For something to be a PR stunt, it has to actually be publicized. Cryptic did not announce to the public that they were doing this.
Nah, they don't need to make an announcement for it to be a PR stunt if it's designed to generate a bit of PR with active players; word of mouth will do the work for them. That's a lesson they learned from STO's launch, when the majority of people (players and reviewers) were giving STO low marks. After all it's not like they're going to win over droves of people now, barring the game going free to play of course.
One thing I am fairly sure of is that you will think whatever you want, regardless of what I or anyone else may say. That being the case, I wont bother trying to change your mind. I will, however, recommend to anyone reading this thread that you make up your own mind as far as what you like and what you dont, and try things for yourself.
Here is the actual statement in question, and for the record it was made by Zinc(the former lead designer who is no longer working at Cryptic):
You have subscribed to a service that delivers a universe unending, and we shall see that universe populated with compelling content or, by the Prophets, we will die trying.
Some people get that. Some people don't. We're here for those that do.
Throughout development, we guessed Star Trek Online might be polarizing. Some people don't get it and some people simply don't like it... But, others fall in love with their ships and captains and bridge officers. Those are the ones who can't live without beaming down to strange, new planets and participating in lively stories.
We guessed this and still we made a conscious decision to not water things down and go "mass market". Frankly, I think that's perfectly OK. Because, no matter what, there will be one single thing, now and forever, that drives everything we do: you.
We have a very healthy -- and healthily testy -- core community that gets it. And there's nothing we look forward to more than working together to make STO better.
I have no idea if Jack will be a good replacement, but John Needham needed to go in a big way.
Cryptic was a pretty decent company before he got involved (see city of heroes). Needham was a VicePresident over at SOE before joining Cryptic and under his leadership they started making a lof of the same dumb decisions that SOE made with its games and relations with their community.
Actually, you have that a bit backwards: Sure Needham was a former SOE executive, and was in charge of their infamous 'customer service' department, but Emmert is the one who has been making the really bad blunders. Just take a look at his interviews; he was the one who demanded that the Klingons be added for launch, and he's the one that keeps insisting all of their games be broken up into tiny instances (see his initial NWN interviews here for that comment). Of all the Cryptic people they could have replaced Needham with, Emmert is the worst choice by far.
Perhaps Jack is not a good replacement, but Needham wasn't a good choice for leadership form that start. Under his leadership Cryptic went from an Indi sweetheart to a name that is synonymous with crap.
Maybe Needham didn't make gameplay level decisions, but he was in charge of everything else. Production schedules, budgets, RMT implementation, customer service, brand and image, etc. Not only did he produce two duds, but he also managed to lose the license to Marvel Universe Online.
Needham was also in charge of branding, international issues, distribution and business development over at soe. You can thank him directly for the manner in which cryptic runs its cash shops.
I have no idea if Jack will be a good replacement, but John Needham needed to go in a big way.
Cryptic was a pretty decent company before he got involved (see city of heroes). Needham was a VicePresident over at SOE before joining Cryptic and under his leadership they started making a lof of the same dumb decisions that SOE made with its games and relations with their community.
Actually, you have that a bit backwards: Sure Needham was a former SOE executive, and was in charge of their infamous 'customer service' department, but Emmert is the one who has been making the really bad blunders. Just take a look at his interviews; he was the one who demanded that the Klingons be added for launch, and he's the one that keeps insisting all of their games be broken up into tiny instances (see his initial NWN interviews here for that comment). Of all the Cryptic people they could have replaced Needham with, Emmert is the worst choice by far.
I don't like Emmert all that much, but you are incorrect that he was the one who demanded the Klingon be in at launch. If you read anything from the new (almost a year now I think) executive producer Daniel Stahal you'll see they had no clue what they were going to do with the Klingons. I say this as someone who got sucked into a Lifetime sub as a Klingon lover, so I'm not just painting rainbows with my arse. STO has a lot of problems, but none of them are one person's fault nor are they from any sort of malice on the part of anyone with Cryptic, incompetience, poor communication yes, but not malice or even intentional deciet.
