majority of items listed are C-Store bound items .
One cannot dispute that the Foundry currently is a major undertaking that Cryptic has deployed a great deal of manpower towards, as well as Cryptic's NWN version of a game . Hence the actual lack of content being produced for STO, season 3 was rather sparse. This is not to diminsh what is more then likely instore ( no pun intended ) for the 1 year anniversary or the future, but it's obvious the new game launch is a top priority. This is not actually a criticism , it's an acknowledgement of how important this is to Cryptic's plans. Respectfully , I really question the verasity of how the resources of Cryptic are deployed for this project ( STO ) when the Foundry will underpin three games , probably more. Also I highly doubt you would be able to, nor would publicly admit that manpower shifts would be occurring . It just doesn't make for good public relations , which is after all is what you really do.
As for Klingon content , I'm sorry , but this is a tired song and dance Cryptic plays when they have nothing to say , or show. While technically you are adding to the Klingon content , you are correspondingly adding to the Federation content . So , while the Federation has it's own complete and separate orignal storylines the Klingons get , a disingenious statement , of " they are getting content ". People who are strong Klingon faction supporters probably aren't impressed, nor swayed by the statement. I'd say after having it parroted for just short of year , " It's gotten old " is an understatement.
I appreciate you defending your company , I especially appreciate that I'm able to reply in a forum that is relatively neutral, to your posts . That said , I will continue to be a critic until I see vast improvements in the game. I understand that's your goal as a company ( impovement and maximizing profits ). I just doubt it's possible due to the design path chosen, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.
I just went through the Engen reports and your right! Its all an illution as there are stacks of repeats. Also if you take the C-Store stuff into account its alot of stuff people will have to pay for again! Even if they buy a Life Time Sub.... wow ...Epic ruse!
This personifies everything that the MMORPG market should not be!
Stormshade I just want to say that I'm pleased to see you outside of the STO forums. Its better you come here than us having to visting the offical forums because its really difficult to communicate amoungst all the fans who push their agendas on everyone and unwilling to compromise on that. I hope we can provide you with better feedback than what you would from the STO forums.
So far I've been really unhappy with the state of the product, its been so many months since beta and very little has changed gameplay wise- which has been poision for me to enjoy this game, because the core issue the game has is its too focused towards those damn Kill X Many Klingon Fleet missions, The foundry can fix this sure and I appreciate the effort going into it, but the initial tools I found were difficult to work with and significantly worse than tools for game engines we had 10 years ago- its not an easy editor to use, my recommendation would be to firstly make all the toolbars float and allow users to turn on and off what ever they do/don't need since atm it seems really cluttered- if all I'm wanting to do is position some characters on a map then just have the assets manager there, and the map.. the other stuff isn't needed on the screen until I need it. Some snap to options would be epic for positioning of objects- as I found it difficult to position them based on XYZ positions- it'd be nicer if the editor did all that for me. Asset management should be more graphical IMO and seeing it on the map should be more visual as well (at the moment we have a few icons that look nothing like what the model looks like, why not make it so that you can see the asset you used on the spot where you placed it?).
Mission Scripting I found wasn't too bad, this was something I could do fairly well with little effort, but I think there's a need for there to be non-linear branches for missions- like multiple options that change the outcome of the mission, if we had more of a say towards how a mission progressed and had to make decisions (because atm we don't do any decision making, we just fire the same god damn weapons and ablitiies over and over which is boring tedious crap). I feel that would make the game significantly better, but I'm sure you've heard this before. At the moment all we have is boring Kill X many mob missions, some non-linearity would bring us a bit closer to a sandbox- and if you guys deliver on the territorial war we might actually get the sandbox game we all wanted at launch. (I mean christ, SFC 1 2 and 3 had this feature. People kind of expected this to be in the game to begin with since its been a huge part of Star Trek Roleplaying for decades.)
Ulimately if you guys deliver on the things you initially promised, I can start to be more forgiving. But until then I'm forced to warn everyone not to play STO and not to buy a LTS because at the moment your product is unacceptable. If the game has to go free to play in order to support the games development so be it.. I just want to see that my investment into this product pays off. I hope your visits become somewhat regular as I feel many of us outside of the STO community don't have a voice.
I think with a graphically upgraded ten year old engine , the toolset is reflective of the engine. Also so is the linearity of the gameplay. If it's like that in game chances are really good it wouldn't be different in the Foundry toolsets. Sandbox games , if I recall one of the Cryptic's statements aren't their thing. So , I really wouldn't hold my breath for a sandbox envirnoment , unfortunately. I think the Foundry is an attempt, but Cryptic is just too afraid of lossing control of things.
No disrespect to Gozer, but he is presenting his view and perception of events and was either not aware of or privvy to discussions at executive levels.
