This reminds me of my friend who decided to make a video game without any programming, art or story knowledge what-so-ever. So determined he was to make the best RPG ever made with the most beautiful graphics that he spent an entire year working on it. Of course, being his friend, I decided to "Help" Him. So two people with no knowledge what-so-ever try to make a video game.
The end result? 1 Page on a notebook for a "Story" and a really annoyed Esther-Chan..
Of course, this is my same friend who is doing a training regiment based on Dragon ball Z. He is 25 years old and even tried to make a scouter using a RC Car..
This reminds me of my friend who decided to make a video game without any programming, art or story knowledge what-so-ever. So determined he was to make the best RPG ever made with the most beautiful graphics that he spent an entire year working on it. Of course, being his friend, I decided to "Help" Him. So two people with no knowledge what-so-ever try to make a video game.
The end result? 1 Page on a notebook for a "Story" and a really annoyed Esther-Chan..
Of course, this is my same friend who is doing a training regiment based on Dragon ball Z. He is 25 years old and even tried to make a scouter using a RC Car..
lol - any idiot in the world can make a video game as long as the know the secret word. Money... Hey... look at the moron that created Age of Conan and spent some 100 million in it. 80 lvls of no progression - Items having close to zero effect.
Its easy to be a genious on forums. OFC its harder to do things but many of the ppl talking here are actually refering to things they have already seen in older StarTrek games. Hell... Belive you me... I would trust 90% of the MMO gamers more for creating a good MMO game - than I would trust 90% of the companies that are releasing MMOs right now.
Star Trek is NOT a tank - healing - Dmg content.. Yet Cryptic manages to actually turn STO into NOTHING else. And the sad part is that its the ships that are tanking - healing and doing dmg. Well... and respawning every 10 sec after they get destroyed cause thats what Star Trek is all about....
Interesting. I can understand people who look back fondly on PRE-NGE SWG because they actually HAD a game that was yanked out from under them. But I'll never understand the love for Perpetual's "vision."
Regardless of whether or not you (people in general) like what Cryptic did with STO, you can't say that you were hoodwinked or promised something that didn't happen. They came right out and said that the game wouldn't have interiors and that the game was being set in a time of war. All of this was controversial and people were angry about it. But they didn't sugar coat it or hide these facts. It was very obvious from following the interviews what this game was going to be like. Perpetual basically wasted four years with grand promises and nothing to show for it. Cryptic did what Perpetual couldn't do in half the time.
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
I have to admit I'm not the LotR fanboi as I am with Trek, but IMO LotRO does a far better job of capturing Middle Earth than STO does Trek.
Absolutely, you can see that Turbine put in alot of work doing LOTRO and in contrast you can see that STO is something rushed out the door to make a quick buck.
That being said I, as a Tolkien fan, dont think LOTRO does the magnificent Tolkien lore justice but that just shows how high expectations are when using one of those HUGE IPs. However that is not an excuse for creating something mediocre/subpar and lets face it, that is what STO is.
One full faction
One half faction
Tiny world
Weak crafting
Gameplay 99% combat
Pointless PvP (even LOTRO monster play is more persistant and meaningful than this)
Why arent Romulans a playable faction?
Cardassians?
Why no RvR type PvP between the factions?
Why cant I freely explore the universe but instead boxed into small instances which I can fly from one end to the other in 2 mins?
Why no intricate diplomacy? I thought that was one of the core components of Star Trek (actually I dont think, I know it is).
Why no full vertical movement and I have to "corkscrew" myself up and down?
Why cant I land on Vulcan and explore it? And no, that tiny instance is not a good representation of Vulcan.
There are so many short comings in this game that it is an embarrasment to call this game Star Trek Online. Star Combat Online would be a more fitting name.
Having recently purchased a copy of the game..I'll just say that its a very casual experience. I believe that Cryptic seriously miscalculated regarding what fans of the franchise wanted in an MMO. It's a shame that the Star Trek IP fell into their hands.
"Heatwave also obtained rights to the proprietary engine that Perpetual developed to run both Gods and Heroes as well as their own version of Star Trek Online."
Having recently purchased a copy of the game..I'll just say that its a very casual experience. I believe that Cryptic seriously miscalculated regarding what fans of the franchise wanted in an MMO. It's a shame that the Star Trek IP fell into their hands.
"Heatwave also obtained rights to the proprietary engine that Perpetual developed to run both Gods and Heroes as well as their own version of Star Trek Online."
