locallyunsceneFeeder of TrollsJoin Date: 2002-12-25Member: 11528Members, Constellation
I bit. I figured 50 days should be enough to evaluate it. (open beta 15 days + head start 5 days + 30 days first month) Also I'm American so it's a bit cheaper for me. Aren't you Europeans used to getting shafted by game prices yet?
X_StickmanNot good enough for a custom title.Join Date: 2003-04-15Member: 15533Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1745835:date=Jan 6 2010, 01:32 AM:name=locallyunscene)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (locallyunscene @ Jan 6 2010, 01:32 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1745835"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I bit. I figured 50 days should be enough to evaluate it. (open beta 15 days + head start 5 days + 30 days first month) Also I'm American so it's a bit cheaper for me. Aren't you Europeans used to getting shafted by game prices yet?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
£50 for an MMO, especially when it's a pre-order, is a bit steep even by european standards.
The only thing I've heard about the game that impresses me is the fact that there's a /facepalm command. I think I'll be holding off on getting it.
There's also a /khaaaaaaan emote as a preorder bonus from one retailer. I tried unsuccessfully to get into the closed beta and I rarely play an mmo I can't try first so I will pass unless there is a trial or rave reviews
It's being made by Cryptic Studios. I only realized this the other day. For those who don't know, Cryptic Studios made City of Heroes, a superhero MMORPG which, despite a number of flaws (including a total and utter lack of anything to do once you reach maximum level) is not ######. Then they made Champions Online, a superhero MMORPG, and we all thought "hey, this should be a walk in the park, right? They just need to take all the good stuff from CoH and then replace all the bad stuff from CoH with more good stuff." Sounds simple. They didn't pull it off. Previews for Star Trek Online have been... less than enthusiastic. Not pessimistic <i>per se</i>, but with a decidedly "well, it <i>could</i> work" tone.
In short, I'm with Disco Zombie: There's no way I'm paying for that game unless I get to try it first.
I'm in the open beta. Seems fun so far, haven't gotten through the tutorial yet, server went down halfway through. Seems to have the right flavor though. Combat seems clunky but that might just be open beta lag.
GiantBomb has a 2-part preview-thing <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/star-trek-online-beta-set-phasers-to-fun-part-01/17-1871/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.giantbomb.com/star-trek-online-beta-set-phasers-to-fun-part-02/17-1874/" target="_blank">here</a>. They both run ~1 hour and show character creation, random questing crap, and some space foightin'.
Fileplanet just announced the closing of the beta all the keys have been sent out. I would be playing it right now if I had known they had a key enroute to my email, which didn't reach my email until a I stopped downloading the client because I heard the keys were gone. Their Fileplanet's download manager sucks balls. I restarted the dl after getting my key this morning got 40% then decided to reboot my computer, which I've done before during the dl, only to find that when I restard the dl client it restarts the download.... So I'm at 8% now....
Here lately I've been downloading and playing alot of MMORPGS. I normally don't play past day one, none of them can engage me enough. Warhammer Online had my attention until I hit level three and realized that the automatic party finder sucks, it adds you to a group that has the boss baddy down to like 5 health and you're just in time to enjoy the spoils of- oh wait for the dice roll, NOTHING!!! No loot, no xp (cept for quest finish) I just found that annoying.
So far the only MMORPG I've enjoyed and didn't mind to keep paying to play is CoV. A flying fire tossing corruptor is actually really fun. Especially in the arena when you have other enemies who can't fly and are melee only which makes it impossible for them to hit you while you rain down fireblast after fireblast =P
EvE Online was really in depth, in fact there was too much depth. I got pwned too much by galactic police for scavenging the wrecks of raided mining crews. Seriously, no one warned me to log off for a few hours so I leave the station and lost my mining vessel, a frigate, and my cargo hauler.... Uninstall!!!
This game has taught me something about behavioral programming. As far as the game goes, it's really fun and I love the combat and game mechanics both in space and on the ground... and yet, I don't feel the desire / need to keep playing...
and then I realized, there just aren't many rewards in the game. Loot seems pretty rare and have ambiguous sidegrade stats, you rarely gain new skills, and there's like 20 different currencies that you have no idea how to get or what they're used for. Makes me less eager to fire it up and play. It just doesn't tap into the addiction to a constant IV drip of rewards like WoW and similar games do...
