CAPTAIN'S BLOG

I too think the drop rate in STFs still needs work. I've been frustrated running Infected Space Elites to get my last XI piece for my set, and have not gotten any prototype drops in space or on the ground. (On the ground I've only gotten common tech to drop for me...)

I think the gated content should be opened up, as it would be fun to run the new Vault, Crystalline entity, or the Defera Invasion with the fleet, but hard to get the times to work.

On the flip side, I thought Hearts and Minds was cool for what it was, and think Cryptic is still putting good things out while getting ready for Season 6.

And, while I would have loved more content, I enjoyed leveling a KDF up to 50, and thought the stories were entertaining. Certainly better then not having a KDF faction at all.

I would like to add to the OP's comments.

The Gated Content should be available via "Fleet Action" due to the gated times severely hindering the Fleet's ability to run. Also Fleet Actions needs to be "True" Fleet only, so as to not include non Fleet members as a way to work around the gated time slots. If you are a active fleet member you should be able to run exclsuive content "Together" anytime.

Crafting has not improved unless you max out the Doff System. This is unfair to we "original" max crafters. I don't craft anymore because of the URM's required in the system. It used to be I could craft up some Mk VI Rare Combat Engine for a Fleet member and away they would grind , cashing it in when they installed the Mk VII earned on a drop after reaching Captain. There is no reasonable reason for requiring RM's or URM's at any level below Mk XII. You level and out grow your gear quickly in STO.

I can't comment on the new Vault mission because when I tried to run it, I simply got put into a series of waiting lists none of which reached the front of the line before the mission window expired. I did see a lot of negative feedback about the mission on the forums and in the ingame chat window.

As for crafting, the "new, improved" crafting system is one of my three biggest gripes in the game. It used to be that if you were willing to put in the time doing exploration missions, you could craft useful items at every level of the game. Now, if you want anything above level VII, you have to spend a ton of Dilithium buying UMs. I'm not sure why anybody thought that was a good idea. I suspect Cryptic saw it as a way to encourage people to buy C-Points so they could trade them for Dilithium. They would have been smarter just to open up the C-Store to selling equipment and weapons rather than pussy-foot around with the current system.

My second big gripe with the current game is that the levels of ship shields and other equipment have been downsized so that what used to be Cadilac equipment is now more like a glorified Yugo. I keep looking for good rewards on the various PvE missions and most of the stuff you get is junk.

My third big gripe is the level 49 requirement on doing the Breen missions. I used to be able to get nice sets of shields, deflectors and engines by doing Cold Call, Cold Case and Cold Storage. I could equip two or three ships with decent equipment without having to trust to luck on ingame drops. Now you get one set of Mk XI Breen equipment per character, period. Thanks to the shrinking levels of other reward items, I still have some of my Mk VI Breen sets because I haven't been able to get enough better equipment to replace them with. A related gripe is the fact that equipment sets like the Breen and Jem'Hadar sets have to be the same level in order to get the set rewards. Invariably, some of my characters start those missions at one rank and finish them at another. You used to be able to delay taking your promotion in order to finish the set before you ranked up. Now, the game automatically starts giving the higher level equipment as soon as you get enough skill points to be able to be promoted. Since most of those sets are bound on pickup, it means that you ead up with a bunch of useless partial sets that are only good for clogging up your inventory.

My fourth gripe is the never ending failure of the Exchange to display proper lists of the items and prices of the various things people are trying to sell. I know for a fact that hundreds, if not thousands of items simply never show up on the Exchange, meaning that the sellers never get the item sold even though there are identical items selling for ten times the price they are asking. At the same time, every purchase you make on the Exchange has a significant chance of being priced higher than it should be if all of the lower priced items were properly listed.

My fifth and final gripe is the seemingly endless revamping of the nomenclature in the game. Nothing is called what it used to be called and none of the descriptions of the newly defined items tell you in understandable terms what these things actually do. This is exascerbated by the fact that neither the nominal values of the items nor the Marks and rarity are reliable indicators of their actual worth. I recently saw a Purple Mk XI ship shield that gives something like 3200 hit points (about the equivalent of a Mk IV or V White or Green shield). Does the Mk XI shield have some secret magic power that makes it more powerful, is it just a piece of garbage with a fancy label? I suspect the latter.

I guess my biggest gripe with the game is that so many of Cryptic's "improvements" actually make the game worse. That's not a good business plan when you are in the entertainment industry. Nobody needs your product, so the only way to sell it is to make it attractive to your customers.