To set the record straight (de'ja vu) - I think I put it best in a recent interview when I said we pretty much promised anything and everything when it came to Klingon play prior to launch and that if you really went and dug up information from emails and discussions and interviews - it wouldn't surprise me in the least what you'd find in terms of the KDF Faction
Yeah , he throws Gozer under the bus basically saying he doesn't really know what he's talking about. It's pretty clear to most how Cryptic operates , just DStahl re-inforces the premiss. If you listen carefully you can hear that song and dance I mentioned a while back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The.Grand.Nagus
Darren, no one is denying that the plans changed. However, Gozer is claiming in his last post that the plan for Klingons to have full PvE content NEVER EXISTED in the first place, and we have video proof that is wrong. Of course the plans changed. But that doesnt mean they NEVER EXISTED as Gozer is claiming.
No disrespect to Gozer, but he is presenting his view and perception of events and was either not aware of or privvy to discussions at executive levels.
To set the record straight (de'ja vu) - I think I put it best in a recent interview when I said we pretty much promised anything and everything when it came to Klingon play prior to launch and that if you really went and dug up information from emails and discussions and interviews - it wouldn't surprise me in the least what you'd find in terms of the KDF Faction.
Prior to launch, Craig did attempt to start communicating that KDF at launch was going to be PVP only - and in Beta that is exactly what it was.
There he goes folks , under the bus !
It was during Beta that Jack started to talk about "if the players want KDF PVE - we'll listen" - but at that late stage in the game, there was not much the development team can do to instantly come up with 30 hours of KDF PVE content compared to what was made for the Fed side.
You can hear the music begin as Dan steps to the stage with his tap shoes on, watch him dance .
You'll notice that as early as Season 1 we started to address this and every release since has been adding KDF PVE content or at the very least content playable by any faction.
Does the KDF have a long ways to go before it is comparable to the Feds? yes.
Will they ever have as much PVE content as the Feds? Not in the short term.
Are we going to stop everything we are doing and only work on the KDF? nope.
Am I committed to seeing a healthy KDF faction on par with the FED faction? 100% yes.
That is the situation that I've been reiterating (and I do mean reiterating - I say all of this quite frequently) since I took the Executive Producer helm in July.
Can that make up for all the nonesense that was said pre-launch? Nope.
It is what it is and we are working on making it better every single day.
Gozer did do the remastered episode because it was on his schedule to do it now. Gozer doesn't know why it is on his schedule now... only that it is because I put it there.
So if you want to blame anyone for Remastered Azura before anything else blame me.
But I think my track record of supporting KDF has been very clear. Every update the KDF improves. It will continue to do so on my watch.
The finish is amazing in the sense that he gives the CDF something to hang on to. Another telling post , about Cryptics plans. I've said before they plan and hope to profit from others doing their jobs, which is actually a great plan . Heck why work , when others are willing to do it for nothing for you.
Jack has recently contacted a few community members he'd like to talk to about some things. Please feel free to respond, and rest assured that it is him.
If you have further questions regarding the PM you received, please feel free to PM myself, or Jackalope.
I'll send him an email and ask him to pop in here and confirm as well.
Yep. It's me! I PM'ed some of the people whose stuff I had played on Tribble or whose posts I followed on these forums.
Sorry for the weirdness; honestly, you'd think I would have anticipated that people wouldn't know me!
Back in the days of CoH/V, I was known as Statesman and fairly recognizable on the forums. Since then, I've tried to let the Executive Producers of each project really be the spokesmen and I've tried to remain in the background. Sorry for any confusion!
Thanks for posting those, real eye openers. It truly does seem like this game is doomed if things like that are being said.
Another thing that really seems sus to me, if CO LTSs are getting free cryptic points to the value of 400 points per month, which can also be spent on STO, then firstly 1. Why aren't STO LTSs getting the same reward and 2. Doesn't this just completely undermine the entire bloody point of the C-Store (which as I understood was to help keep incoming coming in from LTSs)
In the end if STO LTSs were getting such points, then there wouldn't be such a huge fucking deal everytime a ship came out costing $25- since a few months would get that for free.. as it should be! Cryptic Points can be transfered through both games- so basically if someone had an LTS for CO and was playing STO for say 1 month on the free trial and bought the $25 ship with their saved up Cryptic Points that effectively undermines the entire system- making the C-Store no longer profitable (since no money has been exchanged). Most people on the STO forums defended the C-Store using the arguement "If people didn't buy it then that content wouldn't be made"- if you're giving away free points doesn't that mean that arguement is completely false? since they're not buying it.
To me that seems really damn silly- I don't see how anyone could defend such an inconsistancy- essentially STO LTSs are being screwed over by the CO ones because they can buy things using C-Points for free, whereas STO customers have to pay for the EXACT same thing. I'm surprised more people haven't complained about that yet.