Defenders are willing to overlook the defeciencies of the game, attackers tend to focus on certain aspects. In the end, in my opinion more have walked away shaking their heads at this game , then full support it.
I'm a lifer and I don't defend everything about STO, nor do I walk away from it. It has good and bad things about it, the bad still out weighs the good in many repects, but that's also because I'm a Klingon fan. If you're a Fed fan the game is pretty good for you unless you're hardcore gamer and then there just isn't enough content. But the Featured Episodes have given it enough content that most casual to moderate gamers can get a decent amount of enjoyment out of it (Fed side).
"We will continue to set high goals for ourselves and under my leadership we will continue to meet them."
When did you last meet high goals ?
PR BS. Cryptics reputation for quality of their games is well known by most MMORPG gamers who have tried their products. New CEO will not likely change that...
Yeah, the quality of their games is actually pretty high, in absolute terms, thank you very much. (i.e. there are vast levels of shitness beneath Cryptic)
I wouldn't say Cryptic is a first-rank company, but they lead the middle of the pack in my estimation - mostly technically and combat gameplay-wise. I've had a lot of fun out of CoX, CO and STO. I haven't gotten deep into CO or STO, and they are shallower games than CoX was, but they're still rollicking good fun in spurts.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck.
"The vast majority" of any game's community agrees it doesnt suck, or else they wouldnt still be playing. So point me to a game where there arent any people claiming it sucks, and then you will have a valid point. But until then, your saying that STO sucks is no more valid than the people saying your fave game sucks.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
I like EVE, and FE; and I like CoX, and I like CO, and I like STO. By any objective standard Cryptic games are not crap, that's just a ridiculous word to use of them. They fall short in some ways, but the one thing you can say is that Cryptic combat is generally pretty effective and addictive. CoX combat was nonpariel for point-and-click, or at least tying with GW for first place in the genre. CO combat keeps up the tradition of fast, fun gameplay - only it's even faster and funner. STO's combat, both ground and space, but particularly space, are a good balance between sim and game. There are other nice features in all of them.
One place where Cryptic fall down is in the "single open world" feel area, that I'll grant you. Also, their MMOs are somewhat shallow - easy to pick up and put down. But that might be seen as a virtue - again, balancing the demands of casual gameplay agianst the demands of immersion pretty well some might say.
Sure Cryptic have their faults, but "crap"? Nah, that's going too far, and is too disrespectful of a company that's given a lot of people a lot of fun over the years.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
I like EVE, and FE; and I like CoX, and I like CO, and I like STO. By any objective standard Cryptic games are not crap, that's just a ridiculous word to use of them. They fall short in some ways, but the one thing you can say is that Cryptic combat is generally pretty effective and addictive. CoX combat was nonpariel for point-and-click, or at least tying with GW for first place in the genre. CO combat keeps up the tradition of fast, fun gameplay - only it's even faster and funner. STO's combat, both ground and space, but particularly space, are a good balance between sim and game. There are other nice features in all of them.
One place where Cryptic fall down is in the "single open world" feel area, that I'll grant you. Also, their MMOs are somewhat shallow - easy to pick up and put down. But that might be seen as a virtue - again, balancing the demands of casual gameplay agianst the demands of immersion pretty well some might say.
Sure Cryptic have their faults, but "crap"? Nah, that's going too far, and is too disrespectful of a company that's given a lot of people a lot of fun over the years.
Their space combat has become a joke , it's now a pet spam fest , with no thought to game balance . The other issue is the the riduclous ablities , with basically translates to superpowers for your class. Let's not fortget about the whole 2.5 d movement also . What's the elevation allowable 65 degrees ? No z-axis movement ? Not really a space game is it ?
Ground combat boils down expose exploit ( vaporize ) , boils down to what equipment your gang of 5 is running with and how well they know what they are doing . Don't hold your breath on the revamp . Cryptic has no experience in shooters of any sort, and they're too cheap to pay someone to come in and revamp it . They'll try to do in house, with people that have no experience in it, the result will be disappointing.
