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3 days in and i am *bored*. This game is *not* worth of a subscription.
D_TOX
Member UncommonPosts: 269
I wrote this for the official STO boards where it got a big response, surprisingly the majority of responses were from people in agreement. So i thought maybe it was worth posting here too. Hopefully it will help those in doubt to hear my opinion.
I have never, in my 7 year history of MMO gaming, been so bored so quickly in an MMORPG. And as a RP'er (someone who can usually make something out of nothing), big Star Trek fan and casual gamer, that is saying something. Its a sad day when i am actually having to force myself to log in.
The first day i logged in, i was having a blast! It was all new, it was Star Trek, it's a space MMO! But then i slowly started to get, well, bored.
My skill tree seems... Completely pointless. Meaningless. Why am i pumping hundreds of my well earned Skill Points into skills i'm not even that bothered about? Why am i being forced to spend points into skills i dont intend to use, just because i have some skill points to spend. Where is my skill cap, letting me know exactly how many skill points i can accumulate and allocate accordingly? Without any bearing on the amount of skills im allocated, how do i know when my skills will run out and skill point allocation will actually begin to matter? Why does the entire skill system, skill box, skill tree, why does it all seem so cheap, rushed and crude for a modern MMO. Star Wars Galaxies skill system was infinitely better than this, and it actually showed you where you were heading and how to do it. And that game is 7 years old.
What does each level of skill even mean? +6, +8, +16... + What? What am i adding to my character and ship? What do these skills even do and how do they affect me? I feel like im just pumping up skills because it 'seems right'. You might as well have made this a level based system with such a basic and crude skill system in place.
Survival isn't an issue. I have an inter-galactic starship full of the federation's finest yet every time i let myself die i'm not punished or penalized. There is no death deturrent! I am in god-mode, i am Captain X flying the USS Invincible. How can i lose? Where is the basic rule of any game, there is always a victor and there is always a loser, in some shape or form, you must win and you must lose. The entire point of a game with rules and boundaries is to master that game to ensure you dont lose, that is where the fun comes in. A game isn't fun because 'thats what it is', a game is fun because of the journey you go through and the gratification of reaching the end with something to show for it.
Progression. Why am i levelling up in this game? Why should i do repeatable missions (of which there is an abundance from your very first level in the game - very shocking for a game that boasts great PvE content) when i have no incentive other than to gain the 'next ship'. I'm almost afraid to get that next ship, because then what? I must grind and bore myself through another 10 levels to get the next ship (which everyoen will have) for any sense of accomplishment or gratification.
PvP is a senseless arena match with no rules or boundaries to prevent griefing or smooth fair game-play. It is a matter of pitching your cookie-cutter ships vs their cookie-cutter ships of the same level range and hoping you don't get a 2vs1 scenario. It is a gank fest. It is not epic or RPG worthy, it is purely an arcade arena match where the best tactic is to fire off as much weaponry before you die.
Space is an instanced 20x20 map where there is nothing but you and 20 other AI ships (the only inhabitance), and guess what, those twenty other ships want you dead! Woops! Times are hard as an inter-galactic peace keeping federation.
To Boldy Go Where No-one Has Been Before (probably because it's so damn boring) consists of a 20x20 cookie-cutter environment where there are no natural life-forms, indigenous creatures, civilizations, or flora! Only mindless, knuckle-dragging space villains neatly packed into groups of 3-5 spread out evenly across the map who's sole purpose is (you guessed it), kill you! And guess what? In order to complete your mission, you must mindlessly kill every single one of them because they are conveniently stacked on top of your 'objective' item. Better get ready to mash those 1, 2 and 3 keys! Basic fire, special fire, punch. It gets agonizingly boring, after your 5th ground encounter you will dread the next, and the next, and the next - only to be rewarded with a few skill points. Not nearly enough for the 15 minutes of boredom you just endured massacring that entire Klingon battallion with your away team.
In conclusion (and future STO content). Yeah, all MMORPG's follow a basic formula when it comes to playing through the game. Stacks of mobs you must senselessly slaughter, quests that seem far-fetched, scenarios that are just silly and inevitably boring. But at least these guys try to dress it up a little, make it a little more fancy, a little more entertaining, and there is always something waiting to reward you at the end of it all. It's almost as if Cryptic believes we actually want to simply be ported into a 20x20 boxed off space every 10 minutes with 50+ mobs to slaughter so we can have great fun 'earning' some skill points. The environments are lifeless, the mobs have no character, the game has no soul. This has already dragged on, and i have barely touched upon many of the aspects of this game that completely let it and the franchise down (such as the lack of many true Star Trek features, overall immersion and the severe lack of a 'massive multiplayer' aspect in an extremely instanced world). I know some of you are hoping for future miracle content, but unfortunately, when the games super-structure is flawed and terribly out-dated from the start, no amount of 'new content' will make you any more interested than you were before. I truly feel sorry for the lifers (many of which are just hopeful Star Trek fans such as me who put their money on false promises).
