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Star Trek Online: The 2011 Re-Review
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Fans of the original Star Trek television series and fans of MMOs rejoiced when Star Trek Online was announced. Some of that enthusiasm was tempered, however, once it was released in early 2010. Cryptic Studios has had 18 months to make good on the hopes of its fans. In an MMORPG.com re-review, Lori May takes a look at today's Star Trek Online and how it's progressed since release. Read on!
Space: The final frontier. A place that, thanks to the highly successful Star Trek franchise, is less mysterious and far more familiar than it was fifty years ago. Before the iconic Star Trek (better known as Star Trek: The Original Series or TOS these days) took us there for each episode of this Sci-Fi television hit space was something left purely to our imagination. But has Cryptic’s Star Trek Online (STO) lived up to those famous roots, transporting us all into the world where no man has gone before in an enjoyable, authentic way that holds its own with other MMORPG titles currently on the market? Let’s take a closer look at STO, a pay-to-play (P2P) MMO which combines ship-based combat and ground activities to create a complex, elaborate MMO in a familiar way.
Read more of Lori May's Star Trek Online Re-Review.
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Comments
Yeah was wondering the exact same thing.
We can hate Cryptic all we want for what they delivered at launch.
But even I have to admit the game has gotten a lot better over the past year.
Sector space looks much better now you can dissable the horrible grid.
The Episode storyline missions are plain awesome and great fun!
The crafting facility and options at Memory Alpha have been improved significantly and you can now actually craft useful items.
So eventho it's still not the real Trek experience we all wanted (altho the Episode series are really cool), the game really has improved a lot.
Yeah I have to agree with the two posters above, a game moving down in score, when the actual game has improved since the original score, makes no sense at all.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Perhaps the original score was too high? And the once you get over the hype, the game is shallow.
Why not just wait for season 4 to hit the live server before doing another review?
I agree with the posters above. Lowering the overall score??? Yet, the review admits that Cryptic is continually improving things???
One other thing, one of the major "complaints" was in regards to ground combat. Did the reviewer not realise that a MAJOR revamp of ground combat is coming in just TWO WEEKS? Could (or should) the reviewer not have waited at least that long to post this review? That comment alone makes me think the reviewer is not doing his job. Sorry but my opinion.
Let's party like it is 1863!
^^^ Seriously. Season 4 is scheduled to go live July 7th, so doing another review now(and rating it less than the last review at that) is pretty silly.
Bad reviewer. I agree with top posters. Makes no sense to do a re-review when the big patch is less then two weeks away and then on top of it all reviewing it with a lower score then original when the game has in fact improved. lol...GG!
Season4 will revamp multiple game systems so making re-review now is kinda waste.
I'd recommend deleting this and reposting after launch of Season4
Again, a meaningless score from a meaningless system from MMORPG.com. Remember that article that was asking about what could be done to fix reviews here? How does a game get a higher score during a bad launch and then a lower score when it makes a lot of improvements?
Either make some kind of meaningful system for reviews or stop giving things a score.
Scores are completely subjective, so why wouldn't they vary over time? Reviews such as these do not necessarily just evaluate a game on its own merit, they evaluate the features and other aspects in relationship with the current market. I read this to indicate that STO looks even worse now compared to other games in the current genre.
Besides, if you really do disagree on the review/score, why not point out that is better/worthwhile? Saying the game is "about" to get better with a new patch won't convince anyone as players are a bit jaded by the numerous "miracle" patches over the last few years that rarely delivery as much as anticipated/desired.
Saying a game has improved yet lowering its score is contradictory. Also, writing up a new review when you know a big update is coming out in 2 weeks and saying your going to do another review afterward is a waste of time.
In regards to the review score - the game may well have gotten better, but if you haven't noticed MMORPG.com is using a new scoring system. Where before it was largely arbitrary of the writing coming up with a number based on their impressions, now it is a matter of scoring 7 catergories, then getting an average. It may be lower than the last score but the new system will be fairer but you will probably expect to see more like this.
Plus reviews are writing with a lot of time in advance, the idea of waiting for an update would in all possibility bring a review schedule to a grinding halt
yeah, the last review was broken out into these categories as well. so what was your point again?We're in transition to a new system of reviewing games (we'll be announcing it soon) and each review has been done (and often has been done) by different writers. Scores will vary for this reason, a game's score isn't guaranteed to go up or stay the same with every re-review.
Also, let me add that the review was in progress long before Season 4 was set to hit live servers. We'll most certainly re-visit the game post-Season 4.
That explanation is fine...to a point. It still does not justify posting a review in which one of the MAJOR complaints is being addressed in two weeks hence. The review also looks a bit "rushed" in that it did mention "improvements" but barely speaks of them. Bad timing is one thing. Bad management is another (not a personsal reference to you MikeB).
Let's party like it is 1863!
"Long before"? How long exactly? A week? A month? How much playtime did the author have? Those would be some good things to include in your "new system" at the begining of every review.
Rather than throw out the reviewer's work we decided to publish the review. Again, you can be sure we'll check out the game again post-Season 4.
I'm a current subscriber and to tell the honest truth, I think the reviewer did get a very honest review of STO.
Even with S4 out next month, there is still no end-game in STO which makes the longevity of STO basicly non-existant. I have now leveled 2 V-Ads and I really have no wish to go thru the exact same content I have done twice before to level another one. The thought is almost painful. I no longer even log into my main toon as there is basicly nothing within the game mechanics to make me even want to. PVP is a constant NERF fest being driven by a very small amount of forum players that seem to dominate developer interest and time. It is simply not worth it to take the time to get a build that is able to compete when these few can complain and Cryptic will fall in lockstep with these few cryers to insure nothing more than the cryers sucess. With all that in mind, I think MMORPG.com even glassed over very large problems with STO.
All in all, I believe the score is a very optimistic view.
Second review in a row where this particular writer lowers the score from a previous review while praising the improvements to the game since the last review. What I've gathered from this: Ignore all future reviews by this writer.
Agree with alot of the above posts.
The logic that the reviewer uses; stating it's improved since release yet it's score has been reduced, is deeply flawed in my opinion.
Again MMORPG.com own rating system in flawed & more importantly, in my own opinion, unmemorable. A simple 5STAR rating system that the hotel industry uses would not only be more memorable, but also more credible. STO would most likely be rated a 2 or 3 Star MMO.
should have waited till Season 4 to hit the live server
Have No Fear Cohas is here!!!
30 out of 11 pickles for that review.