Which bring to the whole fleet thing , no group actions greater then 20 , with most set at 5 . Cryptic is mediocore at best for anything they do whether it was CoX , CO STO or the up coming NwN . They were brought by Atari to generate capital in the fastest manner at the lowest cost , that's Emmert's pitch. They do by churning out mediocore games in 14 to 18 mos . On an updated CoX engine that is basically just enhanced graphics.( yeah yeah CDF will be here saying it's a completely new engine , which is a crock. Go ahead a dilute yourselves if you like . ) If the Star Trek name wasn't attached to this game it would be right next to CO on the F2P list. ( Which it probably will , sometime in the future. Most likely after SW:ToR releases, or some other more interesting game. )
Like I've said they've done some things right , but the majority of it is poor execution and lack of any experience in the field of MMO's . CoX , CO and STO don't realy qualify as MMO's ( people will argue technicalites , but honestly they really aren't in the truests sense ) , and Cryptic would proably readily admit it. That's why NwN was intro'd as a OMG . Here's hoping Atari goes bankrupt and Cryptic is sold off.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
Apparently, you have not played lately. If that is so, then that opinion is pretty much based upon old information and should be taken with a heavy dose of disbelief. STO has changed quite a bit since launch and will continue to do so. It has changed for the better. Is it your cup of tea? Maybe not. Does everyone share your opinion? No. Server and instances are very populated. No content has been added which only adds to the game by leaps and bounds over where it was at launch. And, as mentioned more is coming sooner rather then later.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
I like EVE, and FE; and I like CoX, and I like CO, and I like STO. By any objective standard Cryptic games are not crap, that's just a ridiculous word to use of them. They fall short in some ways, but the one thing you can say is that Cryptic combat is generally pretty effective and addictive. CoX combat was nonpariel for point-and-click, or at least tying with GW for first place in the genre. CO combat keeps up the tradition of fast, fun gameplay - only it's even faster and funner. STO's combat, both ground and space, but particularly space, are a good balance between sim and game. There are other nice features in all of them.
One place where Cryptic fall down is in the "single open world" feel area, that I'll grant you. Also, their MMOs are somewhat shallow - easy to pick up and put down. But that might be seen as a virtue - again, balancing the demands of casual gameplay agianst the demands of immersion pretty well some might say.
Sure Cryptic have their faults, but "crap"? Nah, that's going too far, and is too disrespectful of a company that's given a lot of people a lot of fun over the years.
Their space combat has become a joke , it's now a pet spam fest , with no thought to game balance . The other issue is the the riduclous ablities , with basically translates to superpowers for your class. Let's not fortget about the whole 2.5 d movement also . What's the elevation allowable 65 degrees ? No z-axis movement ? Not really a space game is it ?
Ground combat boils down expose exploit ( vaporize ) , boils down to what equipment your gang of 5 is running with and how well they know what they are doing . Don't hold your breath on the revamp . Cryptic has no experience in shooters of any sort, and they're too cheap to pay someone to come in and revamp it . They'll try to do in house, with people that have no experience in it, the result will be disappointing.
Which bring to the whole fleet thing , no group actions greater then 20 , with most set at 5 . Cryptic is mediocore at best for anything they do whether it was CoX , CO STO or the up coming NwN . They were brought by Atari to generate capital in the fastest manner at the lowest cost , that's Emmert's pitch. They do by churning out mediocore games in 14 to 18 mos . On an updated CoX engine that is basically just enhanced graphics.( yeah yeah CDF will be here saying it's a completely new engine , which is a crock. Go ahead a dilute yourselves if you like . ) If the Star Trek name wasn't attached to this game it would be right next to CO on the F2P list. ( Which it probably will , sometime in the future. Most likely after SW:ToR releases, or some other more interesting game. )
Like I've said they've done some things right , but the majority of it is poor execution and lack of any experience in the field of MMO's . CoX , CO and STO don't realy qualify as MMO's ( people will argue technicalites , but honestly they really aren't in the truests sense ) , and Cryptic would proably readily admit it. That's why NwN was intro'd as a OMG . Here's hoping Atari goes bankrupt and Cryptic is sold off.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The difference here being, it is almost all the critics (go see metacritic for a laugh), the majority of people who have ever played the game (and canceled), Cryptic's own marketing people (who cut the price down to almost nothing) and last but not least, the executives who are or were in charge of the game are all saying that.
