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The Biggest problem with Cryptic and STO!
jiveturkey12
Member CommonPosts: 1,262
I seriously dont care about all the other complaints about STO and CO, because everything stems from one major Problem.
Simply put, The Cryptic Game Engine (CGE) is horrible!
Now, dont get me wrong, lots of games have bad engines, the biggest one in my opinion was "Tabula Rasa", where scaling down the graphics did nothing to save performance. On a high end machine like mine, It didnt really matter, but for a friend of mine, his game would look like a bad N64 game and he would still lag.
But lag isnt the problem that comes from the Cryptic Engine, no its not. The problem is horrible lack of freedom.
Seriously, what were they smoking when they made this engine? All the quests in their game are so simple, and so redundant, it amazes me they payed people to make this engine. Theres no Freedom for the designers to make anything that can resemble an intresting or interactive quest.
On top of that, the characters movements are so erratic it makes you feel more like your character is doing their first lap at the "Ski off for Cancer" and they have never stepped foot on ice before. Characters dont walk around the game world as much as they just slide awkwardly.
Then the other thing, the Game world! All Cryptic's games have nice looking graphics that utilize color very well, but everything is so instanced in STO that you dont get a feeling your even in a world, and in CO the open world elements are in turn dumbed down by the lack of change presented in each zone. Seriously in other games there are different tracks or locations you jump to, there is main roads so you never back track through the enemies you just killed, their is a sense of illusion that you have accomplished something. In CO theres none of that, its just been stricken from the idea board.
Again putting it simply, The CGE is great for making a quick MMO, but not for making a great MMO.
Its like anything in modern day capitalism, the quality is pushed aside for quantity. Cryptic made an engine that can pump out an MMO in quick fashion and be decent, in the same fell swoop they also denied the designers any freedom or ability to change the game and make it special. Dont believe me? Look at the development cycle for STO.
Comments
They rushed every game so far since leaving NCsoft just to make a quick buck. Why should anyone be surprised of the decisions they make.
I agree, that's why most comments you see on STO revolve around it's okay or fun, yet not great. The linearity is the biggest downfall of the game. Sure you can go where ever you want after the tutorial, so it would seem. Yet what good is that when there's nowhere to just go run around explore, hunt, gather/acquire and just plain create your own fun.
Quests could use a good bit of a mix up, that was what made COH really blow for me. I don't see how an engine would be the cause of repetitive game-play. That's lack of attention on the development team IMO. They throw everything including the kitchen sink into their character creation/customization system, which I believe they wish to be their main selling point. Yet lack in the creative aspects that make for excellent games not just MMO's. Most studios focus on the latter and usually see greater success.
I can see a ton of homage to older pc games within STO, and I find that fun and different in the MMO world. WHat I don't see is what makes MMO's what they are, and why people choose to play them. WHich is what makes it hard to determine if this is something I would pay monthly for.
Maybe what studios like this should do is sell their MMO's as RPG's with online interaction built in. Charge a smaller fee, or rely on cash shops. Hell they may even be viewed as innovators for doing so. I also think it would save these games from the backlash they recieve.
Console games are raking in the cash on FPS's with these types of mini transactions. A multiplayer RPG could possibly do even better.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
i thought they left ncsoft after the release of one there issues for CoX and that CO and STO were solo gigs.
My biggest proublem with the CGE is the chat engine. The only time you have access to the "global" channel is when you are in sector space (aka at warp). Every system has it's own chat but how many people are in a system at a given time. Except for Earth, not many. How much time do you spend in sector space? Not much cause the only thing to do there is to go from point A to point B.
They did leave NCSoft, but they're not solo. They were purchased by Atari during the development of CO.
Exactly, this is why I thought this thread was nessacery, alot of times people go "O well dont bash the game." or "Dont bash the developers", and to an extent that can be a rather personal and flawed way of critiquing the game.
When you get down the the core of the game though, the Engine running behind everything else, you have no personal connection anymore. You can focus on what the true flaws are.
There are alot of perks to making your own engine, which is in turn why I thought cryptic was going to hit it big when they first announced their creation. Most of the time when you get a new developer whose making their own engine they tweak it to perfection. This can save developers money, if you want a prime example on how much an engine costs, look up SWTOR's Hero Engine.
But Cryptic failed many in this respect, like I said they chose to go with an engine that gave them quick and easy game development, rather than intricate and efficent.
For anyone looking on some quick information about game engines, and other MMO engines, heres the Wiki.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_engine
Simply put, The Cryptic Game Engine (CGE) is horrible!
Yes and no, let's clarify what is meant by "engine", as distinct from content creation tools. Reading your post, you are criticizing the content creation tools, which is a position I would not debate against. And it is ok to call the content creation tools an "engine", that usage is not uncommon.
