Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Star Trek Online
-
I'll try to avoid turning this thread into my own MMO Blog, but I'm playing Star Trek Online, and I'm having a lot of fun. My only other MMO was City of Heroes back in the day, which was also by Cryptic, and this has a similar feel. Now that WoW has basically won the fantasy MMO game, the big sci-fi contenders seems like they're just starting to pop up. STO is better than CoH, both in terms of gameplay depth and variety of activities. This is not a World of Starcraft-- Cryptic has clearly played to its own strengths rather than attempt to cast a wide net that ensnares too few. It was also undeniably rushed, with an amazingly short dev cycle. The beta was really pretty roughshod, but they seem to be fixing things up pretty well, and there's enough content to keep me amused. Figuring out how the abilities will work together in PvP and the endgame is still an open question, so it doesn't feel like everything is played out. My favorite missions so far are the bigger fleet actions (from Warhammer Online, I'm told), where a 20 on 20 PvE encounters get pretty frenzied. Missions are generally organized as "episodes," where you follow a series of tasks and a story that might take place on an episode of Star Trek you'd see on old reruns (minus firing a plot device beam at an anomaly). There's quite a bit of combat, but the game manages to throw some interesting variation: investigate a traitor by following a trail left in a broken replicator, find out what happened to a crashed ship by scanning wreckage, or disable a ship's shields, then beam over with a team of your hand-picked NPC officers, and fight your way to the bridge. In some ways, I was reminded of an MMO Star Trek version of Republic Commando scenes, where my NPCs were crouched in a semicircle, covering me with phase rifles and grenades, while I frantically try to disable subsystems to try and break into the bridge. I'm a big Trek nerd, so when I can actually divert emergency power to the main deflector and punch a hole through a battlecruiser's shields so my group members can shoot high yield quantum torpedoes into it, that's pretty cool.
Spoiler:http://fryingoverajungle.net/stupidcrap/STO/screenshot_2010-02-06-20-53-38.jpg -
Dude go ahead. If you aren't playing an MMO for the experience then I don't know why you're playing. Sounds pretty fun for star trek fans.
-
Since this is what really matters to me in an MMO, I'd like to ask how the economics of the game is set up (i.e. mostly the system for trading between players).
-
Having a blast with the game. I know this is a cross-thread response, Spankminister, but keep an eye out for Thomas@NthDegree256 .
I keep discovering new and interesting things I can pull off in this game. Using Scramble Sensors in the beta to trick enemy ships into blasting each other was hilarious, but flying ahead of the rest of the group and kicking on Emergency Power to Shields and Jam Sensors to weather the hail of disruptor fire and torpedos so that my team members don't have to bear the brunt of it is great too, and my new favorite trick involves using Tractor Beam to pin a hapless enemy in place next to a ship about to go critical.
I saw the question posed at one point, "If this game didn't have the Star Trek license, is it good enough that you would still play it?" It's a fun game, and while I'm not certain I would, that's a moot point, because it does have the license, which contextualizes a lot of things very well. All of the things that would seem odd otherwise ("Why can't I pivot my ship more than 45 degrees up or down?" "Why am I diving and rolling around in the middle of a energy beam firefight and taking two-handed-fist swings at lizard men?") suddenly fit in perfectly and become an addition to the experience rather than detracting from it. And when I'm flying between two K'Tinga battleships, dishing out phaser fire while a dozen other orange and green lances of energy fill the sky with shimmering shields and fiery explosions, cursing at the screen because our shields are failing, damnit, I need that emergency power NOW, lieutenant, and locking on to a ship on my tail to fire aft torpedos before that Bird of Prey can cloak and skulk off somewhere else, well... I wouldn't rather do anything else.
Spoiler:http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/NthDegree256/Star%20Trek%20Online/screenshot_2010-01-30-02-27-59.jpg
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/NthDegree256/Star%20Trek%20Online/screenshot_2010-02-07-13-17-06.jpg -
[quote="lackofcheese"]Since this is what really matters to me in an MMO, I'd like to ask how the economics of the game is set up (i.e. mostly the system for trading between players).
It's fairly generic. I wouldn't be surprised if it sees improvement down the line, but right now I can really just rattle off a list of applicable keywords:
[list][*] Random drops (including greens, blues, and possibly even purples).[/*:m]
[*] Auction house (The Exchange, although I think there's no bidding, you just name a price and someone can pay it.)[/*:m]
[*] Bind-on-equip[/*:m][/list:u]
Bridge officers are also exchangeable, I believe, although I haven't tried it specifically.
You can open a standard "trading" window with other players to hand each other items, I presume money can be exchanged in this fashion as well. There's also a small store available whenever you're on your ship (the replicator) that lets you buy cheap basic ground items like med hypos and out-of-combat heals (a wide variety of food items that also may have an influence on the Tribble breeding minigame - I like to stock up on Earl Grey Tea), and lets you sell loot for a mildly reduced price without having to warp back to Starbase and locate a vendor.