When the executives in charge of any game, either get fired (as 2 of 3 were in 8-9 months after launch and another last week) or come out and apologize for how bad their game is/was, that is not "people on the forums saying is sucks".
That is an acknowledgement by everyone involved, that it sucks.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The difference here being, it is almost all the critics (go see metacritic for a laugh), the majority of people who have ever played the game (and canceled), Cryptic's own marketing people (who cut the price down to almost nothing) and last but not least, the executives who are or were in charge of the game are all saying that.
When the executives in charge of any game, either get fired (as 2 of 3 were in 8-9 months after launch and another last week) or come out and apologize for how bad their game is/was, that is not "people on the forums saying is sucks".
That is an acknowledgement by everyone involved, that it sucks.
Except for a few diehard fans, that is.
Still doesn't mean the game is not fun. Even if by your claim the majority do not find it fun. You don't know the current sub numbers to give a factual opinion that a mass majority left. You can quote tons of critics, forum posts, or whatever but you still don't have a percentage of people that quit. So all you have is just an opinion that you think the game stinks based on what you read or by your own person experience. Doesn't mean the game will suck for someone else. And it doesn't mean the game sucks when it sells for $2.50. Just sucks in your opinion. I got Tabula Rasa for almost as cheap and had an absolute blast till the very end. No regrets.
If I read and listened to posters in these forums or went by critcs reviews I wouldn't play a single game, watch a move, or read a book. It's all opinion. The best thing anyone can do is try it out for themselves.
The difference here being, it is almost all the critics (go see metacritic for a laugh),
And the difference between professional critics and unprofessional trolls is that the professional critics do not deny the possibility that the game can improve, while the trolls say the game will always suck no matter what.
I don't like Emmert all that much, but you are incorrect that he was the one who demanded the Klingon be in at launch. If you read anything from the new (almost a year now I think) executive producer Daniel Stahal you'll see they had no clue what they were going to do with the Klingons. I say this as someone who got sucked into a Lifetime sub as a Klingon lover, so I'm not just painting rainbows with my arse. STO has a lot of problems, but none of them are one person's fault nor are they from any sort of malice on the part of anyone with Cryptic, incompetience, poor communication yes, but not malice or even intentional deciet.
Actually, he was the one; he stated so in his December 15, 2009 interview he did here, two days after the 'Klingon information blitz' started with DStahl's podcast interview that caused such an uproar. In that interview he stated that he was the one who insisted they be in at launch because he feels that if it isn't in at launch, then it will not be in the game (something he's said in other interviews as well, going back to the CoV days).
Having Emmert telling them to put the Klingons in, when the devs didn't have enough time to flesh out the Federation side before launch, well it's no wonder they didn't know what to do with them in that time frame. If you look at the archives though, you can see that their original intention was that the Klingons would be a full faction at launch, with ample PvE, but slightly more focused on optional PvP than the Federaton side. So yes they actually did know what they were originally going to do, they just were not given enough time to actually do it.
As a final thought: I never said Jack's done this out of malice or deceit; I merely said he's the one who keeps insisting on them. To me that means that he's more clueless, rather than nefarious.
"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'm not going to go back and try to quote everyone in this discussion, but I did read them all...
I stand by my assessment that STO is crap. Cryptic got it's hands on one of the best known, most loved and followed, and most recognizable SciFi franchises in history with a wealth of lore, storylines, characters, races, worlds and systems, cultures and civilizations, and had an oppurtunity to put out a game LOADED with potential, and it fell short in nearly, no, EVERY category. And the main focus of the Star Trek franchise through every series was always exploration - "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before." - and yet that was completely missing from the game.