But the other common use of "engine", which goes further back in the history of the industry, refers to the technical systems that drive the core mechanics of the game. Graphics, controls, collision detection, and of course connectivity being a big one in MMOs. The reason I am making this distinction is because I think this core part of the Cryptic Engine is quite good, and is the reason CO is my main MMO. It just feels much more responsive than any other MMO I have played, the graphics are modern, and the connectivity + single server approach has been really nice for me as a daily CO player.
Maybe you need to be a programmer to understand the distinction, but it is a big one: the core of the game mechanics VS the tools for content creation and scripting. I agree that Cryptic needs to work on the latter, but I would argue that they have delivered an engine on the cutting edge of the former.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
Where did you get that part about content creation tools?
The OP was talking about horrible zoning, which is the basis of Cryptic's ENGINE and has nothing to do with content creation.
Cryptic's engine might work for other types of games, but as far as space simulation - I simpy cannot imagine a worse solution than what we're seeing in STO.
Where did you get that part about content creation tools?
Quoting the OP:
Seriously, what were they smoking when they made this engine? All the quests in their game are so simple, and so redundant, it amazes me they payed people to make this engine. Theres no Freedom for the designers to make anything that can resemble an intresting or interactive quest.
Again, it sounds like they are talking about content creation tools, which are part of the engine that I won't defend, but that I make this distinction because I think the art of the engine that handles the core mechanics is quite good.
The OP was talking about horrible zoning, which is the basis of Cryptic's ENGINE and has nothing to do with content creation.
Cryptic's engine might work for other types of games, but as far as space simulation - I simpy cannot imagine a worse solution than what we're seeing in STO.
OK the OP did mention the instancing, and I can't really defend that either, other than to say it has hardly bothered me in CO but that it immediately bothered me a lot in STO. Since the instancing is one of the tradeoffs to achieve the high responsiveness that makes me praise the engine, I agree that it is a fair criticism.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
You know...seriously. You guys sound like a bunch of 9 month pregnant women complaining about every ache, pain and the man who knocked you up. EVERY time a new MMO comes out there is just a bunch you that congregate and say "oh this sucks" and "horrible game engine" or "horrible graphics" blah blah blah blah. Then you all come here and moan, gripe, complain and whatever else in these forums. I understand misery enjoys company but please if you are a beta tester, don't like the game or whatever just go play something you enjoy and quit trying to ruin everyone else's fun.
Hence the life time sub = quick bucks. People, just rember Hellgate London and how
everyone was pissed off when it closed down.
Cryptic created this lousy engine because they wanted to invade the console market with their mmo. Console can't handle complex, open mmo, like Eve online, world of warcraft or lotro. So yeah, basicly the pc version is only a test ground until they release their subpar mmo on consoles.
cryptic has been recycling the city of heroes engine for years now. it is so old it defaults to 800x600 resolution!
shame that the star trek I.P. is tied up in this regurgitated super instanced drek.
Hence the life time sub = quick bucks. People, just rember Hellgate London and how
everyone was pissed off when it closed down.
Exactly because they knew they needed the money badly to fix their game and now Cryptic is pulling the same exact stunt. Unless somehow there is a miracle and Cryptic changes their ways I'll never ever buy one of their games ever.
This is about Awareness, Im sorry but the point of this thread is for people to look at the business that cryptic is running. I used to be the owner of a fansite called "Crypticgamers.org", that focused on both CO and STO.
Trust me Im the last person that wants to admit it but Cryptic is a corrupt a company as you can get, I even think on par with SOE.
At least SOE releases hits and then turns them into horrible dumb-downed renditions of their former self. To that effect I actually think of them as better than Cryptic.
Again, this is all awareness, if you dont think the games were rushed, or that the engine is flawed, please go ahead and debate, I would love to.
But the fact is, everyone out their knows whats going on here, everyone knows that when a game makes multiple different pre-order bonus's for the same game launch, and lifetime- subs, things arent going to be good.
Not to mention micro-transactions, etc. Im not saying Cryptic should completely overhaul, if I learned anything from "Reflections on the Revolution in France" its that you cant make change in a day and make it work. No Revolution has ever succeed in such, and no Im not calling this a Revolution. Im just saying we need to give praise to worthy companies and tell the companies that are being greedy and money hungry what is wrong.
Awareness is all Im trying to incite.
Hence the life time sub = quick bucks. People, just rember Hellgate London and how
everyone was pissed off when it closed down.
Life time subs do not all meet the same end. Look at Lord of the Rings. They offered life time subs at launch and the game is still going strong to this day.