Star Trek Online [STO]

[Toeofdoom]

I think it will definitely be an enjoyable game. I don't think I'll play it once the beta finishes, unless it surprises me. Playing eve online is probably less "fun" but definitely more interesting and engaging in other ways, while I have other games that are good for relaxing and having fun, so I probably won't play it. Plus STO seems to suck up time better than said other games.

If it was say, the definitive "star trek in game form" that would also make me play it, but it's not. It's strongly influenced by other MMOs, and adheres to them much better than it adheres to what star trek is about.

[nowfocus]

What I was hoping for with this game is a slightly non-repetitive MMO. I want an MMO where combat is brutally hard and quite rare, as it would be for a real star trek crew. I'd like to see more dialogue tree style missions, and long mission chains based on these.

The frustrating thing is that I don't see how this would drastically increase development time. I know a lot of people ask for the world, but I think Star Trek could just put a few good writers to work and be done with it.

For example, say you come across an unauthorized ship in your territory. You can scan that ship for life forms. Determine there race. Remember how that race typically responds to threats or protocal, and the broader diplomatic relations between your people. Maybe fire a shot over there bow. Maybe just verbal communication. Maybe you get them to drop there shields and beam aboard. Maybe you fire directly upon them, but will take casualities that actually really hurt your character. Perhaps an evaluation by a superior ranking officer afterwards.

And lets see these decisions have some conseqences. If you choose to fire upon a ferengi ship, then perhaps you can no longer trade with the ferengi unless you bribe them.

All of this doesn't need to be done in extravagent cut scenes, just simple text trees. From what I've read this game isn't heading in that direction, which is a shame because I think its perfect for the IP.

Edit: Hell, let the community write the damn things, get them rated on there depth, and the top ones make it into the game (with some moderator presense of course)

[keozen]

Very Quick review after playing the open Beta for a week:

Has a lot of potential but a lot of that has been badly executed by lack of development time. Another 6 months development would make a world of difference to the title.

[You, sir, name?]

Has a lot of potential but a lot of that has been badly executed by lack of development time. Another 6 months development would make a world of difference to the title.

I agree with this sentiment.

Though the continual development endemic of MMOs does offer a degree of hope as to the way it'll turn out.

[Sir_Elderberry]

Unfortunately, the servers are so crowded that I've only gotten in for about an hour or two so far, but I had fun in that hour or two. Space combat was very interesting and felt very "right". Combat in general is more tactical (flanking bonuses on the ground, shield placement in space, etc) than I expect from MMOs, but I've only played WoW, so that may actually be standard.

[You, sir, name?]

Unfortunately, the servers are so crowded that I've only gotten in for about an hour or two so far, but I had fun in that hour or two. Space combat was very interesting and felt very "right". Combat in general is more tactical (flanking bonuses on the ground, shield placement in space, etc) than I expect from MMOs, but I've only played WoW, so that may actually be standard.

The only problem I have with space combat is the inability to rotate along the horizontal axis. So if you are above an enemy, you need to perform the toilet-bowl maneuver to get down to his level. And the toilet-bowl maneuver is all but a flattering means of getting somewhere.

[Chen]

Has a lot of potential but a lot of that has been badly executed by lack of development time. Another 6 months development would make a world of difference to the title.

It really seems like every new MMO out there has been doing this lately. All the games that could be WoW killers like Age of Conan, Aeon and such probably COULD have taken a decent market share away from WoW if they had actually released a non-buggy complete game. It seems Blizzard has a winning strategy and not just with WoW. All their games always take FOREVER to get released. But once they do they sell incredibly well generally due to them being nice and complete games without too many deal breaking bugs.

[You, sir, name?]

Has a lot of potential but a lot of that has been badly executed by lack of development time. Another 6 months development would make a world of difference to the title.

It really seems like every new MMO out there has been doing this lately. All the games that could be WoW killers like Age of Conan, Aeon and such probably COULD have taken a decent market share away from WoW if they had actually released a non-buggy complete game. It seems Blizzard has a winning strategy and not just with WoW. All their games always take FOREVER to get released. But once they do they sell incredibly well generally due to them being nice and complete games without too many deal breaking bugs.

That seems to be endemic of late '00s games in general. They're so rushed. Many, if not most games ship before they're ready. This can be attributed to the increased complexity in the game creation process nowadays, but still, it's a sad effect.