<!--quoteo(post=1747619:date=Jan 16 2010, 10:58 PM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DiscoZombie @ Jan 16 2010, 10:58 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1747619"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This game has taught me something about behavioral programming. As far as the game goes, it's really fun and I love the combat and game mechanics both in space and on the ground... and yet, I don't feel the desire / need to keep playing...
and then I realized, there just aren't many rewards in the game. Loot seems pretty rare and have ambiguous sidegrade stats, you rarely gain new skills, and there's like 20 different currencies that you have no idea how to get or what they're used for. Makes me less eager to fire it up and play. It just doesn't tap into the addiction to a constant IV drip of rewards like WoW and similar games do...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This sounds about right for what I am feeling too. The fighting is fun, but damned if I know what I am getting from it or how to spend it. It seems you need different currencies to do anything (one for ships, officers, parts, etc). Also, the map system I find quite annoying. Took me a bit to figure out how to get to a mission in a different zone or whatever.
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Play Forever ... For One Low Price For a limited time, we're offering players who've pre-ordered Star Trek Online the chance to purchase a lifetime membership for one low price. For just $239.99 USD, you can play in the persistent, compelling universe of Star Trek for the entire life of the product and never be billed again.
Lifetime subscribers also receive:
* Playable liberated Borg species option in the character creator. Create your very own, customizable character, freshly freed from the Borg collective. * Two additional character slots.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I saw this and I had to wonder why an MMO would be so desperate for day 1 cash. Do many MMOs do this or could it be perceived as a contingency for low take-up on release (based on low expecations)?
I have no idea tbh, the game is pretty fun but from what Ive played so far there is little longevity in it. But on the other hand interest in the game seems very, very high; it's possible they're just being aggressive cause of all the punters :P /ziggfailsatbusiness
Agree with all the points made, but as I was never an MMO crack addict (I never got that <i>just one more hour so I can unlock that new skill</i> feeling) I find the excellent space combat makes up for it.
Cryptic have said Atari signed them up 18 months ago to release it this month as their rights to the brand was expiring (and the developers who worked on it for 4 years prior to Cryptic went bust). I actually find this encouraging- the devs have held their hands up and said "this is all we could do in 18 months" but they've done well enough on the basics so that this game has massive potential. I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy a game for its potential, but I think I'll stick with it a launch.
If anyone has bought it on Steam and regretted it you can get a full refund by raising a support ticket and asking for one (if you do it before the launch date). I just got one for Global Agenda.
<!--quoteo(post=1747636:date=Jan 17 2010, 03:56 AM:name=Crispy)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Crispy @ Jan 17 2010, 03:56 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1747636"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I saw this and I had to wonder why an MMO would be so desperate for day 1 cash. Do many MMOs do this or could it be perceived as a contingency for low take-up on release (based on low expecations)?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> They probably know statistics about what percent of people are likely to play an MMO long enough for a lifetime subscription to be worth it, and they probably come out on top. I know I *almost* bought a lifetime subscription to LotRO and only wound up playing for about a year at most.
To be honest, lifetime subscriptions worry me. It's like the developer saying the game won't be good enough to play for more than a year or two, so we'll sucker you in now while you're blinded by the shinies so we can make a profit. If they had faith the game was going to be good enough to play for 4+ years, they wouldn't offer the option, so that they could continue to make money.
Honestly though, I'm probably reading into it too much. It's probably the publisher's idea, not the developer. Corporations are all about money in the short term.
Well, 240 bucks now are 240 bucks NOW. Why would I care if the game starts bleeding money in two years? If it does, I'll just shut it down. Assuming I haven't long sold my shares in the company by then.
<!--quoteo(post=1747654:date=Jan 17 2010, 06:20 AM:name=sherpa)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sherpa @ Jan 17 2010, 06:20 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1747654"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->If anyone has bought it on Steam and regretted it you can get a full refund by raising a support ticket and asking for one (if you do it before the launch date). I just got one for Global Agenda.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
really? All you have to do is just ask for one? Need no reason?