I sincerely hope this is Cryptics last endeavor, although unfortunately, Cryptics quick thinking (to sell off Lifetime Subscriptions for a game that'll last you a week at best, pre-order bonuses with the promise of future new great 'content' and the false hope of a real Star Trek game), has suckered many'a poor souls hard earned money into funding Cryptics next quick-buck money making scheme (their next cheap, rushed MMO). All while they sh*t all over the industry and push it backwards and not forward as so many 'games makers' (businessmen) are doing these days, and its not just you Cryptic lets get that straight. Technology is constantly improving, yet games consistently deterierate - mind boggling.
Together money hungry publishers alongside developers have turned a wonderful, magical industry into nothing more than a dirty, money hungry whore - and thats exactly what this industry has become, metaphorically speaking. Developers who see nothing but $$$ signs without being willing to take risks and push the genre forward are quite frankly the cancer of the gaming industry, eating it up from the inside and spitting out the remains for players to chew on. And STO is a prime example.
[Mod Edit]
Comments
Don't you think once was enough with this?
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=96993
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Sorry to hear that. But really quite glad I dont feel the same way.
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The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.
I only last 20 mins consider I spent 10 mins screwing around with the settings lol.
Well said by the OP, intelligent and makes good points. I personally agree but I found this all out in beta and decided I wasnt going to buy. It is very boring and repetitive and lacks and real long term substance. It has 15 minutes of flare, mostly because its new then it quickly loses its luster.
I completely agree with the OP. I'm so glad I did the beta preorder and bailed before I wasted my money. I posted many of the same things in the "beta" forums for STO but I got flamed by the fanbois. "This is beta, give it a chance" was a common response, lol.
STO will struggle along because it's Star Trek, plain and simple. As an MMO it's just a complete waste of time and money. If they offer a free trial or you get a buddy key DEFINATELY go that route before purchasing.
A lot of text to read in oragne... better change color next time
About what's said there, it's all true... But OP seems to have forgotten something very important to mention:
STo is said to be an MMO. Aside from 1 mission that I did during OB, there was no need to party or team up with anyone. To me STo felt more like an on-line subscription game that I might as well play off-line in solo mode. The only MMO thing I found in STo was that one question "Where is Sulu?".
With that, the game is so heavily instanced (the thing that was mentioned) that it feels like we're back in the old days (half 90's) where we played single player games online with a co-op function (i.e. Baldur's gate as MMO or even Red Alert). What the hell were they thinking at Cryptic to make a game where you could "play online" with only 50 others in the current zone (this includes the whole sector of free-space you're in).
Eventhoufh I bought my pre-oder through D2D and D2D did not intent to refund and cancel my pre-order, as Eu citizen, I called upon my right to cancel any transaction on the internet. I turned to PayPal and asked them to cancel the payment, and they did as requested.
STo is an IP that could give an impressive MMO. But the way Cryptic has managed to kill a great IP is just sad
I agree with the OP, apart from the damn' stupid colour of the font. Why do people do that...
I don't understand, there was an open beta for like 3 weeks. Why did you buy the game lol? you couldn't find out during the open beta that you weren't going to play the game?
There's a smart consumer for you...
Maybe other people's monitors or eyes just cant handle the orange but i find it makes reading big bulks of text generally 'nicer'. Each to their own i suppose, sorry if it hurts anyones eyes.
Orange is not real friendly for the eyes... The green you used on top of the original STo-forum message is a lot nicer to read...
Yet.
Everyone has different preferences in game play, so perhaps you will continue to love STO for years to come. (People did the same for COX and I never understood them either).
OP seems pretty consistent with others that I've read, and the game is what it is, it either meets your expectations or it doesn't.
In the long run, I think more folks will end up on the disappointed side rather than pleased with the game as is.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
They partnered up with Atari and made Bill Roper one of chief executives...i mean for crying out loud , whats next ?
[Mod edit]
I don't understand why people do that in the post that STARTS a thread. I do understand using it to differentiate in replies, between the comment you're making and the parts you're responding too, BUT....having said that....I take issue either way when colors are chosen that are just plain hard on the EYES to read.
I couldn't read the OP because red on black, or even red-orange, over a large space....is seriously hard on the eyes. The only thing worse, imo....is bright blue on black. And to prove my point....I'll highlight my post here in bright royal blue. If you have to read an entire PAGE of this, same as with the red...your eyes will start throbbing if not bleeding. I've used several different colors now. Which is easier for you to read without feeling eye strain?
If you're going to highlight LONG lengths of a post....choose a pastel or something....geeeez....and OUCH.
Edit: Sorry...didn't realize how many people had already mentioned this. I apologize.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
What's next?
They get the Stargate IP.
I bet they have already done the concept art.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
The thing is, people need to find these things out on their own. I knew pretty quickly that the game wasn't for me, but I thought it might appeal to a lot of people who value different things in a game. It took another twenty hours of play to decide that the game is EMPHATICALLY not for me, and to come to the conclusion that it's only going to end up appealing to a small number of people. But why should they take my word for it?