[Chen]

That seems to be endemic of late '00s games in general. They're so rushed. Many, if not most games ship before they're ready. This can be attributed to the increased complexity in the game creation process nowadays, but still, it's a sad effect.

I suppose its true, though its particularly grating when it comes to MMOs. I mean you've made a game where you ideally want the initial purchase to NOT be the vast majority of your income from the game. You'd think there'd be a HUGE incentive to release a complete game so you could hold onto people and get them to pay subscription fees.

[You, sir, name?]

I also blame procedural generation. Game makers seem to think that procedurally generated content is entertaining. Procedurally generated maps are generally fine, but when it comes to plot and missions, the algorithms just aren't smart enough at this point to whip up something that isn't dwarfed by the writing ability of the slightly retarded chimpanzee that wrote the plot for Teletubbies.

[Ixtellor]

The game was released right?


How is it? I shall buy it today to take a break between WoW and Star Wars: KOR online.

[You, sir, name?]

The game was released right?


How is it? I shall buy it today to take a break between WoW and Star Wars: KOR online.

It's a bit uneven in quality. But then again, new MMOs often are. It shows a lot of promise, I can tell you that much. Some early missions are really bland and repetitive, but later missions are very well written.

Gameplay-wise, space combat feels very well developed, but unfortunately ground combat could do with some work. The ground AI is not the sharpest pencil in the box, and the controls are awkward at best. It's better now than it was in the beta, but your away team is still quite dense.

[Ixtellor]

The game was released right?


How is it? I shall buy it today to take a break between WoW and Star Wars: KOR online.

It's a bit uneven in quality. But then again, new MMOs often are. It shows a lot of promise, I can tell you that much. Some early missions are really bland and repetitive, but later missions are very well written.

Gameplay-wise, space combat feels very well developed, but unfortunately ground combat could do with some work. The ground AI is not the sharpest pencil in the box, and the controls are awkward at best. It's better now than it was in the beta, but your away team is still quite dense.

so would you recommend me getting it today, or is it like Age of Conan? <--- I hit level 70 and hated it.

[You, sir, name?]

I honestly couldn't say. The safe bet would be waiting a couple of months to see how it develops, but as with any MMO, starting early is a gamble. Note well that the game -is- quite overhyped, so take reviews with a grain of salt. That being said, it isn't a bad game.

Unlike Age of Conan, though, it doesn't feel like they put all the effort into the first levels and then neglected everything else, in fact, from what I've seen, mid-game content is of better quality than newbie-content (space combat is downright awesome in tier 3 ships and higher when you have a ton of neat skills at your fingertips). As for the end-game, I haven't gotten far enough to tell.

[Ixtellor]

Bought the game last night will probably start playing this weekend.

Any advice?

I suppose I want to be a Klingon war ship of some kind.

I was reading that there are only like 7 levels -- how long to level up? Little worried it maxes out quickly.

Also anyone starting an XKCD starfleet?

[You, sir, name?]

Bought the game last night will probably start playing this weekend.

Any advice?

I suppose I want to be a Klingon war ship of some kind.

I was reading that there are only like 7 levels -- how long to level up? Little worried it maxes out quickly.

Also anyone starting an XKCD starfleet?

The Klingon content is kind of lacking at this moment. It's mostly just for PvP. Hopefully they'll add some more meat to that section of the game in the future.

There are currently 45 levels (it's capped because all endgame content isn't in yet, theoretical max is 50) divided into one rank per 10 levels, and a new rank comes with an increase in ship class and equipment level.

[Ixtellor]

Another question:

Whats best spec for leveling up?

Also, I am giong to go with tactical ships, but how do engineer or science captains perform in them?

It has been decided by my 'crew' that we are going Klingon -- does tactical dominate pvp?

[You, sir, name?]

Another question:

Whats best spec for leveling up?

Also, I am giong to go with tactical ships, but how do engineer or science captains perform in them?

It has been decided by my 'crew' that we are going Klingon -- does tactical dominate pvp?

You'll still have to play Federation for a while to unlock the Klingon content. Though it's really not a lot, basically just the tutorial plus a couple of missions.

Tactical captains in Escorts do a crapload of damage, but they go down real easy as well (as in, they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell alone against multiple opponents), especially at higher levels when you face enemies with dirty trickses up their sleeves (Viral Matrix, for example, disables your ship completely for 15 seconds. If you're hit by this in an escort, you're toast.)

If you are going to go escort, you might want to consider an Engineering captain to give you some defensive abilities to complement your ship's offensive capabilities.