There's a few different kinds of currency; Energy Credits are the main kind, but there's also Starfleet Merits that are used to acquire and promote bridge officers, and certain missions award badges that can be redeemed for equipment at certain vendors.
There's also a sort of "crafting" system in place where you can collect "anomaly" readings while on other missions and take them to an NPC to upgrade certain items.
On an unrelated note, I may or may not have built my Klingon faction character to be as much like a Narn from Babylon 5 as possible.
Spoiler:Yeah, I totally did.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t244/NthDegree256/Star%20Trek%20Online/screenshot_2010-02-08-00-30-48.jpg -
[quote="NthDegree256"]Auction house (The Exchange, although I think there's no bidding, you just name a price and someone can pay it.)Can you place buy orders?
-
That is a damn fine Narn, now I must make Lorien
-
[quote="NthDegree256"]Having a blast with the game. I know this is a cross-thread response, Spankminister, but keep an eye out for Thomas@NthDegree256 .
Sweet! For anyone else playing who didn't see the other thread, I'm T'Pau@spankminister.my new favorite trick involves using Tractor Beam to pin a hapless enemy in place next to a ship about to go critical.
I'm not set up now for tractor beams, but when I found out about this, I started thinking about it. My guildmate called it the "last ditch hug maneuver".
So my first character is a Science char in a Science ship, which I'm liking. I'll probably get that up to Tier 3, and then focus on a Tactical in a Cruiser. I'm not sure how PvP is really going to look, but it seems like if you're going to tank in a Cruiser, you need to hybridize enough to DPS or debuff or something to be enough of a thread, since PvE draw aggro skills are useless in PvP
Also, Galaxy-class
-
This game looks amazing, it could easily make me quit wow. I'm barely playing anyway, and this could push me over the edge.....if my internet connection wasn't terrible. Those awesome 20 Vs 20 battles would just make my router steam and explode. Then again, how much can be done on your own against NPC's, or in small groups against other small groups?
-
[quote="Rhoe"]This game looks amazing, it could easily make me quit wow. I'm barely playing anyway, and this could push me over the edge.....if my internet connection wasn't terrible. Those awesome 20 Vs 20 battles would just make my router steam and explode. Then again, how much can be done on your own against NPC's, or in small groups against other small groups?
My guild is tiny, and everyone is of different levels anyway, so I generally set it to open instancing. This basically means when you enter a very popular or common mission, it'll autogroup you with the next few people to enter. This basically removes the time investment for finding a PUG, and works pretty well. For missions that are off the beaten path, it's unlikely you'll be autogrouped with anyone, so I end up soloing the less common exploration/patrols, or just finding one other person via the LFG social window.
And honestly, the big Fleet Action missions take place in areas so big, that there's multiple 10 vs. 10 ship battles in different parts of the map anyway. I'll die, respawn, and then find a whole other fleet of people fighting a boss in a part of the map that was too far for my sensors to see. -
Hmmm, I'm a Star Trek fan and I've always wanted to jump into the MMORPG field. Do you guys think this might be the game and the time?
-
I think it's worth a shot!
Make it so. -
[quote="VinceA"]Hmmm, I'm a Star Trek fan and I've always wanted to jump into the MMORPG field. Do you guys think this might be the game and the time?
I mean, I'm playing it and having fun, and I tend to be resistant to MMOs. For once, Kotaku's coverage was actually pretty good. I basically swore off MMOs due to the time commitments taking me away from other hobbies, but said I'd make an exception for a Star Trek MMO that seemed solid, and this qualifies. Fortunately, games have become far more casual friendly, so I can play a few sessions a week and have plenty of time to read and play single player games. I'm not one of the people who wants a harsh penalty for dying in-game. I'm a busy guy, I can't afford to wipe at the end of the night and lose 3 hours of progress I have to start over, and I'm glad STO accomodates. -
A couple of useful things I've come across:
The Engines Cannae' Take It! - A site with a small but growing collection of articles digging into the nuts and bolts of the game that aren't made particularly explicit in the game itself. Includes a very comprehensive Character Basics article all about skills, abilities, and bridge officers. The Weapon Ranges and Ship Power Levels articles are also worth skimming to get a feel for just how much range and power distribution affect your ship (hint: the answer is "a lot." Weapons at 100 power do roughly quadruple the damage they would at 25 power.)
Suricata's Ship Tier Chart - A large, fascinating chart depicting every pilotable ship in the game, with info on their turn rate, crew size, weapon emplacements, and bridge officer seats. Updated now and then as the game is patched. -
I enjoyed what little of the beta I played. Here is what I think. The only thing that I really enjoyed were the ship battles which were really fun to play (and which my new computer handled great), but when I got to the away team missions everything went to hell. For some unknown reason, away missions had terrible frame rate and were just boring to play. I might give the full game a play after March passes because there are too many games coming out that I think will be better than this one (aka Yakuza 3).