Finished downloading the game, made an account, installed game, activated key, ran game and game crashes computer at character/server login screen. Went to forum and apparent this has happened to alot of people. The only hint at a fix is on the patch log saying on Jan 12th that they were working on the issue. I've tried several different ways of running this game via the option tab in the updater window, none work.
Annoyed I am, but it seems I have to wait for another patch before I can play. Sort of like Dragon Age Origins Toolset. Had to wait for a different version before I could tinker otherwise core gameplay is modified and broken ultimately.
<!--quoteo(post=1747712:date=Jan 17 2010, 09:07 PM:name=SentrySteve)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SentrySteve @ Jan 17 2010, 09:07 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1747712"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->really? All you have to do is just ask for one? Need no reason?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I got it and have been playing in the head start as well as beta. Buggy and sort of a lot of downtime this weekend but the combat is fun enough to forgive it. I can't see it having much longevity, but it will be fun for a few months.
To elaborate, now that I'm posting from a computer and not my phone, the combat is more interesting and unique and fun than any other MMO I've played in a long time. It also really feels like you're in the Star Trek universe. However, the game continues to be buggy, it doesn't look like there will be an endgame outside of PvP in the foreseeable future, and the stats system is needlessly cryptic (no pun intended). I expect to greatly enjoy leveling up to max level though, at which point I anticipate getting bored and canceling my subscription. Who says an MMO really needs an endgame anyway? The endgame in WoW is very fleshed out, and consequently very soul-sucking. I'd rather play the field and enjoy the content of different MMOs than be stuck in one for years.
I really enjoyed the beta but I held off from buying it, personally I'm waiting for some reviews after release to get a better idea;
the game is fun and star trek like, the weapons and ships really look the part and it's got a nice vibe to it.
actual combat in the beta was incredibly easy, very possible to take a battleship down in under 5 seconds (at commander rank anyway, still pretty fast at any level really), though some of the micromanagement is quite fun, ground combat for me (tactical) basically boiled down to hitting the hotkeys for skills in the optimal order to kill the bad guys faster; you get a 5 man away team which you can fill with your own npc bridge officers, in most situations the healing prowess of 1 engineering & 1 science officer mean dying is very difficult and much more likely to be caused by an npc being stuck elsewhere than actual enemy fire. (though the AI pathing seems quite good, and you can issue orders and waypoints from the hud in a fairly slick manner too)
Some of the storyline missions are pretty cool, though the dialogue can often be a bit lazy, some pretty crazy stuff can happen, some of it hilarious, but the dialogue sucks. :/ There are also generic missions that flesh out your basic levelling experience (patrol sectors/defend sectors from hostiles/explore unknown systems, though atleast in the earlier areas they put at least some effort into diversifying them.) You can also fight in big 50 man fleet battles where you share 1 pve objective, these can actually get quite intense with the required micromanagement of shields vs many enemy ships, (I thought) they're a little crazy and a little bit of fun. They have apparantly nerfed ground "fleet actions" since I last played them, but it played out as people desperately banding together to kill infinite waves of klingons constantly beaming on their faces. I hope they have retained their intensity xD Some missions, though allegedly exploration missions, feel more tedious than intriguing (click on 5 alien plant to finish etc objectives), which is a shame because it shows so much potential. I haven't been able to try the pvp and there was no endgame when I was playing :P
Levelling seems fairly easy, a level an hour atleast in the Lt Commander/Commander range. I had exams so didn't really have time to play, unfortunately I finished at Commander 8 so I can't tell you what captain is like :P
Similarly, item acquisition seemed a bit lob-sided, the ship upgrades you could purchase with a small amount of exploration tokens were pretty much top of the range for their respective levels which allowed for some fairly quick and devastating fits, compared to say memory alpha (which is where you use anomalies to upgrade gear) which requires you to make (apparantly 80) low level synths before you can even unlock her second rank :p
The music is awesome, crazy dramatic stuff, very startrekky.
anyway I've been rambling as I do and I need to go to tescos:
<b>Bottom Line</b> fun? yes. longevity? I doubt it. I'm waiting for a real review of it myself, the game has a lot of potential and I'm interested but 40quid upfront and 10quid/mo makes me cautious ;p
puzlThe Old FirmJoin Date: 2003-02-26Member: 14029Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
Oh well, due to complete boredome with everything else I own at the moment I decided to buy this game.. about 4-5 hours into it and I'm enjoying it so far but it hasn't blown me away with giddy excitement or anything, then again, very little does these days. Am I suffering from Shockwave sydnrome?