If STO was just a new space game with Cryptic's own backstory and a completely new creation, then it would merit possibly a mediocre rating with the potential to get better. But it's not and it doesn't. For the huge potential that Crytic had for a smash hit with years of content, they failed miserably due to shortsightedness and incompetence, and by pushing it out in an unbelievable 18 months which is FAR to short a time to do any justice to a franchise of this magnitude. There is no way it can be brought back to what it should have and could have been. The game is a piece of crap.
I'm not going to go back and try to quote everyone in this discussion, but I did read them all...
I stand by my assessment that STO is crap.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The converation is about Cryptic and STO/CO/CoX . Mostly about STO, I'm sorry it hurts your sensiblities and pride in the game , to hear these opinions. That doesn't make them any less valid or true, then even yours. Calling people trolls or attempting set strawman arguements are not valid responses. The discussion is about Cryptic and or STO /CO/CoX. In an earlier post you take a demure stance and pretend you don't want to change minds , yet you persist on engaging in questions peoples choices of games they like or play to what purpose ? To show that those games are imperfect. We get it. we already know that . We've chosen those games because they are lessv ( much less ) imperfect then any product Cryptic spews out.
I'm not going to go back and try to quote everyone in this discussion, but I did read them all...
I stand by my assessment that STO is crap.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The converation is about Cryptic and STO/CO/CoX . Mostly about STO, I'm sorry it hurts your sensiblities and pride in the game , to hear these opinions. That doesn't make them any less valid or true, then even yours. Calling people trolls or attempting set strawman arguements are not valid responses. The discussion is about Cryptic and or STO /CO/CoX. In an earlier post you take a demure stance and pretend you don't want to change minds , yet you persist on engaging in questions peoples choices of games they like or play to what purpose ? To show that those games are imperfect. We get it. we already know that . We've chosen those games because they are lessv ( much less ) imperfect then any product Cryptic spews out.
It's a perfectly valid question. You simply just love playing the forums. Edward is right, go to any game forum on this site and you'll see negative comments about a game. Mostly people playing the forums. They don't care if a game sucks. I could care less if a game sucks because I move on and don't play the forums to no ends and constantly bash or post negative arguments about the game. Who cares? Only people who love to play the forums...over a VIDEO GAME.
It's a perfectly valid question. You simply just love playing the forums. Edward is right, go to any game forum on this site and you'll see negative comments about a game. Mostly people playing the forums. They don't care if a game sucks. I could care less if a game sucks because I move on and don't play the forums to no ends and constantly bash or post negative arguments about the game. Who cares? Only people who love to play the forums...over a VIDEO GAME.
It's obvious you actually care and it seems I've gotten under your skin , because you seem to reply to my posts specifically . I'm sorry that what I post irritates you so genuinely. Obviously you do care , or you wouldn't post , hypocrisy is unbecoming . Pot meet kettle . Fyi there are a great many MMO's i've played , I've enjoyed , however none has irritated me to the extent that Cryptic's have. Mainly for the cheap feel and the customer service as well as the generally poor design and half finished ( i use half generously ) games.
Cryptic should just make DStahl the main guy in their company fully. He is the only guy in that company that seems to have any spine. It just seems he is carrying the entire company. I just wish he was working for a more worthwhile company, his talent seems wasted.
However, Sevenwind, It's true. Seems Sevenwind likes to troll other MMORPG.com users. Negative comments mean they're obviously just playing the forum, because what they write and express can't be seen as an option. Going for the "I dont care, no one cares, universal care" just screams out that you, Sevenwind, care quite a lot and apparently don't like that some others care in a different way, that doesn't quite match your opinion. You obviously like to brand others who don't agree with you as trolls, perhaps you need to look up what trolling actually means? I have seen quite a bit of that from you on this thread.
Perhaps you need to take a breather and slow down on the blaming of others and this website.