-
[quote="NthDegree256"]The Weapon Ranges and Ship Power Levels articles are also worth skimming to get a feel for just how much range and power distribution affect your ship (hint: the answer is "a lot." Weapons at 100 power do roughly quadruple the damage they would at 25 power.)
So I have an alt (already) and I'm playing tactical, and the lure of the DPS is addictive. I played DPS in CoH, and once again, I am tempted with big numbers. Worse still is taking power away from my shields, and putting it all in disruptor cannons and phasers. The amount of damage I can do is amazing, but if I get focused fire, I'm dead in seconds. One thing I did notice is that people gave me a lot more heals, even pubs, now that I'm the damage breadwinner, which was really nice. -
Hmmm, I'll look into joining this weekend since I've got a three day weekend ahead. Having not played online games in years, it'll be a learning cliff for me.
-
I'm holding off on a Federation alt in case I manage to pull any of my other friends in, but my Klingon Narn is zipping around in a Bird of Prey and the forward-facing DPS is just glorious.
-
[quote="NthDegree256"]The Weapon Ranges and Ship Power Levels articles are also worth skimming to get a feel for just how much range and power distribution affect your ship (hint: the answer is "a lot." Weapons at 100 power do roughly quadruple the damage they would at 25 power.)
I read this during the open beta, since my science ship is going to try and max out auxiliary power and deflector dish skills. The relationship between some of the end game abilities and skillpoints and power levels are not always straightforward, so I have a lot of reading to do. -
http://www.break.com/game-trailers/game/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/wow-guy-angry-about-wow-and-irate-about-star-trek-online.html
This is why we can't have nice things. -
Just made level 11 and got my new ship for my 2nd character, a Tactical/Escort. I'm just going to run DPS until I rank up, and switch to Cruiser, which should hopefully be okay. My two main ideas for my characters is to have a damage support science ship that runs with minimal weapons power, and mains torpedoes, which do a set amount of damage that isn't modified by weapons power. Torpedoes have a 3 second global cooldown, which will hurt. The idea is to take their shields down with Tachyon Beam and pin them with other debuff/controls, it should hopefully hurt bad with all my power running to Auxiliary. The idea is that you help disable a target/take out its shields, and once it's open, all your weapons are geared for maximum. Terrible to solo, but the most extreme Science builds usually are. It may end up being terrible, but I don't want to make a lukewarm compromise science build when I could have done something crazy. There's a lot of complaining that Aux-based science abilities are nerfed pretty bad, but I'll give it a shot and/or hope they fix that.
For my Tactical, I'm hoping to run a combination of beams and power buffs to keep a pretty wide firing range and just be a DPS tank. Everyone complains about cruiser turning rates, and rather than fighting that, I'm going to try and put all my points into beams and weapons power to run as many simultaneous firing weapons, no matter where the enemies are.
edit: I hear there are now buddy codes to give friends a 5-day demo or something, so post in this thread if you're interested, and someone can give you a key. -
I'll totally check this out. All that auxillary foward shield deflectors crap interests the shit out of me.
-
PM'ed! Let me know if you have problems.
Also, lackofcheese mentioned something about the game economy. The whole crafting system is sort of in its infancy, but it is a way to get rares without having to bid on them. Usually on the exchange, I manage to find items that are undercutting the average market price by 50% or more, so the "stated" energy credit value you get for something at a shop, and its actual market value is way off. If you already picked up some of this stuff, it's probably a good way to get blue (rare) items. I don't know if seeking out the materials is time/cost effective in terms of payoff, or if there's a guide as to what sort of materials/data are available in each system if you're looking for specific types. The "Scan area" action that's always available will tell you how many crafting items exist in the current system or ground map.
Link to forum post about how crafting currently works:
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=97457
Also, this makes me want to poopsock it to Captain:
http://deer.transform.to/STO/GreatEastern2.jpg -
Well it's certainly an MMO. I'm Nick@DG_Nick of the U.S.S. Bellicose.
-
I don't know. I really want to get a big ass ship, but I am also not really a star trek fan. I think if I were it would make the investment easier and even when I had the trial I still chose to play WoW (it didn't help that raids had reset during my trial period) over this. I think that, by summer after 2nd christmas, my WoW and game time will slow down and I will probably pick this up. I did like what I played but I don't think it's the right time yet.
-
I made a Google Doc so people can add music suggestions for things I should listen to so I don't drive my friends insane with the same few songs as I play. I'm trying to compile epic sounding music to at least pump me up for those intense PvP sessions, since some of those songs can get old.
-
Finally got my Galaxy-class last night. I toyed with the ship customizer for about 15 minutes before concluding that I really just wanted to fly the same ship as Picard.
