Author Topic: Star Trek Online  (Read 5404 times)

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Offline Erik L (OP)

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Star Trek Online
« on: January 22, 2012, 01:45:23 PM »
As of Jan 17th, Star Trek Online is free to play. There are, of course some limits on the account (10 mill cash cap, 1 character slot). Overall, the game has improved considerably from beta/launch.

Duty officers are an interesting mechanic. At level 7 you gain access to duty officers who allow you to run assignments (Meet with Diplomats from Rigel VII, Run a level 5 diagnostic on the warp core, etc.). You gain skill xp, bridge officer xp, dilithium, and sometimes cash and items.

One con I still see from beta is that when you are grouped, everyone is on their own starship. Makes it a bit hard to coordinate things at times.

If anyone decides to play, my handle is @icehawke.

Offline TheDeadlyShoe

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2012, 02:54:45 PM »
I've had an account since launch, going F2p has convinced some friends to give it a try, which is going pretty well. The game has pretty good ability to scale players up and down as needed - My level 50 can play perfectly well with level 5 players. And running missions is a lot more fun and challenging in groups.  Unfortunately they all seem to hate doing away missions so we do a lot of fleet actions instead xD

 

Offline Erik L (OP)

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2012, 03:12:15 PM »
I've had an account since launch, going F2p has convinced some friends to give it a try, which is going pretty well. The game has pretty good ability to scale players up and down as needed - My level 50 can play perfectly well with level 5 players. And running missions is a lot more fun and challenging in groups.  Unfortunately they all seem to hate doing away missions so we do a lot of fleet actions instead xD



Flying a ship is much more exciting than beaming down to the ground. ;) I just need to get my tertiary tactical BOff competent so he doesn't get the rest of us killed. One thing I did notice on the scaling, it does scale your damage back, but even that can be overwhelming against lower level targets. I was level 17 scaled down to 6, and two-three shots from my ship annihilated level 6 targets. Something about Quantum Torps and Heavy Dual Phaser Cannons... ;) Ground combat was a lot more equal.

Also, Alienware Arena has codes (~2800 as of Thurs) for 10 days of Gold, plus the Enterprise (show) uniforms and the NX-01 Light Escort.

Offline Paul M

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2012, 08:10:43 AM »
I tried the game for 3 months and well uhm no.

The problem is that there is no interaction with other players.  And in that case what is the point of it all?

I also had a Klingon, and I kept running into these servator races on Klinzi.  And they were all hi-gravity squashed dwarves.

I'm a roleplayer and basically the potential was there but the game does not deliver for me.  If there is no interaction with other players I'm not going to bother with a MMO.

Time is also another issue as I am in 3 other MMOs (Star Wars, City of Heroes/Villans, and LOTRO).

It is not like the game is poorly done and aspects of it were really quite enjoyable but it just lacked the whole "multi-player" thing.
 

Offline ardem

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2012, 05:32:39 PM »
I loaded it up last night and felt the same issue. There is no ability that someone new without friends can find others to group with. I enjoyed the gameplay, but felt very alone until at some point a friendly ship came by blew up the vessel I was attacking no hi and bye it was off again.

The thing that MMO miss is in some way forcing new people to group, much like a school or university does, you just never are able to bond in an MMO cause people are shooting off all over the place.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #5 on: February 16, 2012, 06:25:33 AM »
It is actually worse in STO.  In say SW:TOr I walk around the world...other people are moving about and it is possible to stop them and say "Hello" or whatever and you can maybe get something going.  In STO when moving from system to system you can see all the other ships moving about but can't really "stop and chat" with them.  I found that aspect really really jarring.  Also even in say the Fed main station, no one talked.  My friend and I were Role playing in public and people just ran around us, no one slowed down, nothing.  The place where you craft was even worse.  You are alone in a crowd, which makes you feel more alone.

The game itself is very well done...and the missions are just like episodes in the show, and fighting your ship was fun but...it lacks the Multi-Player aspect.  Except for random people you run into once and then never see again.  I have lots of single player games I can play so if I go online it is for playing with other people.
 

Offline TheDeadlyShoe

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2012, 06:31:51 AM »
You turn zone chat on right? Heh.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2012, 07:52:04 AM »
In reality the first thing I disable is such things.  I am a role player, I don't need or want to hear about banana's used as sex toys (this in AoC made me search for the way to disable general chat) and all the other rubbish the generic chat channel is full of.  I turn it on only if I am doing a "looking for group" call for a flashpoint in SWTOR or specific mission and even then I re-disable it as soon as possible.  If I can't hear it in local I am generally uninterested in it.

But I am in these games to role play* with other people.  And STO had none that I ever encountered.  So, no matter how good the game is (and I will say nothing against it as I thought it well done) it is not something I'm going to invest time into.

*role playing in MMO's always has a limitation to it...and it tends to promote Mary Sue's and God Modeing but if you can get the right group can be very fun.  If you want to really role play online you have to be on a NWNx Persitant World with a DM around, then it approaches to a high degree what you can have sitting around a table (and is in many ways superior).  MMO's lack that DM...and so end up...a bit other.
 