Are you sure about that, because I tried it with the free points I got with STO and it worked fine- the CO and STO accounts are tied together, so I assume that your cryptic poitns are as well, how then would Cryptic distingusih between points bought in CO and points bought in STO? for that matter points given for a CO LTS used to pay for things in STO? I don't really see how they could be monitoring that- what I expect is the points can be spent in either shop- since my STO points transfered fine into CO, do they transfer the other way? I would think so.
Thanks for posting those, real eye openers. It truly does seem like this game is doomed if things like that are being said.
Another thing that really seems sus to me, if CO LTSs are getting free cryptic points to the value of 400 points per month, which can also be spent on STO, then firstly 1. Why aren't STO LTSs getting the same reward and 2. Doesn't this just completely undermine the entire bloody point of the C-Store (which as I understood was to help keep incoming coming in from LTSs)
In the end if STO LTSs were getting such points, then there wouldn't be such a huge fucking deal everytime a ship came out costing $25- since a few months would get that for free.. as it should be! Cryptic Points can be transfered through both games- so basically if someone had an LTS for CO and was playing STO for say 1 month on the free trial and bought the $25 ship with their saved up Cryptic Points that effectively undermines the entire system- making the C-Store no longer profitable (since no money has been exchanged). Most people on the STO forums defended the C-Store using the arguement "If people didn't buy it then that content wouldn't be made"- if you're giving away free points doesn't that mean that arguement is completely false? since they're not buying it.
To me that seems really damn silly- I don't see how anyone could defend such an inconsistancy- essentially STO LTSs are being screwed over by the CO ones because they can buy things using C-Points for free, whereas STO customers have to pay for the EXACT same thing. I'm surprised more people haven't complained about that yet.
i dont want to offend you, but to me you seem to have missed the entire point.
why is there a cash store in a pay to play game that is not a "AAA" title, that the executive producer has stated needs major overhauls of many of the core parts of the game? (and thats without adding that a large part of the work cryptic is doing on the game seems to end up in the cash store)
why was the game released in that state to begin with and still not been fixed in a year, before you even ask why there is a cash store?
edit: to me it seems like your asking why there is no pickles on your burger, without first asking where the meat is. (to use a fast food analogy)
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
"i dont want to offend you, but to me you seem to have missed the entire point.
why is there a cash store in a pay to play game that is not a "AAA" title, that the executive producer has stated needs major overhauls of many of the core parts of the game? (and thats without adding that a large part of the work cryptic is doing on the game seems to end up in the cash store)
why was the game released in that state to begin with and still not been fixed in a year, before you even ask why there is a cash store?
edit: to me it seems like your asking why there is no pickles on your burger, without first asking where the meat is. (to use a fast food analogy)"
I'm fully aware of the condition of the game, I've been bitching about it ever since Beta thankyou. I'm trying to stay on topic again, focusing on the LTS offer. Many of the fanbois have claimed that C-Points are the only way for cryptic to make profits from LTSs, yet what they've done with CO contradicts that- and my point is, if you can use those points in STO and already have an STO LTS on top of a CO LTS, you effectively no longer have to buy C-Points for STO- which makes the entire bloody reason we were given for the C-Store a complete and utter lie- but I expected as such. If they want to correct this, they have to provide the same for STO. I'd just like to know if it actually is possible to use CO LTS C-Points in STO- as that effectively undermines the whole reason for the C-Store.
Are you sure about that, because I tried it with the free points I got with STO and it worked fine- the CO and STO accounts are tied together, so I assume that your cryptic poitns are as well, how then would Cryptic distingusih between points bought in CO and points bought in STO? for that matter points given for a CO LTS used to pay for things in STO? I don't really see how they could be monitoring that- what I expect is the points can be spent in either shop- since my STO points transfered fine into CO, do they transfer the other way? I would think so.
The points you have/purchase in STO can be used in CO , but not the other way around , at least they aren't suppose to. If you can someone screwed up . Enjoy and shhhhhhh!
oh man did raistlin r*pe stormshade in this thread
i'm surprised that craptic is allowed to operate in such a country as the USA, what they are doing is called fraud...
someone correct me if im wrong, because im not sure... but if i recall correctly cryptic is owned by atari, which is based out of france. (unless the US recently annexed france?)
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
Now, I'm not hurting for $60 but it's still annoying.
Man, I wish there was a forum mirror service for STO just like there is for EVE Online to prevent company reps censoring player postings. Bet that dude is doubly p'd off now having gotten ripped off and then a forum infraction for posting something that the company rep wanted to cover up!
Prior to launch, Craig did attempt to start communicating that KDF at launch was going to be PVP only - and in Beta that is exactly what it was.