Comments
One thing I am fairly sure of is that you will think whatever you want, regardless of what I or anyone else may say. That being the case, I wont bother trying to change your mind. I will, however, recommend to anyone reading this thread that you make up your own mind as far as what you like and what you dont, and try things for yourself.
Thank you. Maybe it won't get used so much now by the trolls. Wait..nevermind
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
Perhaps Jack is not a good replacement, but Needham wasn't a good choice for leadership form that start. Under his leadership Cryptic went from an Indi sweetheart to a name that is synonymous with crap.
Maybe Needham didn't make gameplay level decisions, but he was in charge of everything else. Production schedules, budgets, RMT implementation, customer service, brand and image, etc. Not only did he produce two duds, but he also managed to lose the license to Marvel Universe Online.
Needham was also in charge of branding, international issues, distribution and business development over at soe. You can thank him directly for the manner in which cryptic runs its cash shops.
I don't like Emmert all that much, but you are incorrect that he was the one who demanded the Klingon be in at launch. If you read anything from the new (almost a year now I think) executive producer Daniel Stahal you'll see they had no clue what they were going to do with the Klingons. I say this as someone who got sucked into a Lifetime sub as a Klingon lover, so I'm not just painting rainbows with my arse. STO has a lot of problems, but none of them are one person's fault nor are they from any sort of malice on the part of anyone with Cryptic, incompetience, poor communication yes, but not malice or even intentional deciet.
I'm a lifer and I don't defend everything about STO, nor do I walk away from it. It has good and bad things about it, the bad still out weighs the good in many repects, but that's also because I'm a Klingon fan. If you're a Fed fan the game is pretty good for you unless you're hardcore gamer and then there just isn't enough content. But the Featured Episodes have given it enough content that most casual to moderate gamers can get a decent amount of enjoyment out of it (Fed side).
Yeah, the quality of their games is actually pretty high, in absolute terms, thank you very much. (i.e. there are vast levels of shitness beneath Cryptic)
I wouldn't say Cryptic is a first-rank company, but they lead the middle of the pack in my estimation - mostly technically and combat gameplay-wise. I've had a lot of fun out of CoX, CO and STO. I haven't gotten deep into CO or STO, and they are shallower games than CoX was, but they're still rollicking good fun in spurts.
Cryptic still sucks. CoH was good for it's time. But making games that play and work virtually the same.. That doesn't make a good mark on a game company.
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
Try EVE. Besides the usual trolls, the vast majority of the EVE community agree that the game DOES NOT suck. Sure there are problems but every game has them, but EVE does not suck as does any current Cryptic game. I played STO at beta and launch and i experienced the biggest letdown I've ever had with an MMO being a Trekkie since the pilot of the original series. The game is crap. Plain and simple. Neither Needham nor Emmert is the right choice for Cryptic's CEO and as long as either of them is there, Cryptic will continue to suck. Cryptic needs new blood at the helm and a return to their vision of old. It's sad to think that Neverwinter is headed down the same disastrous path.
~ Adder ~
Quick, Silent, Deadly
"The vast majority" of any game's community agrees it doesnt suck, or else they wouldnt still be playing. So point me to a game where there arent any people claiming it sucks, and then you will have a valid point. But until then, your saying that STO sucks is no more valid than the people saying your fave game sucks.
I like EVE, and FE; and I like CoX, and I like CO, and I like STO. By any objective standard Cryptic games are not crap, that's just a ridiculous word to use of them. They fall short in some ways, but the one thing you can say is that Cryptic combat is generally pretty effective and addictive. CoX combat was nonpariel for point-and-click, or at least tying with GW for first place in the genre. CO combat keeps up the tradition of fast, fun gameplay - only it's even faster and funner. STO's combat, both ground and space, but particularly space, are a good balance between sim and game. There are other nice features in all of them.
One place where Cryptic fall down is in the "single open world" feel area, that I'll grant you. Also, their MMOs are somewhat shallow - easy to pick up and put down. But that might be seen as a virtue - again, balancing the demands of casual gameplay agianst the demands of immersion pretty well some might say.