The relative ability of ship classes depends a lot on playstyle. If you go escort, you'll probably need to play more in groups than in a science vessel or cruiser, as those can take a lot more of punishment before blowing up and are therefore better suitable for independent fighting.

The whole dynamics of play styles is non-trivial:

Escorts have basically all their weapons to the front, and mostly equip weapons with high damage and narrow firing-arcs, which means that to do damage, they need to face the enemy. But if they do that, they expose their forward shield, so they need to turn away and regenerate it to survive. But when they do that, the enemy also regenerates their shields.

Cruisers and science vessels have rounded arsenals with about as much weapons up front as in the back, and typically wield wide-arc weapons with medium damage, which means it doesn't matter in which direction they're facing, they're going to unleash all hell no matter where you are. But, they also turn slower (especially cruisers, who turn -really- slowly), which means they have less of an opportunity to turn away to regenerate their shields.


So, in summary:

Escorts are fast, maneuverable and do lots of damage in a narrow arc, but are also very frail.
Cruisers are slow, not very maneuverable and do medium damage in all directions, but are also seriously tough.
Science vessels fly medium speed, are somewhat maneuverable, and do medium damage in all directions, but drain their energy faster so they can't equip as many weapons, and can take medium damage while dishing out offensive and defensive buffs and debuffs.

[Ixtellor]

Oh, thanks a ton.

I want to solo as much as possible except for when friends are online.

Would you recommend:
A) Engineer captain in an escort.
B) Tactical captain in a Cruisor
C) Engineer captain in a Science vessel
D) Tactical captain in a science vessel
E) Tactical captain in an escort

You made it sound like E would be hella hard to solo.

Thanks your quick and good advice.

[You, sir, name?]

Well, you can actually own multiple ships with one captain (the first one is free when you reach a new grade, but you have to pay in-game currency for more ships), and transfer equipment between them without penalty, and have a cruiser for solo and escort for group or PvP.

Engineer + Escort for PvP/group PvE and Engineer + Cruiser for solo favors PvP/group PvE as battles typically get very long and somewhat tedious when you solo as eng+cruiser, while Tactical + Escort for PvP/group PvE and Tactical + Cruiser for solo favors soloing, as tac+escort is a somewhat vulnerable build. But either one is quite playable.

In the end, your captain specialization doesn't really have as large impact as character class does in other MMOs, as most of your abilities come from your ship class and bridge officers in space, and bridge officers and kit on the ground (even though kits are limited to captain specialization, so say a tactical captain can only use tactical kits.) In that sense, STO is pretty forgiving when it comes to builds. It's hard to really thoroughly mess up a build, as so much of it can be changed later in-game.

[FoS]

I started playing STO this weekend and it's actually really fun. I've been trying to avoid Away Team scenarios and just focus on Space for the moment because it's more enjoyable.

The Space combat is good. It's not as Frenetic as EVE small ship combat but not as mindnumbingly sedate as the Big Ship combat.

[You, sir, name?]

Space combat will improve even more when you get some levels and have more boff-skills to toss around too.

[FoS]

Depending on how my WoW Raid goes tonight I might be able to spend enough time in STO to bump up the last bit I need to get my T2 ship.
I'm far too aggressive not to take an Escort purely because it's speedy and blasts shit nicely. I know it's gonna gimp me into doing everything in groups but I can't help myself.

PS I'm playing as a Tactical Officer. Suprised?

[Ixtellor]

Played for about 5 hours this weekend:

1) Major Server problems. Was unable to log on all friday.
2) I enjoy the ground missions a LOT more than I imagined I would.
3) I am a tactical Captain, but I can't tell how my skills are tactical. There are skill entire trees dedicated to science and engineering. I notice they tend to improve hull and speed, is it different for engineering and science officers?
4) The WSAD flying controls feel odd, and can't decide how I enjoy flying. I have been using the mouse to steer and using number keys to run ship functions. I think I am going to change W and S to my throttle and continue using mouse for steering until I find a better method. I think this isn't effiecient, because there is lots of clicking that neesd to happen. Any recommendations?
5) I realize the game is new, so I am not worried about the serious lack of 'freedom' in choosing quests. The game seems pretty linear and I imagine if I make another captain, I will end up doing the exact same missions.
6) I hope this isn't Age of Conan.

[You, sir, name?]

1) Major Server problems. Was unable to log on all friday.