Just to clarify this line a bit, but it isn't entirely true: If you look back at the statements made, even during beta and up to (and including) launch, Cryptic was stating that the Klingons were PvP focused, but that they had enough PvE content for their faction that they could level up. If you look at the various interviews Jack did (from Dec 15th, 2009 onwards), you will see that he (and other Cryptic staff) were still trying to spin it in interviews that the Klingons had plenty of PvE content to level up with.
Many game reviewers pressed Cryptic on the matter, after DStahl's announcement in the podcast, and up until launch they kept repeating the same line. What they were not saying was that, other than the handful of 'tutorial' PvE quests in the Great Hall (non-repeatable), there were a few PvE 'quests' (one for each ten-level tier) and those were on a timer. Each quest consisted of going into a shared instance, scanning, and then being zoned into a private zone where you killed X amount of ships. After the game launched they really couldn't claim the Klingons had plenty of PvE anymore, so there was more honesty on the subject.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
The LTS points you get in CO can't be used in STO, that i'm sure of, at least for now, while STO is P2P.
Even if STO goes the freemium route as well, I don't actually expect them to share points. After all from the way I understand it, even Turbines points don't cross over from DDO to LotRO (or vice versa), unless that has changed recently?
*edit* Nevermind, I see that there is sharing with Cryptic's points (if only one way).
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
I posted this in another thread , but on second thought, I found this was deserving of it's own thread. People wonder what it is about Cryptic and STO that evokes such passion ? It's the contempt and hubris they have .
Here's what kills me :
Rekhan
To celebrate the launch of Champions Online: Free for All and the one year anniversary of Star Trek Online, we’ll be discounting the price of Lifetime Subscriptions for both games by 20%! The sale starts January 25 at 6 a.m. Pacific and ends February 4 at 10 a.m. Pacific. This means players will be able to purchase a Lifetime Subscription to Champions Online: Free for All or Star Trek Online for just $239.99!
This is absolutely hilarious . They announce that CO goes F2P on Jan 25 and post this crap ! Wow , they think people are as dumb as door stops. This borders on unethical behavior. When you really give it some thought, you're really just paying full price for STO. Cryptic has hit a new low. Anyone who takes advantage of this , I have land for sale, in NJ. The thread goes on to argue that a regular LT is $ 299 and they don't forsee it dropping much past what they've discounted now. I'm pretty sure "we just don't get it. "
A Little something to consider:
We haven't sold CO LTS subs since launch. We brought them back due to popular demand by our playerbase, after announcing the Champions Online: Free for All conversion on 10/26/10. We announced the return of the CO LTS on 11/11/10.
Lifetime Subscribers to Champions Online enjoy all the benefits of having a subscription to the game, including a monthly stipend of Cryptic Points to spend as the wish in our C-Store. For the cost of roughly twenty months of subscription time, only this subscription offer lasts the life of the product. In short, I, and others, still beleive that a lifetime subscription to your favorite MMO (whether that be CO, STO, LOTRO, or any other game) is quite possibly the best possible value for your entertainment dollars.
Lifetime subscriptions to Star Trek Online have been available since before the game launched. Many players have purchased them, and while I freely admit that not everyone who has done so is happy with their purchase; many, many more are.
Any other game, you probably mean Hellgate London. There's only 4 games so far that added lifetime offer in a subscription based business.
What sort of market segment is your lifetime offer targetted at? Assumably, it is your most hard-core fans, that are willing to spend 239$ for a game. Players that in the end by average, would spend more if they continued to play with monthly subscriptions. People are not stupid really, they usually look for the best value for them.
In other words, it's a loss for the company in the long run. And indeed, you are well aware of that.You sacrificed long-term income from your most loyal fanbase for a short term money injection. More lifetimers you have, less money there will be to pay man hours to add content updates. Every lifetimer is hurting the game in the long-run, unless you have some other plans with the game, that your customers don't know yet. Such as: grab the money and terminate the servers (hellgate london), or turning f2p (lotro).
Comments
If you really evaluate those engineering reports you'll see a great many things are repeated over and over again . They make them longer by adding things fluff, basically reskins . The last few months have been concentrating on the foundry , which i the basis of the NWN game Cryptic is making. Somethings will appear and then disappear , then reappear , mainly to excite the game followers.
If you look at the in testing you'll notice that 4 of the 6 items listed are reskins . One item is a weekly episode that's been neglected for 2 or 3 months.
Under Investigation = Bug hunting of things they've pretty well known about for a while, or recently created.
In Development = mostly reskins to be added , although the ground combat update is a sorely needed item. Although I doubt Cryptic has the ability to make a decent ground combat envirnoment, we'll see ?
In design discussion = gameplay fixes , weekly episodes and gasp , more reskins !