Sure Cryptic have their faults, but "crap"? Nah, that's going too far, and is too disrespectful of a company that's given a lot of people a lot of fun over the years.
Their space combat has become a joke , it's now a pet spam fest , with no thought to game balance . The other issue is the the riduclous ablities , with basically translates to superpowers for your class. Let's not fortget about the whole 2.5 d movement also . What's the elevation allowable 65 degrees ? No z-axis movement ? Not really a space game is it ?
Ground combat boils down expose exploit ( vaporize ) , boils down to what equipment your gang of 5 is running with and how well they know what they are doing . Don't hold your breath on the revamp . Cryptic has no experience in shooters of any sort, and they're too cheap to pay someone to come in and revamp it . They'll try to do in house, with people that have no experience in it, the result will be disappointing.
Which bring to the whole fleet thing , no group actions greater then 20 , with most set at 5 . Cryptic is mediocore at best for anything they do whether it was CoX , CO STO or the up coming NwN . They were brought by Atari to generate capital in the fastest manner at the lowest cost , that's Emmert's pitch. They do by churning out mediocore games in 14 to 18 mos . On an updated CoX engine that is basically just enhanced graphics.( yeah yeah CDF will be here saying it's a completely new engine , which is a crock. Go ahead a dilute yourselves if you like . ) If the Star Trek name wasn't attached to this game it would be right next to CO on the F2P list. ( Which it probably will , sometime in the future. Most likely after SW:ToR releases, or some other more interesting game. )
Like I've said they've done some things right , but the majority of it is poor execution and lack of any experience in the field of MMO's . CoX , CO and STO don't realy qualify as MMO's ( people will argue technicalites , but honestly they really aren't in the truests sense ) , and Cryptic would proably readily admit it. That's why NwN was intro'd as a OMG . Here's hoping Atari goes bankrupt and Cryptic is sold off.
Apparently, you have not played lately. If that is so, then that opinion is pretty much based upon old information and should be taken with a heavy dose of disbelief. STO has changed quite a bit since launch and will continue to do so. It has changed for the better. Is it your cup of tea? Maybe not. Does everyone share your opinion? No. Server and instances are very populated. No content has been added which only adds to the game by leaps and bounds over where it was at launch. And, as mentioned more is coming sooner rather then later.
Let's party like it is 1863!
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The difference here being, it is almost all the critics (go see metacritic for a laugh), the majority of people who have ever played the game (and canceled), Cryptic's own marketing people (who cut the price down to almost nothing) and last but not least, the executives who are or were in charge of the game are all saying that.
When the executives in charge of any game, either get fired (as 2 of 3 were in 8-9 months after launch and another last week) or come out and apologize for how bad their game is/was, that is not "people on the forums saying is sucks".
That is an acknowledgement by everyone involved, that it sucks.
Except for a few diehard fans, that is.
Still doesn't mean the game is not fun. Even if by your claim the majority do not find it fun. You don't know the current sub numbers to give a factual opinion that a mass majority left. You can quote tons of critics, forum posts, or whatever but you still don't have a percentage of people that quit. So all you have is just an opinion that you think the game stinks based on what you read or by your own person experience. Doesn't mean the game will suck for someone else. And it doesn't mean the game sucks when it sells for $2.50. Just sucks in your opinion. I got Tabula Rasa for almost as cheap and had an absolute blast till the very end. No regrets.
If I read and listened to posters in these forums or went by critcs reviews I wouldn't play a single game, watch a move, or read a book. It's all opinion. The best thing anyone can do is try it out for themselves.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
And the difference between professional critics and unprofessional trolls is that the professional critics do not deny the possibility that the game can improve, while the trolls say the game will always suck no matter what.
Actually, he was the one; he stated so in his December 15, 2009 interview he did here, two days after the 'Klingon information blitz' started with DStahl's podcast interview that caused such an uproar. In that interview he stated that he was the one who insisted they be in at launch because he feels that if it isn't in at launch, then it will not be in the game (something he's said in other interviews as well, going back to the CoV days).