No, that's just the game engine, not the rights to make anything with the Star Trek IP. Those were transferred to Cryptic.
"Heatwave also obtained rights to the proprietary engine that Perpetual developed to run both Gods and Heroes as well as their own version of Star Trek Online."
Yeah, that quote doesn't say what you think it says. It says that Heatwave has obtained rights to the Perpetual engine, and that the Perpetual engine was once used to develop Perpetual's version of Star Trek Online, which you should know by now no longer exists.
It does NOT say that Heatwave will be picking up Perpetual's version of STO where they left off. People who understand how IP rights work know that there will not be another Star Trek MMO until Atari/Cryptic's version is gone. And whatever you think of Cryptic's game, it's lot likely that STO will be closing shop anytime soon.
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
False choice between mediocracy and fantasy.
You really dont see something inbetween?
I don't see OP's/Perpetual's STO as EXISTING, let alone being something in between. Thus it's not about false choice, it's about their not being a choice. You can't choose between Cryptic STO and Perpetual STO/OP STO because only one such entity exists. If Perpetual could have made the game that they described, they would have.
Could someone else have made a better online game out of trek than Cryptic? Sure. There are alot of design decisions that I don't like about STO: namely, about all of them not pertaining to space combat and ship/toon customization. But I don't kid myself into thinking someone could create a mission in an MMO that could give an episodic experience like "Q Who", "Booby Trap", or "The Carbomite Manuever", for example. MMO games cannot keep secrets, so what's left of Trek is story and combat. Cryptic does a decent job of the former in episode missions, and pretty well in the latter, very well if you take ground missions out of the equation.
Personally, I think trek is better suited for single player games, yet there are so very few of THOSE that are decent. I think I've seen maybe 2 decent trek games in 20 years.
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
I have to admit I'm not the LotR fanboi as I am with Trek, but IMO LotRO does a far better job of capturing Middle Earth than STO does Trek.
I agree, though you'd likely find MEO worshippers who wouldn't.
That's the advantage of having an IP in which much of the RPG gaming genre is based. LotR is largely what brought us PnP DnD, which is where video RPG's came from, which is where MMO's came from. It went full circle. And... Turbine is a more competent company than Cryptic. But in short, the MMO genre lends itself far better to LotR than trek, yet even it has to be far more combat based than the IP.
With Trek though, it was never a good fit for the MMO genre. The two mesh together about as well as "Michelle Kwan: Porn on Ice" would. No matter what MMO developer took the helm, I have little doubt that:
1. Each person would still have their own ship. There would be no meaningful multiplayer crew gameplay.
2. It would still be at least 60% combat.
3. Dialogue would still mostly be linear.
4. Most planetary areas would be small, and would have a minimum of free area to explore for the sake of exploration itself.
I wonder how many people who are unhappy with STO, could be happy with a better designed game that still had the above limitations.
stupid post. if you don't like the direction of MMOs do something about it yourself. There are universities out there now that focus on video game development.
As i understand it most people dont all want to be picard.janeway etc but be like someone in the series.
I think it would be cool to just run a bar in a space station and meet people from around the universe.
I think STO should have careers and the players can then choose for their own if they want a combat career or not.(maybe both)
That doesnt mean you will never fight because you never knows what will happen.(station control can change etc/fights etc)
Most things dont even need to be scripted, the klingons could decide to claim and take over a station and the whole game would change for the people who live there(if they didnt escaped) taht would be exiting and totally different then the same missions over and over.
You should actually live in the game.
Old SWG had alot of proffesions and something similar to that STO is missing.
As i understand it most people dont all want to be picard.janeway etc but be like someone in the series. I think it would be cool to just run a bar in a space station and meet people from around the universe. I think STO should have careers and the players can then choose for their own if they want a combat career or not.(maybe both) That doesnt mean you will never fight because you never knows what will happen.(station control can change etc/fights etc) Most things dont even need to be scripted, the klingons could decide to claim and take over a station and the whole game would change for the people who live there(if they didnt escaped) taht would be exiting and totally different then the same missions over and over. You should actually live in the game.
Old SWG had alot of proffesions and something similar to that STO is missing.
I agree on that part. It would be similiar to what happend on DS9 during the early arc to Season 6. I loved those episodes because you got to see life on the station from the enemy perspective. Some playable factions like Ferengi and the Orions would be really cool.