Long Term = things that should be in a MMO , but since we're Cryptic and don't really make MMO's we'll need to add . Although they are trying , albiet not very hard , since the games been out a year and they are considering making fleets actually mean something in the game. Oh, and for good measure more reskins.
It always looks better when you initally read it ,then when you start to breakdown what's actually being done , huh ? One more thing , WHERE'S THE KLINGON CONTENT THEY'VE BEEN PROMISING, FOREVER ! Oh , that's right the foundry will take care of it, how silly of me.
Hey Folks,
A few quick things:
Sevenwind, you can rate Player authored Episodes in the Foundry using a 5 star scale. You can also write a short review which will be published along with your rating for other players to see. Additionally, you all should know that The Foundry has it's own development team, and is quite separate from the STO dev team. Work on Star Trek Online has not slowed since we began work on The Foundry, and it will not.
Regarding the Engineering Reports:
These are our EPs way of making sure that our players are kept up to date with topics that matter to them, and shows what the development team is currently working on. It's not meant to be a complete picture, and just because something drops off the list one month and is back the next doesn't mean all work has stopped on that item, but it has likely slowed. For the best description, please feel free to read this post by Dan (STO's EP), which describes what an Engineering Report is.
The only "reskins" currently listed on the report that I see are the Gorn Customization Options.
All the new ships are just that, brand new ships. Not all new ships go into the C-Store, and the vast majority that do can also be obtained through an in-game means. They all have new "skins" new stats, new bridge officer layouts, and some have new special abilities.
Regarding Klingon Content:
More is on the way. Each Featured Episode Series increases the amount of content available to the Klingons. More content specific to them will be coming as well, albeit slowly.
We realize the amount of content available to Klingons is a major flaw in our game, and are working to correct that. However, to be entirely honest, this is going to take a long time to be fixed. To use the Sapience scale of time, we're talking about, "At some point in the future." This doesn't mean that we're not committed to improving the Klingon Faction's level of content. Quite the opposite.
Thanks for your time,
Stormshade
long time stormshade?
more than the the developement time (that was about 18 months?) and the year or so the game has been live?
when is cryptic planning on fixing this "major failing" as you put it?
in another 3 or 4 years?
and please let us know what ships have not gone into the c-store (that were not in game at launch), with a list of those that have. it would be an interesting comparison to see what cryptic has actually produced for the paying players (remember the people who payed for the game, and even more so the few that subscribe past the first 30 days).
heres some help, ships that are in the c-store
-guramba siege destroyer
-nx class starship
-b'rel bird of prey
-klingon marauder cruiser
-kar'fi battle cruiser
-vor'cha battle cruiser
-nebula class
-excelsior class
-exploration cruiser retrofit
-science retrofit
-tactical retrofit
-dreadnought cruiser
-constitution cruiser
-comet class
-nomad class
-maelstrom class
-nimbus class
-hephaestus class
-imperial class
hey, i guess your pr department is right there is tons of cusomization options in cryptic games.... if your willing to pay extra for things that should have been in a half finished game to begin with. look at all those re-skins that you have to pay extra for!
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
I will compliment the Engineering Reports as a valid and effective communicative tool. I will critique it for it's use as a method of agrandizing the items that are to be, only in the C-Store. Many of the items , I listed them as reskins , and you ( Stormshade) are correct they aren't technically speaking, they are however meant for the C-Store. This puts it in the category of fluff. There are many goals set that are needed and sorely desired, that's all fine and great . It doesn't diminish the fact that the majority of items listed are C-Store bound items .
One cannot dispute that the Foundry currently is a major undertaking that Cryptic has deployed a great deal of manpower towards, as well as Cryptic's NWN version of a game . Hence the actual lack of content being produced for STO, season 3 was rather sparse. This is not to diminsh what is more then likely instore ( no pun intended ) for the 1 year anniversary or the future, but it's obvious the new game launch is a top priority. This is not actually a criticism , it's an acknowledgement of how important this is to Cryptic's plans. Respectfully , I really question the verasity of how the resources of Cryptic are deployed for this project ( STO ) when the Foundry will underpin three games , probably more. Also I highly doubt you would be able to, nor would publicly admit that manpower shifts would be occurring . It just doesn't make for good public relations , which is after all is what you really do.
As for Klingon content , I'm sorry , but this is a tired song and dance Cryptic plays when they have nothing to say , or show. While technically you are adding to the Klingon content , you are correspondingly adding to the Federation content . So , while the Federation has it's own complete and separate orignal storylines the Klingons get , a disingenious statement , of " they are getting content ". People who are strong Klingon faction supporters probably aren't impressed, nor swayed by the statement. I'd say after having it parroted for just short of year , " It's gotten old " is an understatement.