Comments
£50 for an MMO, especially when it's a pre-order, is a bit steep even by european standards.
The only thing I've heard about the game that impresses me is the fact that there's a /facepalm command. I think I'll be holding off on getting it.
For those who don't know, Cryptic Studios made City of Heroes, a superhero MMORPG which, despite a number of flaws (including a total and utter lack of anything to do once you reach maximum level) is not ######. Then they made Champions Online, a superhero MMORPG, and we all thought "hey, this should be a walk in the park, right? They just need to take all the good stuff from CoH and then replace all the bad stuff from CoH with more good stuff." Sounds simple. They didn't pull it off.
Previews for Star Trek Online have been... less than enthusiastic. Not pessimistic <i>per se</i>, but with a decidedly "well, it <i>could</i> work" tone.
In short, I'm with Disco Zombie: There's no way I'm paying for that game unless I get to try it first.
or maybe it's disabled in england?
or maybe it's disabled in england?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
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Here lately I've been downloading and playing alot of MMORPGS. I normally don't play past day one, none of them can engage me enough. Warhammer Online had my attention until I hit level three and realized that the automatic party finder sucks, it adds you to a group that has the boss baddy down to like 5 health and you're just in time to enjoy the spoils of- oh wait for the dice roll, NOTHING!!! No loot, no xp (cept for quest finish) I just found that annoying.
So far the only MMORPG I've enjoyed and didn't mind to keep paying to play is CoV. A flying fire tossing corruptor is actually really fun. Especially in the arena when you have other enemies who can't fly and are melee only which makes it impossible for them to hit you while you rain down fireblast after fireblast =P
EvE Online was really in depth, in fact there was too much depth. I got pwned too much by galactic police for scavenging the wrecks of raided mining crews. Seriously, no one warned me to log off for a few hours so I leave the station and lost my mining vessel, a frigate, and my cargo hauler.... Uninstall!!!
and then I realized, there just aren't many rewards in the game. Loot seems pretty rare and have ambiguous sidegrade stats, you rarely gain new skills, and there's like 20 different currencies that you have no idea how to get or what they're used for. Makes me less eager to fire it up and play. It just doesn't tap into the addiction to a constant IV drip of rewards like WoW and similar games do...
and then I realized, there just aren't many rewards in the game. Loot seems pretty rare and have ambiguous sidegrade stats, you rarely gain new skills, and there's like 20 different currencies that you have no idea how to get or what they're used for. Makes me less eager to fire it up and play. It just doesn't tap into the addiction to a constant IV drip of rewards like WoW and similar games do...<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This sounds about right for what I am feeling too. The fighting is fun, but damned if I know what I am getting from it or how to spend it. It seems you need different currencies to do anything (one for ships, officers, parts, etc). Also, the map system I find quite annoying. Took me a bit to figure out how to get to a mission in a different zone or whatever.
For a limited time, we're offering players who've pre-ordered Star Trek Online the chance to purchase a lifetime membership for one low price. For just $239.99 USD, you can play in the persistent, compelling universe of Star Trek for the entire life of the product and never be billed again.
Lifetime subscribers also receive:
* Playable liberated Borg species option in the character creator. Create your very own, customizable character, freshly freed from the Borg collective.
* Two additional character slots.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->I saw this and I had to wonder why an MMO would be so desperate for day 1 cash. Do many MMOs do this or could it be perceived as a contingency for low take-up on release (based on low expecations)?