I personally believe that Cryptic didn't care who they targeted.. They agreed with Atari to have the game ready in the required 2 year window that Atari laid out.. Cryptic took the path of least resistance and chose the quickest route in reaching the 2 year window.. even if it meant leaving out Klingon PvE content, reducing the max level to 45.. etc etc etc.. This game IMO is a perfect example that if you are going to rush a job, don't be surprised if it turns out 1/2 arsed..
Very true. Though given Champions is the same shallow and half complete kind of game I really doubt it has anything to do with Atari so much as it is just how Cryptic has decided to do things. They are making happy meals, not steak dinners - period.
Comments
This reminds me of my friend who decided to make a video game without any programming, art or story knowledge what-so-ever. So determined he was to make the best RPG ever made with the most beautiful graphics that he spent an entire year working on it. Of course, being his friend, I decided to "Help" Him. So two people with no knowledge what-so-ever try to make a video game.
The end result? 1 Page on a notebook for a "Story" and a really annoyed Esther-Chan..
Of course, this is my same friend who is doing a training regiment based on Dragon ball Z. He is 25 years old and even tried to make a scouter using a RC Car..
lol - any idiot in the world can make a video game as long as the know the secret word. Money... Hey... look at the moron that created Age of Conan and spent some 100 million in it. 80 lvls of no progression - Items having close to zero effect.
Its easy to be a genious on forums. OFC its harder to do things but many of the ppl talking here are actually refering to things they have already seen in older StarTrek games. Hell... Belive you me... I would trust 90% of the MMO gamers more for creating a good MMO game - than I would trust 90% of the companies that are releasing MMOs right now.
Star Trek is NOT a tank - healing - Dmg content.. Yet Cryptic manages to actually turn STO into NOTHING else. And the sad part is that its the ships that are tanking - healing and doing dmg. Well... and respawning every 10 sec after they get destroyed cause thats what Star Trek is all about....
Interesting. I can understand people who look back fondly on PRE-NGE SWG because they actually HAD a game that was yanked out from under them. But I'll never understand the love for Perpetual's "vision."
Regardless of whether or not you (people in general) like what Cryptic did with STO, you can't say that you were hoodwinked or promised something that didn't happen. They came right out and said that the game wouldn't have interiors and that the game was being set in a time of war. All of this was controversial and people were angry about it. But they didn't sugar coat it or hide these facts. It was very obvious from following the interviews what this game was going to be like. Perpetual basically wasted four years with grand promises and nothing to show for it. Cryptic did what Perpetual couldn't do in half the time.
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
False choice between mediocracy and fantasy.
You really dont see something inbetween?
My gaming blog
I have to admit I'm not the LotR fanboi as I am with Trek, but IMO LotRO does a far better job of capturing Middle Earth than STO does Trek.
Absolutely, you can see that Turbine put in alot of work doing LOTRO and in contrast you can see that STO is something rushed out the door to make a quick buck.
That being said I, as a Tolkien fan, dont think LOTRO does the magnificent Tolkien lore justice but that just shows how high expectations are when using one of those HUGE IPs. However that is not an excuse for creating something mediocre/subpar and lets face it, that is what STO is.
One full faction
One half faction
Tiny world
Weak crafting
Gameplay 99% combat
Pointless PvP (even LOTRO monster play is more persistant and meaningful than this)
Why arent Romulans a playable faction?
Cardassians?
Why no RvR type PvP between the factions?
Why cant I freely explore the universe but instead boxed into small instances which I can fly from one end to the other in 2 mins?
Why no intricate diplomacy? I thought that was one of the core components of Star Trek (actually I dont think, I know it is).
Why no full vertical movement and I have to "corkscrew" myself up and down?
Why cant I land on Vulcan and explore it? And no, that tiny instance is not a good representation of Vulcan.
There are so many short comings in this game that it is an embarrasment to call this game Star Trek Online. Star Combat Online would be a more fitting name.
My gaming blog
Not totally after reading this.
http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/16278/Gods-and-Heroes-Gods-Heroes-Reborn.html
Look at the bottom
"Heatwave also obtained rights to the proprietary engine that Perpetual developed to run both Gods and Heroes as well as their own version of Star Trek Online."
Not totally after reading this.
http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/16278/Gods-and-Heroes-Gods-Heroes-Reborn.html
Look at the bottom
"Heatwave also obtained rights to the proprietary engine that Perpetual developed to run both Gods and Heroes as well as their own version of Star Trek Online."
No, that's just the game engine, not the rights to make anything with the Star Trek IP. Those were transferred to Cryptic.