I appreciate you defending your company , I especially appreciate that I'm able to reply in a forum that is relatively neutral, to your posts . That said , I will continue to be a critic until I see vast improvements in the game. I understand that's your goal as a company ( impovement and maximizing profits ). I just doubt it's possible due to the design path chosen, but you're welcome to prove me wrong.
WoW ...!
I just went through the Engen reports and your right! Its all an illution as there are stacks of repeats. Also if you take the C-Store stuff into account its alot of stuff people will have to pay for again! Even if they buy a Life Time Sub.... wow ...Epic ruse!
This personifies everything that the MMORPG market should not be!
Stormshade I just want to say that I'm pleased to see you outside of the STO forums. Its better you come here than us having to visting the offical forums because its really difficult to communicate amoungst all the fans who push their agendas on everyone and unwilling to compromise on that. I hope we can provide you with better feedback than what you would from the STO forums.
So far I've been really unhappy with the state of the product, its been so many months since beta and very little has changed gameplay wise- which has been poision for me to enjoy this game, because the core issue the game has is its too focused towards those damn Kill X Many Klingon Fleet missions, The foundry can fix this sure and I appreciate the effort going into it, but the initial tools I found were difficult to work with and significantly worse than tools for game engines we had 10 years ago- its not an easy editor to use, my recommendation would be to firstly make all the toolbars float and allow users to turn on and off what ever they do/don't need since atm it seems really cluttered- if all I'm wanting to do is position some characters on a map then just have the assets manager there, and the map.. the other stuff isn't needed on the screen until I need it. Some snap to options would be epic for positioning of objects- as I found it difficult to position them based on XYZ positions- it'd be nicer if the editor did all that for me. Asset management should be more graphical IMO and seeing it on the map should be more visual as well (at the moment we have a few icons that look nothing like what the model looks like, why not make it so that you can see the asset you used on the spot where you placed it?).
Mission Scripting I found wasn't too bad, this was something I could do fairly well with little effort, but I think there's a need for there to be non-linear branches for missions- like multiple options that change the outcome of the mission, if we had more of a say towards how a mission progressed and had to make decisions (because atm we don't do any decision making, we just fire the same god damn weapons and ablitiies over and over which is boring tedious crap). I feel that would make the game significantly better, but I'm sure you've heard this before. At the moment all we have is boring Kill X many mob missions, some non-linearity would bring us a bit closer to a sandbox- and if you guys deliver on the territorial war we might actually get the sandbox game we all wanted at launch. (I mean christ, SFC 1 2 and 3 had this feature. People kind of expected this to be in the game to begin with since its been a huge part of Star Trek Roleplaying for decades.)
Ulimately if you guys deliver on the things you initially promised, I can start to be more forgiving. But until then I'm forced to warn everyone not to play STO and not to buy a LTS because at the moment your product is unacceptable. If the game has to go free to play in order to support the games development so be it.. I just want to see that my investment into this product pays off. I hope your visits become somewhat regular as I feel many of us outside of the STO community don't have a voice.
I think with a graphically upgraded ten year old engine , the toolset is reflective of the engine. Also so is the linearity of the gameplay. If it's like that in game chances are really good it wouldn't be different in the Foundry toolsets. Sandbox games , if I recall one of the Cryptic's statements aren't their thing. So , I really wouldn't hold my breath for a sandbox envirnoment , unfortunately. I think the Foundry is an attempt, but Cryptic is just too afraid of lossing control of things.
Care to rebuttle that Stormshade?
In the end all I'm asking for is what was promised to us.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3311430&postcount=236
Branching dialogue is an attempt , not a good one , somethings can develop off that . Just shows you the issues witht the game.
from dstahl, same thread linked by ag-vuk in his previous post:
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No disrespect to Gozer, but he is presenting his view and perception of events and was either not aware of or privvy to discussions at executive levels.
To set the record straight (de'ja vu) - I think I put it best in a recent interview when I said we pretty much promised anything and everything when it came to Klingon play prior to launch and that if you really went and dug up information from emails and discussions and interviews - it wouldn't surprise me in the least what you'd find in terms of the KDF Faction
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does it really matter what someone has to say when the EP of the game is openly admitting that they just said whatever sounded good?
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
you mean this one ? http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3311401&postcount=223
Yeah , he throws Gozer under the bus basically saying he doesn't really know what he's talking about. It's pretty clear to most how Cryptic operates , just DStahl re-inforces the premiss. If you listen carefully you can hear that song and dance I mentioned a while back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The.Grand.Nagus
Darren, no one is denying that the plans changed. However, Gozer is claiming in his last post that the plan for Klingons to have full PvE content NEVER EXISTED in the first place, and we have video proof that is wrong. Of course the plans changed. But that doesnt mean they NEVER EXISTED as Gozer is claiming.