Yeah, I heard they're upgrading the servers soon, so hopefully it'll improve. Though anything you experience now is -nothing- compared to the beta. There were moments where, if you -did- get in at all, the rubberbanding was so insane it could easily take a minute to walk across a room.

3) I am a tactical Captain, but I can't tell how my skills are tactical. There are skill entire trees dedicated to science and engineering. I notice they tend to improve hull and speed, is it different for engineering and science officers?

Dunno.

4) The WSAD flying controls feel odd, and can't decide how I enjoy flying. I have been using the mouse to steer and using number keys to run ship functions. I think I am going to change W and S to my throttle and continue using mouse for steering until I find a better method. I think this isn't effiecient, because there is lots of clicking that neesd to happen. Any recommendations?

WASD for movement, number keys/space for firing and mouse for looking around is how I prefer to fly. No clicking at all that way.

5) I realize the game is new, so I am not worried about the serious lack of 'freedom' in choosing quests. The game seems pretty linear and I imagine if I make another captain, I will end up doing the exact same missions.

Pretty much at the moment.

6) I hope this isn't Age of Conan.

Me too.

[Ixtellor]

1) Is there an auction house?

2) I have been selling every ship upgrade I find (Mark II shields, etc) in an effort to save money to outfit the ship I get when I hit Lt. Commander. Now I am thinking... can I even use my 'money' to buy upgrades, or is it all paid for with exploration badges? I.E. Should I be equipping everything.
When you get exploration badges do you get exp as well? Or do you have to pick.

[You, sir, name?]

1) Is there an auction house?

Not that I'm aware.

2) I have been selling every ship upgrade I find (Mark II shields, etc) in an effort to save money to outfit the ship I get when I hit Lt. Commander. Now I am thinking... can I even use my 'money' to buy upgrades, or is it all paid for with exploration badges? I.E. Should I be equipping everything.
When you get exploration badges do you get exp as well? Or do you have to pick.

At the moment, energy credits aren't super-useful. You can buy stuff on the exchange, or from NPC trade ships. But it's easy to get way, wayyyy more money than you'll ever need.

[Toeofdoom]

1) Is there an auction house?

Not that I'm aware.

There was in the beta, at earth starbase. Somewhere near the bank. EDIT: oh, so that was the exchange... eh, I guess auctions are different but I wouldn't have thought it would make a huge difference here.

[Ixtellor]

1) Is there an auction house?

Not that I'm aware.

There was in the beta, at earth starbase. Somewhere near the bank. EDIT: oh, so that was the exchange... eh, I guess auctions are different but I wouldn't have thought it would make a huge difference here.

Yea there is an auction house at the earth station. But I understand it has no sorting ability, and that players have filled it up with total crap that is massively overpriced, so you cant' really find anything of use. Pages and Pages of starting level ship componants at 5k.

Do you have to do anything special to open up your class specific skills? I know I am supposed to get some tactical only skill at level 5 and 8 of every rank, but don't see these yet. (I read you have to spend all your skill points, so maybe thats my problem. )

Currently a Lieu grade 5, so will be lt commander after tonight. Looking forward to my Cruiser.

[psion]

I'm on the fence. I'm interested in playing a space exploration/combat game (the videos I've seen make the combat look really satisfying), but I'm not a big fan of Star Trek and the out-of-ship stuff looks disinteresting. How polished does the game feel? Is the content juicy or filler? Will the game be worth it to me when I don't know much of any of the Star Trek canon?

[You, sir, name?]

I'm on the fence. I'm interested in playing a space exploration/combat game (the videos I've seen make the combat look really satisfying), but I'm not a big fan of Star Trek and the out-of-ship stuff looks disinteresting. How polished does the game feel? Is the content juicy or filler? Will the game be worth it to me when I don't know much of any of the Star Trek canon?

The content is mostly filler at this stage, and the exploration aspect is disappointingly weak. If you want a polished game, you should probably wait like a year or so for STO to mature.

[Ixtellor]

Ug.
Played for 2 hours yesterday, finished 1.33 missions.
Died 7 times trying to do my "stop enemy contacts" mission, Have to kill 24 Klingon fleets.
I assume some high level ship entered the same mission, because one of the groups of Klingons were 4 battle cruisers 28 levels higher than me.

One criticism, that will be fixed eventually I assume is the lack of mission directions.
Go meet Mr X in the Y system. Then you look at the map, and you don't see the Y system anywhere. Also, it doesn't tell you where to meet mr X, even if you find the Y system.

Question: Do ships require repairs after you die?

[You, sir, name?]

