Star Trek Online

[CaptainRAVE]

haha didnt know you could rename your officers and i have no smeggin idea how to walk round my ship lol

You can only walk on your bridge. See the upside down triangle, bottom right of the mini map? Click it and the option to go to your bridge is there. Really enjoying this patch, cant wait for the launch changes!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Figured out how to sit in my captain's seat. Pointless as it is at the moment.

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/2367/gameclient2010012117553.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/6429/gameclient2010012117554.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/3686/gameclient2010012117572.png[IMG]

^ Note the bridge officer's names :D[/QUOTE]

Wait, is that FRAPS you have on there? How are you getting such a high frame rate? It is capped at 60 :confused:. Or am I missing something?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Vertical Sync caps your frame rate to your monitors refresh rate, it also stops tearing.

60hz = 60fps

That explains it!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Wow 792Mb patch

Its worth it - lots of changes today! Expect a few more patches by release.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

is it just me or is everyone elses taking like 3 mins or so to log into the character selection? Ahh its around the time all the american players come on...

Was happening earlier on this afternoon also. I think they are having issues with the account server today.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Its in out in out at the moment

Seems better this morning.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I hope people realise that the cause of this bug is lag. If you play when the Americans aren't on, you won't experience this to anywhere near the degree when they are.

It should still get fixed though - regardless of if it is caused by lag. Very interested to see what the next patch brings since I can only see there being 1 or 2 more patches before headstart.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Is head start on the 2nd ?

No, 29th Jan - i.e. next Friday . Not sure what time yet - I am assuming the usual server switch on time of 6pm GMT. Hoping for an announcement on this soon.

Release date is 2nd in US and 5th in UK. Headstart is the same though.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Ah cool cheers, do you get the headstart if you preorder through steam ?

I am almost 100% you do. Did you get your pre-order open beta code? The open-beta key and headstart key are the same thing if you got it through a pre-order.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Im actually using a fileplanet beta code as havent preordered yet, but i plan to today just want to make sure i get in the headstart.

It doesnt mention a headstart on steam, but then it doesnt on the online atari shop either.

This list may help in your decision if you didn't know about it already:

http://www.startrekonline.com/retail

I think all pre-orders offer the headstart. Just be sure to enter the new key into your STO account.

I was playing in the alpha quadrant yesterday in my cruiser. I swear they have messed around with the survivability of my ship. Before i was struggling to stay alove with 3 cruisers, now they hardly make a dent!

Yes they have - hopefully just to test it. The game is very, very easy now. I don't want it too difficult, because I want a difficulty everyone can enjoy. But at the moment it is a little too easy. Cryptic have been made quite aware of it on the official forums though

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Any one else patch this game more times than they have played it

Expect lots of patches over the next few weeks.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I'm not sure their giving out keys now, the product description doesn't mention it on hmv anymore.

Yes, I think it is only digital retailers still giving them out now e.g. Steam and D2D.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

If I preorder the game through steam, can I still use the game without steam (cryptics own launcher) ? and also how does the game get applied to your cryptic account ? . Im hopeing steam just gives a keycode i can entire on the cryptic site since i have an account for the beta already.

Yep. Steam will just give you a keycode to enter into your STO account. You will then run the game through the Cryptic launcher, not Steam.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Just wondering. Do i need to buy the game then buy subs or since im on the beta and have the game can i just buy a months sub when beta ends to prevent buying the retail game. As i can manage 8 quid to try for a month but not with buying the full game as well.

You would still need to buy the game to get a retail key.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

are you still a huge fan of the game? i have cancelled my pre order with steam , although they havent got back to me yet?

I wouldnt say a huge fan. The game looked better in closed beta. I have bought a lifetime sub. I will play it for the first 30 days and see how much I enjoy it at later levels - if I find I am not enjoying (or expect to stop enjoying it soon) I can still cancel my lifetime sub and will just sub on a month to month basis.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

oh dear not good reading but for me sums it up preety well .......


Star Trek Online Heading for MMO Graveyard?
Posted by Jack Devore | January 14th, 2010 | No Comments »

FILED UNDER: All. Games. Opinion.




I really don’t have it in for Cryptic, the designers of Star Trek Online, though it may seem so if you happened to read my impressions of the Champions Online beta last August. Many called me out for being overly hostile, for being too critical of a beta, blah-blah-blah. Folks, I’ve been around forever and I’ve played every MMO ever designed. I can spot a loser from a mile away and no amount of polishing and tweaking can fix fundamental design problems. I pegged Champions Online as a complete loser of a game and the ensuing months have proven me correct.

So it is with a heavy heart that I must slam Star Trek Online, which I have been slogging through for several days now.