No disrespect to Gozer, but he is presenting his view and perception of events and was either not aware of or privvy to discussions at executive levels.
To set the record straight (de'ja vu) - I think I put it best in a recent interview when I said we pretty much promised anything and everything when it came to Klingon play prior to launch and that if you really went and dug up information from emails and discussions and interviews - it wouldn't surprise me in the least what you'd find in terms of the KDF Faction.
Prior to launch, Craig did attempt to start communicating that KDF at launch was going to be PVP only - and in Beta that is exactly what it was.
There he goes folks , under the bus !
It was during Beta that Jack started to talk about "if the players want KDF PVE - we'll listen" - but at that late stage in the game, there was not much the development team can do to instantly come up with 30 hours of KDF PVE content compared to what was made for the Fed side.
You can hear the music begin as Dan steps to the stage with his tap shoes on, watch him dance .
You'll notice that as early as Season 1 we started to address this and every release since has been adding KDF PVE content or at the very least content playable by any faction.
Does the KDF have a long ways to go before it is comparable to the Feds? yes.
Will they ever have as much PVE content as the Feds? Not in the short term.
Are we going to stop everything we are doing and only work on the KDF? nope.
Am I committed to seeing a healthy KDF faction on par with the FED faction? 100% yes.
That is the situation that I've been reiterating (and I do mean reiterating - I say all of this quite frequently) since I took the Executive Producer helm in July.
Can that make up for all the nonesense that was said pre-launch? Nope.
It is what it is and we are working on making it better every single day.
Gozer did do the remastered episode because it was on his schedule to do it now. Gozer doesn't know why it is on his schedule now... only that it is because I put it there.
So if you want to blame anyone for Remastered Azura before anything else blame me.
But I think my track record of supporting KDF has been very clear. Every update the KDF improves. It will continue to do so on my watch.
The finish is amazing in the sense that he gives the CDF something to hang on to. Another telling post , about Cryptics plans. I've said before they plan and hope to profit from others doing their jobs, which is actually a great plan . Heck why work , when others are willing to do it for nothing for you.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3311101&postcount=17Jack has recently contacted a few community members he'd like to talk to about some things. Please feel free to respond, and rest assured that it is him.
If you have further questions regarding the PM you received, please feel free to PM myself, or Jackalope.
I'll send him an email and ask him to pop in here and confirm as well.
Thanks for pointing this thread out to me Darren!
Stormshade
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3311118&postcount=20
Yep. It's me! I PM'ed some of the people whose stuff I had played on Tribble or whose posts I followed on these forums.
Sorry for the weirdness; honestly, you'd think I would have anticipated that people wouldn't know me!
Back in the days of CoH/V, I was known as Statesman and fairly recognizable on the forums. Since then, I've tried to let the Executive Producers of each project really be the spokesmen and I've tried to remain in the background. Sorry for any confusion!
Thanks for posting those, real eye openers. It truly does seem like this game is doomed if things like that are being said.
Another thing that really seems sus to me, if CO LTSs are getting free cryptic points to the value of 400 points per month, which can also be spent on STO, then firstly 1. Why aren't STO LTSs getting the same reward and 2. Doesn't this just completely undermine the entire bloody point of the C-Store (which as I understood was to help keep incoming coming in from LTSs)
In the end if STO LTSs were getting such points, then there wouldn't be such a huge fucking deal everytime a ship came out costing $25- since a few months would get that for free.. as it should be! Cryptic Points can be transfered through both games- so basically if someone had an LTS for CO and was playing STO for say 1 month on the free trial and bought the $25 ship with their saved up Cryptic Points that effectively undermines the entire system- making the C-Store no longer profitable (since no money has been exchanged). Most people on the STO forums defended the C-Store using the arguement "If people didn't buy it then that content wouldn't be made"- if you're giving away free points doesn't that mean that arguement is completely false? since they're not buying it.
To me that seems really damn silly- I don't see how anyone could defend such an inconsistancy- essentially STO LTSs are being screwed over by the CO ones because they can buy things using C-Points for free, whereas STO customers have to pay for the EXACT same thing. I'm surprised more people haven't complained about that yet.
The LTS points you get in CO can't be used in STO, that i'm sure of, at least for now, while STO is P2P.
