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The First Few Hours
iank240
Member Posts: 170
Well I bought the game on Steam here in the UK, more due to curiousity then anything.
I did not realise the game is set straight after the last film.
When I logged in the character creation was interesting. You could spend hours playing about creating characters like any other Cryptic game. The starter area seemed a bit laggy to me or my graphics were set automatically too high.
This game does not like AVG Anti Virus running in the background. The first few missions got me instancing with some people. No one hardly chats but I assume everyone is in the same boat learning the controls.
I am trying to figure out how to go to requsition and select the new candidates I have bought. The help menu says click I for inventory and its there. I dont see it, just replicator in the bottom right hand corner. If anyone can tell me how, would be greatly appreicated.
The pace of the game in the beginning is good, a solid start for any Star Trek fan. I have done around 9 solid missions and I am logging back in for the second day. Lots to learn, I have not got my head round the ship building/changing and raising "ship?" credits yet but will come in time.
Comments
I would genuinely interested if you kept posting to this thread to see how your experience changed. I played the beta and was not impressed but it would be good to read someones journey in this game.
THE SECRET WORLD - PAY ONCE PLAY FOREVER - Give it a go!
http://www.thesecretworld.com/buy/
OR PM ME FOR A BUDDY KEY (need your email address).
When you open Character sheet and select your ship, switch to Assigmnets tab. Here you can assign roles to your Bridge Officers and make candidates to join your team.
I guess this is what you asked.
Ships, as well as all equippment is restricted to your rank. Rank is achieved by spending certain amount of Skill Points in your captain skills. Skills are separated into several sphears:
Starfleet Training
Those can be dived into skills:
1) affecting your ship
2) affecting your away team
Officer Skills
Those affect you directly in ground combat performance
Starship Weapon/Engineering/Operations
Those skills affect your bridge officers skills(not sure about your own)
You can gain skill point by completeing missions or from killing things alone.
The game offers a lot of customization how to use your ship along with different bridge officer you can train and learn new skills. Those officers further can be used on ships where each ship type use different bridge and console slots.
That makes lot of combinations how to fit your ship and makes space combat very variable.
The ships can be obtained for 1 Credit with each rank you gain or you can purachse any ship your rank allows you to fly, you will have to pay some extra though.
The game uses different currency types - credits, merits and badges. You can buy 'common' equippment for credits, merits are for purchasing bridge officers and badges come in various grades and are used to obtain rare in equippment from specific vendors.
I hope it helps and answered some of yor questions :
Thanks Gdemami
Will keep you posted.
The lag started friday night when EU was opened up. They are already planning on increasing capacity so that should go away soon. Also, I don't know why AVG is having a problem with the game as I run AVG with no problems while playing the game with all settings set to max.
I think I found the problem with AVG. Resident shield running and a scan at the same time. Basically, use error
My friend (who kept it quiet he was playing) and I met up in game. I am now level 6, he is level 10. The skill system is different in a way. Oh yeah, on your character, remember you can scroll down for extra skills
Did a few more missions, every instance I was in i grouped up with random people which were all helpful and just wanted to play. None of this screwing around "I want all the loot". Sorted out my officers so I have a nice blend of science, engineering and tactical. Starbase 24 was really good. I went through the mission set three times to complete just for fun.
There is a load of small buttons around your in your menu/UI which is useful to holster weapons, bring up skill list, etc
My favourite part at the moment is the ground assaults. Setting up your away team in one area and flanking your opposition with photon grenades, my cup of tea
Not that I dont enjoy flying around..... The map and moving between systems is a nice touch.
Was interesting to read another players first impressions. I find the game appears simple, but to truly get the hang of it, there is some hidden complexities that people just don't see without diving further into the game, like efficiant weapon set ups, along with ship configurations. There's so many ways to do what you want, its interesting.
Longing for Skyrim, The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3
I think the reason people don`t talk, during battle, is due to lack of an "auto fire" option.
Hard to type, and spam spacebar/hit 1,2,3/click fireall button, while also WASD ing in circles round your target(s)
Played WOW (5 years), AOC, AO, EQ2,AC2, Horizons, Saga of Ryzom, SWG, CO, STO(Beta),ROM, Allods, and many other F2P titles. Asl been in beta for many of the main titles and played countless SP games. I have been gaming for 15+ years!
True, adds to the manic fire phaser while pointing your ship in the direction with the highest shield active.
Then point forward to fire photons while your ship's front shield is still up.
After the 1st few Hours I was LOVING this Game!!! It was like "OH!!! Shiny!!!!"
After a few more days I was forcing myself to Log in...After that I was out...
Some helpful advice, right click the weapon icon, be it, phasers, disruptors, photons, quantoms, mines whatever, it all works. If you do it right the icon will appear with a green edge. Congratulations, you've found auto fire.
Not sure about using that on the ground though.