But on the other hand interest in the game seems very, very high; it's possible they're just being aggressive cause of all the punters :P /ziggfailsatbusiness
Cryptic have said Atari signed them up 18 months ago to release it this month as their rights to the brand was expiring (and the developers who worked on it for 4 years prior to Cryptic went bust). I actually find this encouraging- the devs have held their hands up and said "this is all we could do in 18 months" but they've done well enough on the basics so that this game has massive potential. I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy a game for its potential, but I think I'll stick with it a launch.
If anyone has bought it on Steam and regretted it you can get a full refund by raising a support ticket and asking for one (if you do it before the launch date). I just got one for Global Agenda.
They probably know statistics about what percent of people are likely to play an MMO long enough for a lifetime subscription to be worth it, and they probably come out on top. I know I *almost* bought a lifetime subscription to LotRO and only wound up playing for about a year at most.
To be honest, lifetime subscriptions worry me. It's like the developer saying the game won't be good enough to play for more than a year or two, so we'll sucker you in now while you're blinded by the shinies so we can make a profit. If they had faith the game was going to be good enough to play for 4+ years, they wouldn't offer the option, so that they could continue to make money.
Honestly though, I'm probably reading into it too much. It's probably the publisher's idea, not the developer. Corporations are all about money in the short term.
really? All you have to do is just ask for one? Need no reason?
Annoyed I am, but it seems I have to wait for another patch before I can play. Sort of like Dragon Age Origins Toolset. Had to wait for a different version before I could tinker otherwise core gameplay is modified and broken ultimately.
Correct. Part of the subscriber agreement.
To those of you who participated in the Beta, what's the final verdict. Bear in mind that I enjoy ST, but I'm not a trekkie.
the game is fun and star trek like, the weapons and ships really look the part and it's got a nice vibe to it.
actual combat in the beta was incredibly easy, very possible to take a battleship down in under 5 seconds (at commander rank anyway, still pretty fast at any level really), though some of the micromanagement is quite fun, ground combat for me (tactical) basically boiled down to hitting the hotkeys for skills in the optimal order to kill the bad guys faster; you get a 5 man away team which you can fill with your own npc bridge officers, in most situations the healing prowess of 1 engineering & 1 science officer mean dying is very difficult and much more likely to be caused by an npc being stuck elsewhere than actual enemy fire. (though the AI pathing seems quite good, and you can issue orders and waypoints from the hud in a fairly slick manner too)
Some of the storyline missions are pretty cool, though the dialogue can often be a bit lazy, some pretty crazy stuff can happen, some of it hilarious, but the dialogue sucks. :/
There are also generic missions that flesh out your basic levelling experience (patrol sectors/defend sectors from hostiles/explore unknown systems, though atleast in the earlier areas they put at least some effort into diversifying them.)
You can also fight in big 50 man fleet battles where you share 1 pve objective, these can actually get quite intense with the required micromanagement of shields vs many enemy ships, (I thought) they're a little crazy and a little bit of fun. They have apparantly nerfed ground "fleet actions" since I last played them, but it played out as people desperately banding together to kill infinite waves of klingons constantly beaming on their faces. I hope they have retained their intensity xD
Some missions, though allegedly exploration missions, feel more tedious than intriguing (click on 5 alien plant to finish etc objectives), which is a shame because it shows so much potential.
I haven't been able to try the pvp and there was no endgame when I was playing :P
Levelling seems fairly easy, a level an hour atleast in the Lt Commander/Commander range. I had exams so didn't really have time to play, unfortunately I finished at Commander 8 so I can't tell you what captain is like :P
Similarly, item acquisition seemed a bit lob-sided, the ship upgrades you could purchase with a small amount of exploration tokens were pretty much top of the range for their respective levels which allowed for some fairly quick and devastating fits, compared to say memory alpha (which is where you use anomalies to upgrade gear) which requires you to make (apparantly 80) low level synths before you can even unlock her second rank :p
The music is awesome, crazy dramatic stuff, very startrekky.
anyway I've been rambling as I do and I need to go to tescos:
<b>Bottom Line</b> fun? yes. longevity? I doubt it.
I'm waiting for a real review of it myself, the game has a lot of potential and I'm interested but 40quid upfront and 10quid/mo makes me cautious ;p