Yeah, that quote doesn't say what you think it says. It says that Heatwave has obtained rights to the Perpetual engine, and that the Perpetual engine was once used to develop Perpetual's version of Star Trek Online, which you should know by now no longer exists.
It does NOT say that Heatwave will be picking up Perpetual's version of STO where they left off. People who understand how IP rights work know that there will not be another Star Trek MMO until Atari/Cryptic's version is gone. And whatever you think of Cryptic's game, it's lot likely that STO will be closing shop anytime soon.
An anticipated game is always more fun in your head than it is, realized, and definitely far more possible. People do the exact same thing regarding Middle Earth Online and LotRO. People lament the "empty shell" that is LotRO in comparison to MEO, a game that never existed.
That said, I'm going to buy the rights to the next Star Trek MMO, claim that the box will be 14.99 new with a free month, and for free we'll throw in a fully functional captains chair that runs on solar power and wirelessly connects to your computer. Voice chat will also be available via a toggle switch(ala TOS), and all NPC's in the game will respond to any of 45 billion possible voice commands. Also, you'll get to see Troi naked.
Then I'll go out of business before writing a single line of code, and sift through these boards basking in the lamentations over the loss of the awesomest game there ever was(n't).
False choice between mediocracy and fantasy.
You really dont see something inbetween?
I don't see OP's/Perpetual's STO as EXISTING, let alone being something in between. Thus it's not about false choice, it's about their not being a choice. You can't choose between Cryptic STO and Perpetual STO/OP STO because only one such entity exists. If Perpetual could have made the game that they described, they would have.
Could someone else have made a better online game out of trek than Cryptic? Sure. There are alot of design decisions that I don't like about STO: namely, about all of them not pertaining to space combat and ship/toon customization. But I don't kid myself into thinking someone could create a mission in an MMO that could give an episodic experience like "Q Who", "Booby Trap", or "The Carbomite Manuever", for example. MMO games cannot keep secrets, so what's left of Trek is story and combat. Cryptic does a decent job of the former in episode missions, and pretty well in the latter, very well if you take ground missions out of the equation.
Personally, I think trek is better suited for single player games, yet there are so very few of THOSE that are decent. I think I've seen maybe 2 decent trek games in 20 years.
I have to admit I'm not the LotR fanboi as I am with Trek, but IMO LotRO does a far better job of capturing Middle Earth than STO does Trek.
I agree, though you'd likely find MEO worshippers who wouldn't.
That's the advantage of having an IP in which much of the RPG gaming genre is based. LotR is largely what brought us PnP DnD, which is where video RPG's came from, which is where MMO's came from. It went full circle. And... Turbine is a more competent company than Cryptic. But in short, the MMO genre lends itself far better to LotR than trek, yet even it has to be far more combat based than the IP.
With Trek though, it was never a good fit for the MMO genre. The two mesh together about as well as "Michelle Kwan: Porn on Ice" would. No matter what MMO developer took the helm, I have little doubt that:
1. Each person would still have their own ship. There would be no meaningful multiplayer crew gameplay.
2. It would still be at least 60% combat.
3. Dialogue would still mostly be linear.
4. Most planetary areas would be small, and would have a minimum of free area to explore for the sake of exploration itself.
I wonder how many people who are unhappy with STO, could be happy with a better designed game that still had the above limitations.
stupid post. if you don't like the direction of MMOs do something about it yourself. There are universities out there now that focus on video game development.
As i understand it most people dont all want to be picard.janeway etc but be like someone in the series.
I think it would be cool to just run a bar in a space station and meet people from around the universe.
I think STO should have careers and the players can then choose for their own if they want a combat career or not.(maybe both)
That doesnt mean you will never fight because you never knows what will happen.(station control can change etc/fights etc)
Most things dont even need to be scripted, the klingons could decide to claim and take over a station and the whole game would change for the people who live there(if they didnt escaped) taht would be exiting and totally different then the same missions over and over.
You should actually live in the game.
Old SWG had alot of proffesions and something similar to that STO is missing.
I agree on that part. It would be similiar to what happend on DS9 during the early arc to Season 6. I loved those episodes because you got to see life on the station from the enemy perspective. Some playable factions like Ferengi and the Orions would be really cool.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Very true. Though given Champions is the same shallow and half complete kind of game I really doubt it has anything to do with Atari so much as it is just how Cryptic has decided to do things. They are making happy meals, not steak dinners - period.
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