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What Makes a Good Episode?

Captain's Blog Stardate 92844.49

After playing Uneasy Allies I asked myself, what exactly makes a good story for Star Trek Online? Thinking back to the history of episodes in STO, the one that stands out the most to me is "Cutting the Cord". I feel that this is the perfect example of a good episode. It has an amazing environment, good features, interesting story, and a fun ending.

Here's the way I see it. To have an episode that keeps people interested you need two things. First, a story that makes sense and makes you ask the questions "what's next" or "how will it end". Second, it should have something unique that stands out above the rest and is fun.

Let's take a look at "Dust to Dust" which utilized that complex maze and a giant chasm with bridges that don't stay open. While unique, I found it to be annoying and pointless. Now look at "A Step Between Stars" which had us right above a sun not only in our ship but also in an EV suit. That's something new and fun (even if flying in that EV suit was a bit of a pain).

Now take an episode like "Uneasy Allies". I didn't find it to be a bad episode but I also found it lacking. It was kind of short (depending on how much dialog you read) and didn't really have anything unique. Sure it had that Herald to make things interesting but nothing like floating above a sun in an EV suit.

So what's my summary of all this? In order for STO to have good episodes, the developers need to do their best to incorporate unique features into the story that players enjoy. In the comments let me know what you expect out of a good story.

Written by Attilio on March 29, 2015 at 11:20 pm

Comments

TOIVA (Guest) said...
April 02, 2015 at 11:26 am

I share the feeling it is somehow lacking.
But not by time spent. Rushing through it, skipping cutscenes etc. I've gotten to close to 20 mins. Unless I recall incorrectly, previous missions can be speed ran in a quarterhour.
What I think made 'Uneasy allies' lacking is how forced it felt. It was supposed to move the story from wherever we are now (dealing a heavy blow to 'bugs' and Gaul, ending open hostilities with Undine, ...) to the Heralds. It all felt (even thanks to Sela) like we were led by hand from one point to the next, like we were a pawn and nothing more.

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Hijinks (Member) said...
May 23, 2015 at 12:38 pm

I just read this (so late, I know...)

I haven't played much of the last couple expansions, but I can easily say that my favorite episodes so far are Boldly They Rode, Cutting the Cord, and Of Bajor. DS9 was my favorite arc, except for the slightly lacking (in my opinion) military actions of the True Way and Dominion.

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