Are you sure about that, because I tried it with the free points I got with STO and it worked fine- the CO and STO accounts are tied together, so I assume that your cryptic poitns are as well, how then would Cryptic distingusih between points bought in CO and points bought in STO? for that matter points given for a CO LTS used to pay for things in STO? I don't really see how they could be monitoring that- what I expect is the points can be spent in either shop- since my STO points transfered fine into CO, do they transfer the other way? I would think so.
i dont want to offend you, but to me you seem to have missed the entire point.
why is there a cash store in a pay to play game that is not a "AAA" title, that the executive producer has stated needs major overhauls of many of the core parts of the game? (and thats without adding that a large part of the work cryptic is doing on the game seems to end up in the cash store)
why was the game released in that state to begin with and still not been fixed in a year, before you even ask why there is a cash store?
edit: to me it seems like your asking why there is no pickles on your burger, without first asking where the meat is. (to use a fast food analogy)
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
and then there is stuff like
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?p=3313003#post3313003
Just a friendly FYI to anyone thinking about going lifetime.
Just had a conversation with Atari Support. Charging people a different amount than you advertised is called FRAUD.
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This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Cryptic Studios Forum Usage Guidelines ~Stormshade
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Now, I'm not hurting for $60 but it's still annoying.
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
"i dont want to offend you, but to me you seem to have missed the entire point.
why is there a cash store in a pay to play game that is not a "AAA" title, that the executive producer has stated needs major overhauls of many of the core parts of the game? (and thats without adding that a large part of the work cryptic is doing on the game seems to end up in the cash store)
why was the game released in that state to begin with and still not been fixed in a year, before you even ask why there is a cash store?
edit: to me it seems like your asking why there is no pickles on your burger, without first asking where the meat is. (to use a fast food analogy)"
I'm fully aware of the condition of the game, I've been bitching about it ever since Beta thankyou. I'm trying to stay on topic again, focusing on the LTS offer. Many of the fanbois have claimed that C-Points are the only way for cryptic to make profits from LTSs, yet what they've done with CO contradicts that- and my point is, if you can use those points in STO and already have an STO LTS on top of a CO LTS, you effectively no longer have to buy C-Points for STO- which makes the entire bloody reason we were given for the C-Store a complete and utter lie- but I expected as such. If they want to correct this, they have to provide the same for STO. I'd just like to know if it actually is possible to use CO LTS C-Points in STO- as that effectively undermines the whole reason for the C-Store.
oh man did raistlin r*pe stormshade in this thread
i'm surprised that craptic is allowed to operate in such a country as the USA, what they are doing is called fraud...
I needed a great big belly laugh. Thanks for this. Gawd you trolls provide some great humor some days.
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
The points you have/purchase in STO can be used in CO , but not the other way around , at least they aren't suppose to. If you can someone screwed up . Enjoy and shhhhhhh!
someone correct me if im wrong, because im not sure... but if i recall correctly cryptic is owned by atari, which is based out of france. (unless the US recently annexed france?)
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
Man, I wish there was a forum mirror service for STO just like there is for EVE Online to prevent company reps censoring player postings. Bet that dude is doubly p'd off now having gotten ripped off and then a forum infraction for posting something that the company rep wanted to cover up!
Just to clarify this line a bit, but it isn't entirely true: If you look back at the statements made, even during beta and up to (and including) launch, Cryptic was stating that the Klingons were PvP focused, but that they had enough PvE content for their faction that they could level up. If you look at the various interviews Jack did (from Dec 15th, 2009 onwards), you will see that he (and other Cryptic staff) were still trying to spin it in interviews that the Klingons had plenty of PvE content to level up with.
Many game reviewers pressed Cryptic on the matter, after DStahl's announcement in the podcast, and up until launch they kept repeating the same line. What they were not saying was that, other than the handful of 'tutorial' PvE quests in the Great Hall (non-repeatable), there were a few PvE 'quests' (one for each ten-level tier) and those were on a timer. Each quest consisted of going into a shared instance, scanning, and then being zoned into a private zone where you killed X amount of ships. After the game launched they really couldn't claim the Klingons had plenty of PvE anymore, so there was more honesty on the subject.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Even if STO goes the freemium route as well, I don't actually expect them to share points. After all from the way I understand it, even Turbines points don't cross over from DDO to LotRO (or vice versa), unless that has changed recently?
*edit* Nevermind, I see that there is sharing with Cryptic's points (if only one way).
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Any other game, you probably mean Hellgate London. There's only 4 games so far that added lifetime offer in a subscription based business.
What sort of market segment is your lifetime offer targetted at? Assumably, it is your most hard-core fans, that are willing to spend 239$ for a game. Players that in the end by average, would spend more if they continued to play with monthly subscriptions. People are not stupid really, they usually look for the best value for them.
In other words, it's a loss for the company in the long run. And indeed, you are well aware of that. You sacrificed long-term income from your most loyal fanbase for a short term money injection. More lifetimers you have, less money there will be to pay man hours to add content updates. Every lifetimer is hurting the game in the long-run, unless you have some other plans with the game, that your customers don't know yet. Such as: grab the money and terminate the servers (hellgate london), or turning f2p (lotro).
REALITY CHECK