First, the obvious: Cryptic is over-extended as a company. Making a solid MMO is a mammoth undertaking, a chore made all the more difficult by an ever-expanding market and increased competition. If you can’t deliver something as good as or better than the competition then you are doomed. When one considers Cryptic is a relatively small company, it’s utterly amazing they opted to take-on Star Trek and Champions Online at the same time. This business decision spelled disaster for both products as neither has received the attention they require.

In terms of Champions Online, Cryptic didn’t face a rabid fan-base full of demands and expectations, so its failure was barely visible to the gaming public. But with Star Trek, Cryptic is messing with a popular brand and its failure to deliver a compelling experience will be far more devastating.

The Star Trek Online graphics engine is stale and runs like crap, much like Champions Online. This can be attributed to a lot of players piling on the servers, which in turn hurts the frame-rate, but still: on a powerful Quad-Core machine there is no excuse for the choppy, unacceptable frame-rate I am experiencing.

Graphics can be optimized and streamlined, so that’s no big deal. The big deal arrives in the form of gameplay, the same area Cryptic dropped the ball in Champions Online.

There is nothing new in Star Trek Online you haven’t seen before and seen done better, especially in a game like EVE Online, a title the designers of STO may have wanted to investigate. Same derivative introductory sequence you played in City of Heroes and Champions, same skill mechanics, same interface, same everything, just decked out in Star Trek aesthetics. Same body, different suit. On the upside, Star Trek Online appears to be more group friendly, but that plus is also a negative for gamers who tend to play solo, which represents the overwhelming majority.

Death has no bearing on anything, so if you and your team are on a space-based mission, everyone can die endless times with no impact on your mission. You can trick yourself into thinking tactics will have some kind of impact on the outcome of a space battle or you can be a realist, cut to the chase, and plow your craft into the enemy, rinse and repeat. Zero sense of accomplishment or purpose. Empty and hollow, two things I did not want in a Star Trek MMO.

I really hate these people who have "x, y and z MMO experience". Most of his argument is that it doesn't run well on his PC - great, buy a better one. Just because it is a "quad core" doesnt mean it will run well. I have had no problems with everything maxed out.

This MMO will be around for a long time - it is Star Trek after all.

Just sounds like he wants to go back to EVE.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Bit of an unfair review? I've been enjoying it, levelling BOs making decision about their future upgrade abilities as well as my own have been fun. As well as developing tactics in space and on the ground in terms of what weapons/abilities compliment each other.

Just sounds like a critic trying to get attention for himself (as most do). There is no doubt that there are a lot of unknowns, but this won't be another Champions Online - it is a lot more fun for one thing

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I am working on the assumption that headstart will begin this Friday at 6pm (the time they always switch their servers on for anything) - post here if you hear different!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

"Most of his argument?" I count four sentenses (About 1/5th) of a post that summarises most of my feelings.

Warning: Minor wall of text.

It's all very well shooting down someones argument with facts and honest opinions, but deriding someone for wanting to go back to a more polished and established game is immature. And there are plenty examples in this thread.

So we are now accepting fiction and lies in place of fact and honest opinion? Somone should have informed me of this...

It just looks like a lot of people were looking for a game like EVE. STO was never meant to be anything like EVE (I am personally glad of this - I never liked EVE - too many people taking it way too seriously).

 

[CaptainRAVE]

The game being very linear is a major problem, no exploration what so ever.

Erm, have you tried the genesis content in star clusters? There is almost endless exploration (although I would agree they need to work on it - but the foundations are there).

Not read the whole thread.
But.....LOL....you're saying people are ready for the "end game" already??

*Walks away never to look back*

It should take a minimum of 3-4 months to get anywhere near the "end game" in an MMORPG.

Yes, there are some people! But regardless of the MMO, you will always get some people who get to the end game content in a week - and then complain that there isn't much of it.

Fiction and lies? Can you tell me anywhere in my post that I said that those thoughts were nothing more than my honest opinion? If you like the game then fair enough, who am I to say otherwise? Just don't call me a liar when I did nothing of the sort.

Also, if you had bothered to read my post you'd see that I could not get into EVE. The only thing from EVE I'd like it to emulate is the one shard/open world idea. My problem with the game is what I feel is lack of depth and that it does not feel like Star Trek.

This (not accusing you of doing it) -

It's all very well shooting down someones argument with facts and honest opinions, but deriding someone for wanting to go back to a more polished and established game is immature.

What else am I supposed to shoot them down with? The critic was clearly biased - there are many positives that he could have mentioned. He just chose not to.

My EVE comment also wasn't directed at anyone in particular.