Warburton1881

I happen to agree with everyone here. I've come to dread Cryptic's "improvements" to the game. I can actually say that the new DOff system is actually improved. Everything else just seems to be nonsense. Mk XII drops, Borg NPC nerf, Defera invasion, Vault event, Dilithium Mining, and Crafting are all areas that Cryptic has "improved" but actually made worse. I sat all alone in one corner of the Defera zone last night for 2 1/2 hours grinding away for the materials to make the fractal remodulator. I managed to get 6 materials in 2 1/2 hours. I'm officially disinterested in that particular event as I am in the new Vault event after seeing only 1 datacore per event.

Cryptic's developers, Gozer namely, has done a fantastic job of avoiding the pointed questions about these improvements, instead opting for the "if you don't like it go away" answer. I'm not in the software industry, but that seems to be a very poor business model overall. They seem to be hell-bent on driving away customers while fleecing the remaining people. If they would make something worth buying, people would buy it. If they gave people a reason to come back, people would. The gaming industry needs a good Star Trek game, and STO has all the makings to be that game. I'm hoping that the developers get something right this summer, or the end could be very near for STO.

I have to agree with most everyone. I was eager to start crafting then saw that higher level items requires dilithium. Also the quality of items and drops is pathetic. It wasn't till I got mk XI items that it was finally worth getting rid of my mk VII shielding. And even then it was almost a straight swap with little improvement.

Also another gripe is honestly I think you level up too quickly. You don't really have time to enjoy the level you are at. You just get used to the ship then here's a new one. Then you hit Level50 and nothing happens. At least give us a universal ship point for another ship of any level. I'm fine with C points for upgrading lower ships but at least make L50 worth achieving. Yes you can do elite missions and VA missions but the item drops make them more of a really I have to be L50 to do this?
One last note on leveling. When you reach level 50 the pace of the game drastically changes. It goes from leveling up every few hours to a "now what?" feeling and then grinding for items that are marginally better. The change of pace really makes it feel like you finished the game, now time to let it sit on your hard drive.

I absolutely agree with everything said so far, especially about how fast we level up now and the whole, "You made it to max level, so heres a daily mission" thing. I mean really we should get a ship token, Why not? I would love to have a cruiser hull and an escort hull for my tac officer but I would ahve to spend 120k dil to do that and I cant do that and get all the other stuff i want/need with Dil. I think is just a bad system, and should really be looked at.

I have been fighting with a GM and told him that "they have gotten to big for their breeches". Like most companies once they get famous and rich they don't give a "shite" anymore about the people who made them that way. But, when their profits start to fall from customers getting ticked off that they are screwing them then they spend millions to try to get us back.

While I'm rather indifferent on the gated missions, and wasn't around before the crafting changes, I can comment on the nearly nonexistant drops of borg tech. It's those dang lock boxes. It has to be. Before they implemented these Ferengi boxes they said they had 'fixed' the drop rate of tech throughout the STF's. Yes, I actually think they did do some sort of tweaking, because I actually got a few drops. However; as soon as the lock boxes reappeared I have seen only two tech drops and those were stinking commons. Even then I had to check my eyes, and make sure I hadn't been drinking too much causing me to see things that weren't really there.

Ok for once I'm not going to take the 'dev bashing' route, only because any of you who know me know how much love I DON'T have for them. (Though I feel it's totally justified.)

Drops as a whole are a joke. I can count on one hand the number of VR drops or items of a VR quality I have seen/received, either as drops or in the end goodie bag during STF's. And that's not counting my thumb. I would think that if you're running in an elite there would be some sort of incentive.

I am also taking a 'No test, No buy' stance to all ships and other items produced and introduced to the c-store. I have spent a lot of money on this game in a very short time, and have so far enjoyed every single purchase. Well, not so much my last one which was the Dreadnought. That was the one ship out of the 9 or 10 that I purchased which I bought on word of mouth instead of testing for myself. Now, I really want that new carrier. I enjoy my KDF carrier and would like to send some carrier love back their way..BUT I refuse to blindly buy any ship because \\\"It's pretty\\\".

I also agree with just about every mention here of their absurd business plan, or idea of. The problem is that game developers and publishers have been taking the \\\"take it or leave it\\\" route for so long that many of us have got used to being screwed over. While again, I wasn't there at the initial launch of the game (as I wanted to be), I have seen since the f2p launch that this mentality they have taken to so thouroghly has got worse and worse with each month. As Greasemonky said above \\\"... I'm hoping that the developers get something right this summer, or the end could be very near for STO.\\\" I agree wholeheartedly with that sentiment and to be brutally honest, it's the thing that's holding me back from a lifetime subcription. Ther's no way in (you know where), that I'm dropping $300 on a lifetime when the future of the game is looking so utterly dark. The whole money grab ploy that Cryptic/PWE is making at this point leads me to believe that when they reach their target amount, they will pull the plug on the server and laugh their way to the bank.

Please, don't get me wrong. I love the game and I love Trek. That is why I'm still here and as active as I am. I also believe that is the same reason many of are here and active. I truely hope the end isn't as near as it feels.