The ship handles like an obstinate elephant, but I've been preparing for that by slowly desensitizing myself to the concepts of "facing" and "turning." Just roll in there, unleash a bunch of phasers, and soak up the damage. -
[quote="Spankminister"]I made a Google Doc so people can add music suggestions for things I should listen to so I don't drive my friends insane with the same few songs as I play. I'm trying to compile epic sounding music to at least pump me up for those intense PvP sessions, since some of those songs can get old.
I'm adding some stuff now. -
I got my Galaxy-class the other day and for a while I thought it was pretty awesome, but then I went to DS9 and found out it pales in comparison with this ship.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7161/s ... 321093.jpg
That's me fighting the Cardies in a Runabout. -
[quote="Getter"]That's me fighting the Cardies in a Runabout.
Fighting those Cardassians in a Runabout and WINNING is pretty bad ass. -
Lando Cardassian?
-
Lando's not a system, he's a man!
-
NERD ALERT. There is no other thread worthy of this;
So I'm on WoWhead looking at items, I was levelling engineering at the time. Notice the Wormhole Generator they put in the alpha/beta. By far the highest rated comment on the schematic was "CHANCE ON USE: Jem'Hadar Ambush". I thought you guys might appreciate that. Cross-nerdism. -
[quote="NthDegree256"]Finally got my Galaxy-class last night. I toyed with the ship customizer for about 15 minutes before concluding that I really just wanted to fly the same ship as Picard.
The ship handles like an obstinate elephant, but I've been preparing for that by slowly desensitizing myself to the concepts of "facing" and "turning." Just roll in there, unleash a bunch of phasers, and soak up the damage.
I just got my Heavy Cruiser yesterday, though I haven't really kitted it out yet. I'm switching over from Escorts, and I can't wait to get a Galaxy. The only thing I don't like as much is that I won't really be able to take it into raids. What skills are you specializing in? So far, I'm seeing how far I get with tons of shield and hull regen bonuses.
[quote="Getter"]I got my Galaxy-class the other day and for a while I thought it was pretty awesome, but then I went to DS9 and found out it pales in comparison with this ship.
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7161/s ... 321093.jpg
That's me fighting the Cardies in a Runabout.
So where does the runabout fall on the ship tier list? I was wondering why I saw so many around DS9. -
[quote="Spankminister"]I just got my Heavy Cruiser yesterday, though I haven't really kitted it out yet. I'm switching over from Escorts, and I can't wait to get a Galaxy. The only thing I don't like as much is that I won't really be able to take it into raids. What skills are you specializing in? So far, I'm seeing how far I get with tons of shield and hull regen bonuses.
My skill points are all over the place, really - I've been spreading them out across any applicable skills for the different powers I use, based on the ideas that A. respec will be here soon and I can tidy up then, B. I like versatility and would rather have 3 pretty-good powers than 1 maxed-out power, and C. skill points have diminishing returns near the top, so maybe an extra +2 bonus to my shield powers isn't going to be as useful as a +10 bonus in some other skill. Once I'm at tier 5 and can get a good idea of what powers I really want (hint, the list includes Scramble Sensors and Engineering Team), I'll probably shuffle some points around post-respec.
Power-wise, my tac officer has High Yield Torpedoes for burst damage and Beam Array: Fire At Will to... well, okay, it doesn't really seem to do much but it's great for knocking out minefields. I have two engineering officers, both Commanders, and I swap them into each other's seats based on whether or not I have allies so I can have either Extend Shields or Auxiliary Power to the Structural Integrity Field, and as a side effect I get to have Engineering Team, Emergency Power to Shields, Boarding Party, Emergency Power to Weapons, and alternatively Boarding Party III or Eject Warp Plasma III. And my science officer position changes up to give me a Tractor Beam and either Polarize Hull (if I'm facing just one ship) or Scramble Sensors (if I'm facing more than one.) I myself am a science officer, so I've got a few extra tricks up my sleeve like Sensor Scan and Subnucleonic Beam.
Equipment-wise, I have a couple of nice EPS Power Conduits plugged into my engineering slots to compensate for the fact that I am constantly firing one turret and anywhere from two to four phaser banks. They also make it easier to rapidly switch my power levels, so I can do fun things like crank my engines to 90 before venting warp plasma and then pull that power back into weapons.
On a side note, I loved the mission Suspect out near DS9. -
The Runabout probably falls lower than the starting ship, it's just a really neat novelty. It does have some things going for it though, it's very fast and can fly circles around almost anything. It's worth noting that there seems to be a bug with it where when you swap gear into it and then swap it out into a larger ship, the tooltip for the item doesn't scale back up. So for my Galaxy-class my shields should say 6100 for shield strength, but instead they say around 2300. Also if you get one and try to customize it, don't hit the random button, it makes the game crash.