We get a lot of "humanitarians" around here, trying to help people save their money. But nobody's fooled; you're just bitter you wasted yours.
Why would you repeat what the OP is saying, he clearly told us he's double posting
Don't worry about it... you're getting flamed for that because the trolls can't find anything else to flame you on.
Well Stated Op and I agree with everything you said. whenever any of these issues were brought up during beta the fanboy responce was this is Beta what do you expect. Well guess what its not beta any more. Things are not better now that the game has released but, let me guess this will all be fixed by subsequent emergency patches or in the first Pd Exansion.. "Star trek Online the Undiscovered Content of Fun"
Angry poster reposts angry thread. Enjoy whatever game you go onto next, I'll be enjoying STO.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
Ok, first off, I have subscribed STO and I am playing it, and I forsee having fun for a few months, and thats ok, knowing what I would get before I also feel not duped. After CO I did expect this casual short term entertainment.
That having said, I can, by and large, fully agree to the criticism of the OP, and I have to admit he is mostly right. STO is a relatively simple game, and like in CO and even more so here, Cryptic has little vision how to make skilling interesting. Indeed these skill boxes are a new low, quite un-sensual and you really have almost no knowledge what investing points does. It vaguely says "does more DMG with XYZ". And sorry thats just balderdash. People want exact numbers and detailled knowlede, not vague guesses, but in that CO skills were also a totall mess to understand.
When I get a new power in EQ2 or whatever, I know EXACTLY what dmg it does, and I can say YAY, because I know my Fireball II does 80 more dmg than my old Fireball I.
Same with the character classes. What is the detailled difference between Engeneer and Tactics? There is just a vague text and thats it. Nothing to really follow the progress of your character or your ship. You just vaguely feel it in playing, but thats just not enough. And yes, there is a total lack of a quest story-line, something coherent and WAY too many cookie cutter random quests. I am having fun for now, because I have some cool people in my guild and its ok for one run through and then be prolly done with it. For a Trekkie I still think it is worth a few months playing, as it was for CO, but I can understand the OP and find this critic spot on.
Cryptic has with both CO and STO made quite mediocre MMOs with minimal creativity. It thus stands in strong contrast to the vast creativity of money making, with dozens of different boxes, extra goodies here and there, collectors editions, super collector editions, super hyper SPECIAL collector editions and prolly a myriad of stuff to buy from CO shop. If only Cryptic was that creative with making MMOs as they are with milking it's customers from money, their MMOs would be a blast.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
All I had to do was read this...
"I have never, in my 7 year history of MMO gaming, been so bored so quickly in an MMORPG. And as a RP'er (someone who can usually make something out of nothing), big Star Trek fan and casual gamer, that is saying something. Its a sad day when i am actually having to force myself to log in.
The first day i logged in, i was having a blast! It was all new, it was Star Trek, it's a space MMO! But then i slowly started to get, well, bored."
IMHO the OP is 100% dead on...I could have wrote those exact words about this Game...I'm an MMO geek...SWG, Vanguard, EQII, LOTRO, and AoC...Even Beta tested Gods and Heroes...LOVED and I mean LOVED ALL those Games for at least the 1st 6 Months or so that I played them...I still play SWG and LOTRO...I'm not hard to please...lol
But this Game shocked Me at how little I wanted to Play almost immediately...After the 1st tutorial and the 1st few Missions I was bored stiff...It looks great (to me anyway), but that's about it...I think the OP put it much better than I ever could...But this Game basically did nothing for Me...And that is just weird...
That would be for the outstanding job he did on Hellgate: London.
STO was boring also for me. Also looks like a scam now with a cash shop to a game you sub to lmao.
SNIP
i'm not bored with the game i'll play it for 2 months then decide if i'll keep paying for it or quit and start look for a new MMO
I can't understand what is possibly good about this game.
there is ABSOLUTLY 0 risk vs reward, NO death penalty, NO loss at all to dyeing besides having to fly back, you lose NOTHING.
there is ABSOLUTLY 0 risk to PvP, 0 strategy, and worst of all NO POINT, there is no good vs evil, no control over space, no enemy battles. I mean think of the POTENTIAL that cryptic had with the STO lore, it's unbelievable that they did nothing interesting with pvp. i
there is ABSOLUTLY nothing innovating about the game.
I dont understand, is this really where MMO's have come? A type of game play where grouping is not only not needed, but actually more of a pain then simply flying solo. Everything is instanced. There is no risk to dyeing, you can change the look of your ship whenever you want, for whatever reason and 0 cost. there is absolutly 100% no point to the instanced, crappy pvp. And worst of all, as I said above, in a game with such lore, and possibility for pvp, they did NOTHING.
I tried the game for a few days in open beta and was baffled by why anyone would invest time in this game.