Having Emmert telling them to put the Klingons in, when the devs didn't have enough time to flesh out the Federation side before launch, well it's no wonder they didn't know what to do with them in that time frame. If you look at the archives though, you can see that their original intention was that the Klingons would be a full faction at launch, with ample PvE, but slightly more focused on optional PvP than the Federaton side. So yes they actually did know what they were originally going to do, they just were not given enough time to actually do it.
As a final thought: I never said Jack's done this out of malice or deceit; I merely said he's the one who keeps insisting on them. To me that means that he's more clueless, rather than nefarious.
"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'm not going to go back and try to quote everyone in this discussion, but I did read them all...
I stand by my assessment that STO is crap. Cryptic got it's hands on one of the best known, most loved and followed, and most recognizable SciFi franchises in history with a wealth of lore, storylines, characters, races, worlds and systems, cultures and civilizations, and had an oppurtunity to put out a game LOADED with potential, and it fell short in nearly, no, EVERY category. And the main focus of the Star Trek franchise through every series was always exploration - "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before." - and yet that was completely missing from the game.
If STO was just a new space game with Cryptic's own backstory and a completely new creation, then it would merit possibly a mediocre rating with the potential to get better. But it's not and it doesn't. For the huge potential that Crytic had for a smash hit with years of content, they failed miserably due to shortsightedness and incompetence, and by pushing it out in an unbelievable 18 months which is FAR to short a time to do any justice to a franchise of this magnitude. There is no way it can be brought back to what it should have and could have been. The game is a piece of crap.
~ Adder ~
Quick, Silent, Deadly
So what is your favoriate game? I'm pretty sure if I go look at its forums that there will be people saying it sucks too.
The converation is about Cryptic and STO/CO/CoX . Mostly about STO, I'm sorry it hurts your sensiblities and pride in the game , to hear these opinions. That doesn't make them any less valid or true, then even yours. Calling people trolls or attempting set strawman arguements are not valid responses. The discussion is about Cryptic and or STO /CO/CoX. In an earlier post you take a demure stance and pretend you don't want to change minds , yet you persist on engaging in questions peoples choices of games they like or play to what purpose ? To show that those games are imperfect. We get it. we already know that . We've chosen those games because they are lessv ( much less ) imperfect then any product Cryptic spews out.
It's a perfectly valid question. You simply just love playing the forums. Edward is right, go to any game forum on this site and you'll see negative comments about a game. Mostly people playing the forums. They don't care if a game sucks. I could care less if a game sucks because I move on and don't play the forums to no ends and constantly bash or post negative arguments about the game. Who cares? Only people who love to play the forums...over a VIDEO GAME.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
It's obvious you actually care and it seems I've gotten under your skin , because you seem to reply to my posts specifically . I'm sorry that what I post irritates you so genuinely. Obviously you do care , or you wouldn't post , hypocrisy is unbecoming . Pot meet kettle . Fyi there are a great many MMO's i've played , I've enjoyed , however none has irritated me to the extent that Cryptic's have. Mainly for the cheap feel and the customer service as well as the generally poor design and half finished ( i use half generously ) games.
Cryptic should just make DStahl the main guy in their company fully. He is the only guy in that company that seems to have any spine. It just seems he is carrying the entire company. I just wish he was working for a more worthwhile company, his talent seems wasted.
However, Sevenwind, It's true. Seems Sevenwind likes to troll other MMORPG.com users. Negative comments mean they're obviously just playing the forum, because what they write and express can't be seen as an option. Going for the "I dont care, no one cares, universal care" just screams out that you, Sevenwind, care quite a lot and apparently don't like that some others care in a different way, that doesn't quite match your opinion. You obviously like to brand others who don't agree with you as trolls, perhaps you need to look up what trolling actually means? I have seen quite a bit of that from you on this thread.
Perhaps you need to take a breather and slow down on the blaming of others and this website.
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Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.