Ug.
Played for 2 hours yesterday, finished 1.33 missions.
Died 7 times trying to do my "stop enemy contacts" mission, Have to kill 24 Klingon fleets.
I assume some high level ship entered the same mission, because one of the groups of Klingons were 4 battle cruisers 28 levels higher than me.

Isn't that a fleet action? They usually don't scale to ship levels. So you may have simply been too low leveled to do the mission.

One criticism, that will be fixed eventually I assume is the lack of mission directions.
Go meet Mr X in the Y system. Then you look at the map, and you don't see the Y system anywhere. Also, it doesn't tell you where to meet mr X, even if you find the Y system.

Press 'J', and read the quest specs. It usually says what sector it is in somewhere in the end. Then you use the galaxy map to figure out how to get there.

Question: Do ships require repairs after you die?

Nope. There is no penalty at all for dying, except a temporary reduction in repair rate. Which kinda sucks in my book.

[Ixtellor]

Isn't that a fleet action? They usually don't scale to ship levels. So you may have simply been too low leveled to do the mission.

It was a Lt level 4 mission "Patrol Sector X (Sirius?)" and engage 3 enemy contacts.
Each enemy contact has 8 fleets in it.

At this point I just want to hit Lieu Commander and get my first 'real' ship'.

I need to get back to Sol sometimes, and train up my officers. I have an engineering officer I love, his shield recharge ability saves my ass all the time.
My science officer I am specializing in ground healing ability.

[Axman]

I am going to break my rule and play this game. I do not play MMOs.

I did not play MMOs.

[Ixtellor]

I am going to break my rule and play this game. I do not play MMOs.

I did not play MMOs.

I would say don't.

The game isn't ready. It has a lot of potential, but has some serious problems that need to be addressed. Its buggy as hell, with untold number of issues that bring "Fun" to a crashing halt.

I have no idea why I still log on other than some sick sick compulsion to finish what I start.

Imagine being assigned a mission with 3 parts. And none of the 3 parts work. (find 4 computers in this totally random garden -- and there aren't 4 computers -- so you search every single solitary inch of that huge garden before you quit in disgust and having wasted an hour of your life on a fools errand. So then your foolish enough to say "well maybe I will have better luck on the next mission" and you don't. Its just as buggy ruined as the first part.)

[Levi]

I am going to break my rule and play this game. I do not play MMOs.

I did not play MMOs.

I would say don't.

The game isn't ready. It has a lot of potential, but has some serious problems that need to be addressed. Its buggy as hell, with untold number of issues that bring "Fun" to a crashing halt.

I have no idea why I still log on other than some sick sick compulsion to finish what I start.

Imagine being assigned a mission with 3 parts. And none of the 3 parts work. (find 4 computers in this totally random garden -- and there aren't 4 computers -- so you search every single solitary inch of that huge garden before you quit in disgust and having wasted an hour of your life on a fools errand. So then your foolish enough to say "well maybe I will have better luck on the next mission" and you don't. Its just as buggy ruined as the first part.)

That's why you don't do missions. You should just fly around being a Captain. Engage! Klingons on the starboard bow! Make it so! "Accidentally" fly into the neutral zone and run into a Klingon (this may or may not actually be possible)! Drift around for a bit and ask the next player to come by to beam you some dilithium crystals! Send out frantic distress calls asking for help because your warp core is about to explode! This is best done with friends, of course, because shouting at your computer alone is no fun.

[You, sir, name?]

Heard it offered a F2P mode nowadays, and figured I'd drop in and see how the game has evolved since I abandoned ship in 2010.

Wow. It's matured so much, not only is the previously dismal ground combat replaced with something that doesn't entirely suck, its story telling has improved leaps and bounds (it actually feels like you're in a Star Trek episode some times). Totally playable now. So far I'm enjoying it more than I did (inevitable comparison inbound) The Old Republic.

I'm resubscribing.

[eSOANEM]

Heard it offered a F2P mode nowadays, and figured I'd drop in and see how the game has evolved since I abandoned ship in 2010.

Hmm. I used to play a bit in late 2010/early 2011 but didn't find the missions engaging enough to keep paying a subscription. If it's got an F2P mode now, I'll probably give it another shot after my exams are done.

[You, sir, name?]

They seem to have revamped the worst missions, added some new good ones, and the more fast-paced ground mechanics does a lot for giving the missions better pacing.

After playing for about a day, my impression is that the game has finally gotten the veneer it lacked at release.