Offline ardem

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2012, 08:16:34 AM »
For RPGing I gone back to tabletop, I come to the conclusion that there is no market for what I am after in an MMO. NWN got the closest however I would of prefered a proper FPS 3D world.

How do you tabletop without being in college and having kids I can hear you say. I recently got involved in VTT Virtual Tabletop games and I am now getting closer to the thrill I desired. I am using Fantasy Grounds to do a rolemaster campaign.

For me I given up on MMO remaking the same model for the same type of people, I want to live and breath in a world. I don't want it to be a highway of tasks.
 

Offline Tregonsee

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2012, 09:08:49 AM »
Can you say more about VTT?  Is it like Vassal but for other games?
 

Offline ardem

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2012, 09:54:06 AM »
VTT stands for virtual table top, it the same as the old tabletop days of D&D, Shadowrun, CoC etc etc. Except you have some computerised tools to help you. Dice that roll virutally, skype, sharing of images, computer character sheets and combat tracking.

But it still 90% come back to the imagination and quality of the player and DM.

http://www.fantasygrounds.com/

That has some pictures about it, but it allowed me to return to those college years. (However never went to college) But that age when I was able to eat pizza, drink beer and have a good laugh. Ecept now I do it from home while my 3 year old and wife sleeps
 

Offline TheDeadlyShoe

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2012, 07:00:39 PM »
I dunno it seems kind of silly to mute chat then complain noone talks.  Zone is where people talk in STO.
 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2012, 07:32:04 AM »
It may well be.  Depends on how you look at it.  I am not there to listen to people randomly discuss whatever, I am there to role play in a star trek universe.  So for me that occurs in "local" which doesn't exist in the game.  I quit playing because there was no roleplaying in the game.  I have nothing negative to say about the game beyond that, as I was not displeased with the mechanics of the game and enjoyed the missions and so forth but at the end of the day it didn't satisfy me as someone who was huge fan of the old PnP Star Trek the role playing game by FASA.
 

Offline Owen Quillion

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2012, 05:52:29 PM »
Unfortunately, as you noted, the 'RP' in 'MMORPG' tends to use the 'stat-based and experience/loot hoarding' meaning as in Monty Haul campaigns or console roleplaying games ala Final Fantasy and such. Even smaller, niche-er MMOs tend to attract the gamist types rather than anyone interested in playing a role.

On the subject of 'pen and paper' games online, my virtual tabletop of choice (when I do manage to scare up a group willing to commit to a real-time campaign) is Maptools, which is free and highly customizable. Of course there's a learning curve and it can be a bit finicky, but hey, this is the Aurora forums, heh. There's also plenty of community-made add-ons and such that provide a framework for playing anything from GURPS to the Warhammer 40k RPGs.

Those with a time and the will to do so can also use programs like IRC, Skype, and the numerous white-board services out there to run a game as well; I even use Google spreadsheets as a rough tactical map for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign I run.

Another option for scratching the roleplaying itch is play-by-post where games are run via forums; obviously supports a different pace than face-to-face or real time interactions, but for those who like to write it can be fun in and of itself. The folks at Paizo have a thriving community (where people also recruit for virtual tabletops), although there is an obvious bias towards their own Pathfinder RPG. That said the community is filled with folks of all stripes and I've seen Warhammer, D20 Modern, Call of Cthulhu (the basic roleplaying version), Star Wars SAGA and all sorts of other systems played. Similar sites are Myth Weavers and D&D Online Games.

The main downside is that a lot of folk think they're more interested in it than they really are so the attrition rate is quite high, but if you can get a group of strangers who're willing to pretend they're dwarves (or elves or orcs Eldar or vulcans or Jedi...) for a few minutes a day it can be a rewarding exercise.

 

Offline Paul M

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Re: Star Trek Online
« Reply #14 on: February 19, 2012, 06:42:19 AM »
I was involved in play by post at the battletech boards, it is just a lot of work.  And our GM got busy.

I don't think of MMO's as RPGs...to me they are MMOG (massive multi-player online games).  I role play in them but...well role players are not common even on Role Playing servers.  And a lot of it ends up in the Mary Sue and God Modeing catagories but I persist.  I still think the best way to do it online is in a NWNx PW.  I used to DM on one, it was great, it is just a lot of time and effort.  Not that DMing in PnP is any different but it is a lot easier to set the scene with words then to make up a full encounter area.

I actually wish they would drop the RP from the game title since it is isn't about role playing anyway (for 99.9% of the people) and in the case of a single player CRPG ...that is an oxymoron at the best.  The best you can do is maintain a consistent character concept, it is impossible to roleplay inside of the constraints of a single player game (your character may want to do option 4 but it isn't available...you can't even decide what you say...only pick the option that is closest to what you want etc).  I probably role play more in a starfire campaign then I do in most computer "rpgs".

As you say its all stat based and about getting phattlootz or whatever...or worse "raiding"...gah...the point to that escapes me...you are like constantly repeating the same encounter to get stuff to do the same at a slightly different encounter...and you put up with all the garbage like loot councils and people telling you how to play and develop your character exactly why?  oh so you can get stuff to do the whole thing again next week...so someone else can get the stuff they need?  Right...don't call me, I'l call you.