Longing for Skyrim, The Old Republic and Mass Effect 3
Some helpful advice, right click the weapon icon, be it, phasers, disruptors, photons, quantoms, mines whatever, it all works. If you do it right the icon will appear with a green edge. Congratulations, you've found auto fire.
Not sure about using that on the ground though.
Worked for me thanks.
Beamed on to my mates' bridge. Interesting place... for a mothers meeting lol
Done a few more missions, I still wish for more ground assaults. I been clearing up a load of missions patrolling omar/kisa, etc, etc space. Good fun. I just want to upgrade my ship!! Might try a klingon character now for kicks.
I always hate "few hour" reviews. This is an MMO that people pay monthly for not a free facebook game. I certainly dont care if someone likes a game for there first couple of hours. I want to know if the game has any lasting appeal. And after beta i knew STO was certainly not that game. How do other people feel? does anyone else think these reviews are completly useless?
Currently Playing: Fallen Earth
Played and liked: TCOS, Vanguard, Guild Wars, DDO
Played and didn't like: CO, MO, STO, DF, AoC, WAR, WoW, EQ2, EVE, most f2p
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, Secret World
You can't really give a truthful review of an MMO until you have given it at least the first 30days. I am enjoying STO so far and I have been playing since OB. There is alot of stuff to do, I just don't think alot of people are taking the time to find it. Alot of these "I am bored" reviews seem to only mention a tiny portion of the game (like the grindy patrol/defend/exploration missions) and don't really give any assesment on what they though about the episodic mission, Competative PvE or Fleet Engagement stuff. Of course, I was bored to tears with WoW after only a coupld of weeks...so to each their own I suppose.
Who gives a shit? If you don't like reading reviews from people who have only played for a short period of time, don't click on links that say, "The First Few Hours". The OP was probably excited about the game and wanted to express it through the forums here.
Just the part about Romulus being destroyed; the rest of the movie doesn't apply to STO (or vice versa). I would also like to request that you continue to post on how you feel about the game as time goes on, as someone earlier asked; I'm curious to see if the new shiney ST feeling wears off for you as it did me.
*edit* Actually, if I remember the Path to 2409 series correctly, the game takes place about 27 years after Romulus was destroyed.
"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
Actually, that's not true (having to play it 30 days before you know the game); if a game fails to capture you fairly early on and keep you wanting to play it, then you shouldn't have to force yourself to keep playing for a month before you know the game. At best, the game is just not for you; at worst, it's a shoddy piece of work. Either way people should be able to form a reasonable conclusion fairly early after launch. As to the other issues you raised, I'll give you my opinions on them:
Episodic content: Mainly the only missions that had any uniqueness to them; I liked the Mirel Paris one, as it was a neat way to tie her (and by extension her parents) into the game. The Species 8472/Undine (hate that name for some reason) epsiodes I didn't care for so much. It wasn't that the missions were bad, it's just that I felt it was kind of a cut and paste job; basically it seemed like they took what the Founders were doing during the DS9 series and stuck Species 8472 in their place. It's probably just a personal preference, but it just didn't make much sense to me why they would be working so hard to destabilize governments in the Alpha Quadrant.
Competitive PvE: It didn't really exist during most of the beta (did it even make it in before beta ended?), so I can't really comment on that. It sounded interesting, but I'm not sure how well they would have implemented it; like most things, I'm guessing it would probably be needing a lot more work before it was ready.
Fleet Engagements: They're ok, but need more work; some due to bugs like warping into a Fleet Engagement instance while the reset timer is going, and repeatedly getting killed by a huge fleet of NPC ships. Other problems go to the core of how the system works; for example, ships that can't pump out the DPS are pretty much screwed on getting loot at the end. Going hand-in-hand with that is the fact that ship that try to play their roles (tank, support) end up getting penalized. Additionally, there's really no need to tank or support in Fleet Actions, or pretty much any other aspect of the game either. This has been an issue that has been discussed and brought to Cryptic's attention since the start of closed beta.
"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 dont know much about the time line. I know I am still compelled to read every mission to find out what is going on and piece together the plot lines. Much like I did with EVE, LOTRO and WoW.
I played for a bit this morning but wont be logging in tonight. I am still level 6 at the moment but am having help from a level11 in a constitution class ship. You do need to have people around you in the instance to do NPC fleet destroy missions. It can become very challenging. I do have an ability to recharge ships' shields. Very useful with "Evasive Maneouvres" to get out, recharge and then get back in the fight.
I want more ground assault missions!!
I am finding the skill system different which is a plus in my book. At low level (much like any game), I dont have that many abilities and I am learning the correct skill paths to match my style of play. I hear at level 10, skill sets get more interesting.
Except... he isn't giving a review at all.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
Actually, you shouldn't need help to complete one on your own unless you get into one where the ships are several levels above you. Just look for groups of three Birds of Prey (or whatever frigate type you are facing), groups of fighters/shuttles by themselves, and the occasional lone T2 ship. Make sure to upgrade your equipment (start with weapons first) to Mk II variants which can be purchased from the NPC vendor in the Sol spacestation (in the ship customization area). You should then have no problem handling ships in the appropriate levelled fleet actions.
After you level up to Lt. Commander and get your T2 ship, you may wish to start looking at doing PvP missions; not only will that give you ideas on weapons loadouts, but the everybody wins nature of PvP in STO means you will always get points to use to purchase better than average Mk IV weapons. Those merchants can be found by going to Sol spacestation's ship customization area, and then go up the stairs and through the door above the lower level's counter. Before doing PvP, make sure to go to starbase 39 in the Romulan/Federation area; you can pick up Mk III equipment from the vendors there (your T2 ship uses Mk III or Mk IV components). Personally, I found ground PvP to be the fastest way to earn points for equipment; if you go that route, make sure to get the highest level shields, body armor, and weapon you can get from the general equipment vendors; I suggest a phaser sniper rifle (Mk II for Lt., Mk III for Lt. Commander (unless a better one drops for you).
Alternatively, you can do the exploration missions and get equipment by spending exploration points as I understand it. If you go that route, I still suggest upgrading to the highest level ship components you can purchase from the general component vendors (Mk II for Lt., Mk III for Lt. Commander), and then upgrade to the special Mk IV equipment as you can afford them; I think you will find you have a far easier time handling most opponents in any mission type once you do that.
As a final bit of advice always remember that if you are alone and severely outgunned in a fleet action, you can always change instances; you get experience for completing the mission, not killing enemies (except for the point or two of Bridge Officer skill points), so you can join an instance, have the last group of enemies destroyed after you get going, and still get credit for the fleet action.
"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
Thank you Dinendae,
You are a scholar and a gentleman
Logged on last night and decided to spend some time in the exchange.
My ship is in need of some major upgrades. The auction system is not great. You can view 100 items at once but there is no way to change to "cheapest first" or sort by name. I spent a lot of time working out what I needed, writing it down and then typing in the full name to find the cheapest.
If there is a better way, please someone tell me?
So everything on my ship is now "uncommon" loot, mk II. Went out to Starbase 24 and killed some klingons. Finally my DPS was a lot better. The photon mines with tactical console upgrade is very useful.
I dont know how to craft so my bank is filling up with stuff I dont know what do with at the moment.
wrong.
"Originally posted by iank240
Thank you Dinendae,
You are a scholar and a gentleman
"
You're welcome! The game lacks good solid info, and can leave you floundering about; what I posted were things that I picked up on my own during closed and open beta.
I would stay off the exchange unless you are finding some really great prices; most of the prices I saw were way overinflated, as is usual for most MMOs. Generally you are better off just getting the special T4 gear from PvP or Exploration, plus the good mission rewards you start getting in the Lt. Commander levels (although there are some decent Lt. shields available from missions early on).
For crafting, you need to go to Memory Alpha (people in the game can tell you the sector and system) and take as much of the crafting resources as you can get on your ship; talk to the lady in the main room and you will see a 'store' option with upgrades available. To craft, choose one of those options and keep upgrading; eventually you will have done it enough time to unlock the next tier of upgrades. Unfortunately the game doesn't tell you how many you still have to do before you can unlock one of the other NPCs.
I never really cared for mines too much; during open beta I managed to get a dual heavy phaser cannon Mk II and a Mk II phaser turret. I used both of those with a Mk II photon launcher on my Miranda, and had absolutely no problems facing anything. Just keep your speed slow as you approach enemies (no more than 1/4 impulse) and you should be able to tear through their shields appart. Once I got my T2 ship, I was still able to use the Mk II cannons and turret for quite awhile. If you can find those as drops, or find them cheap enough on the exchange, try them out; you can use the turret and mines both on the rear section of your T2 ship.
*edit* Corrected it to say dual heavy phaser cannon Mk II, not dual heavy photon cannon Mk II. Although, a dual heavy photon cannon Mk II sounds pretty sweet!
"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 find the Exchange very profitable. Its just a matter of being patient (and lucky). As for searching, limit your search terms to what you specifically want, like "mk IV" or "personal shield mk IV". Also, since many players are still deciding whether they will play after their trial is over, you may find some great deals. Some nice players will dump their items on the exchange for next to nothing if they're not coming back.
If you like tribbles, pay no more than 1 credit (or just wait and you'll find them on your own). And despite your instincts to provide for your furball, do not leave it alone with any food. You have been warned.
I warped out to Memory Alpha, and completed the scientific mandate mission.
I personally believe that this mission should not be available till level 5. I had to get use to the map system and I did not know where Memory Alpha was. The quest information confused me to begin with.
Now level 7 and back to the weekend to spend some quality time playing.
Much like many other MMOS, the rush from now till level 10 is on. At level 10 I have been told new ship options open up and the missions are cranked up a notch.
We shall see.....