Topic: Star Trek Online
started by: Leisher
Posted by Leisher on Feb. 10 2010,13:21
Am I mistaken or have I seen you jumping onto Star Trek Online?If it was you, how do you like it so far? It's the only MMO that has interested me. Not that I'd have any time for it.
Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 10 2010,14:24
That was me, I bought and downloaded it yesterday. I only played for a little bit. I'm not even done with the intro tutorial yet, actually.So far I like it. The character creator is great if you like playing dress-up with virtual Star Trek dolls. It's on par with CoH or Champions Online in terms of character customization.
Gameplay I haven't had much of yet. Basically there's space combat and planet-side away team missions. Space combat so far is like a dumbed down version of Eve. And planet side combat is like a dumbed down version of one of those over-the-sholder shooters where you command a squad (it's also a lot like SWG after NGE in some ways for this part). But then, again, I'm still in the tutorial so the "dumbed down" part is likely not a fair assessment yet.
What it definately has is the Star Trek flavor. It's not as noble as TOS, as hippy as TNG, as complex as DS9, as bland as Voyager, as retconned as Enterprise, or as boring as the movies. What it is is somewhere in the middle of those extremes. And it has plenty of referneces to all of those, both as tangential quests and as inside jokes.
Oh, and there are tribbles. And if you leave a tribble in your inventory while you also have food in there, later on you will find you have no food and many tribbles.
Again, it's early to call it, but so far I'd have to say if you are looking for a good quality MMO don't bother. But if you are looking for some fun in a reasonably well-done Star Trek universe, then go buy it now.
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 10 2010,14:33
Do you have complete freedom when naming your ship?
Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 10 2010,14:48
I only tried one name so far (U.S.S. Cochrane), and it didn't fuss about it. I suspect it'll kick out certain key names (like "Enterprise") or naughty words.I'll be changing it when I get a new ship, and will let you know if I find a name it doesn't like. But the ships names I saw were pretty varied.
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 10 2010,15:47
I want to command the USS Steve Perry.For the psyche-out value.
Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 12 2010,06:03
I'm sure it would take that one.Who's Steve Perry?
Posted by TheCatt on Feb. 12 2010,06:18
Lead singer from Journey.
Posted by TPRJones on Feb. 12 2010,06:19
Who's Journey?
Posted by TheCatt on Feb. 12 2010,06:44
(TPRJones @ Feb. 12 2010,09:19)
QUOTE
Who's Journey?
I envy you.
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 12 2010,07:18
The real shame is that neither of you know what I'm talking about when I refer to Steve Perry's name as "psyche-out" value.
Posted by TheCatt on Feb. 12 2010,07:51
(GORDON @ Feb. 12 2010,10:18)
QUOTE
The real shame is that neither of you know what I'm talking about when I refer to Steve Perry's name as "psyche-out" value.
That film sucked balls.
Posted by GORDON on Feb. 12 2010,08:20
Dude.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 11 2010,15:40
Well I bought it, and for some reason it won't let me register.Nice.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 11 2010,15:57
That was the clunkiest registration process I've ever seen.Among other things, it took me about 7 registration attempts for it to recognize that yes, I did indeed ACCEPT THE GODDAMN LICENSE AGREEMENT.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 11 2010,15:59
They sent me an email telling me to read the online manual, and game me a link to it.The link they gave me is < http://manual/ >
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 11 2010,17:19
Heh. That's funny.You don't need a manual. It's not a complex game. And the tutorial is pretty good.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 11 2010,17:34
In the middle of the tutorial. Killed some Borg on that ship. Beamed a couple out into space. Killed some Borg probes with my ship (The USS Steve Perry). Went down the the planet, saved some colonists, then destroyed some Borg device they were building. When returning to my ship, loading screen, it said, "Server Not Responding." After waiting 5 minutes I went afk. When I came back I had auto-logged out.Then I came here.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 11 2010,17:51
I've had that come up a couple of times, but never for more than a few seconds, and never been disconnected.I hope you just have a bad connection.
By the way, after playing a bit longer my prior assessment still stands. As an MMO it's mediocre at best. As a Star Trek thing to play around with it's pretty good.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 11 2010,18:18
I'm playing long enough to get a feel for PVP.Oh, also...
Psyche!
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,06:14
1.6GB patch. What the hell.
Posted by Troy on Mar. 18 2010,06:50
(GORDON @ Mar. 18 2010,06:14)
QUOTE
1.6GB patch. What the hell.
Forgot Ferengi.
And they have big heads (and ears).
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,07:35
Really? They were adding Ferengi?
Posted by Troy on Mar. 18 2010,10:05
(GORDON @ Mar. 18 2010,07:35)
QUOTE
Really? They were adding Ferengi?
No idea, just trying to fit with the star trek crowd. Voyager is still my all time fav.
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 18 2010,10:47
(Troy @ Mar. 18 2010,12:05)
QUOTE
(GORDON @ Mar. 18 2010,07:35)
QUOTE
Really? They were adding Ferengi?
Voyager is still my all time fav.
Heathen.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,11:55
Most banworthy thing Troy has ever said.
Posted by Troy on Mar. 18 2010,12:50
Oh come on now! Who needs cool catch phrases and hot Alien babes, all you need is the screen version of your Mother lost in a distant galaxy.Right? Guys?
Posted by Malcolm on Mar. 18 2010,13:12
(Troy @ Mar. 18 2010,14:50)
QUOTE
Oh come on now! Who needs cool catch phrases and hot Alien babes, all you need is the screen version of your Mother lost in a distant galaxy.
Right? Guys?
Right? Guys?
Has your wife hijacked your account?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,13:21
Been playing frequently, trying to get to Lt Cmdr rank so I can get a bigger boat.The missions... actually have the feel of an old fashioned trek episode. It is enjoyable for that aspect.
For now.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 18 2010,16:02
After the Klingons and Romulans and all that original series stuff, starting into Lt. Cmdr it's Romulans and feels a little more like Next Gen. Still fun, but somehow different, too.If the trend continues, I expect to be at Deep Space 9 as Captain, and then Voyager stuff as Admiral. Which if true implies you should enjoy it while it lasts, it's all downhill from here.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,17:24
Patching system sucks. Been on and off 3 or 4 times today, and each time it made me DL the same 16mb patch.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 18 2010,19:49
I just got blueballed. Played LONG after I was tired to hit the next rank, figuring it was after Lt 9. Nope. LT 10 is next... don't know why I thought Lt Cmdr was next.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 19 2010,11:33
Oh, yeah, it's 1-10 and then you get the next rank. I keep forgetting that, too.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 19 2010,13:04
Same 16mb patch is dl'ing. What the hell.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 19 2010,22:00
Okay, this game just became suddenly the most awesome thing ever. That was brilliant. I won't be specific because I don't want to ruin anything, but once you become Captain there's a quest that is just ... great.By the way, it does indeed progress through the series. I'm definitely playing a DS9 game now. Remember Section 31, and all the political intrigue?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 19 2010,22:04
I'm hoping the Enterprise-E makes an appearance in a mission with Data in command.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 20 2010,11:36
When you are with an allied ship, can you set yourself to auto-follow it?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 20 2010,12:56
And where did you get all of your money? I only make a couple thousand selling a full load of stuff from a string of missions. You've given me 300k so far, and spent a mill on a new ship the other night.So where is the money tree?
Posted by Leisher on Mar. 20 2010,13:31
So...should I own this yet?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 20 2010,13:44
As a MMOG I haven't seen much to recommend it, but as a Star Trek game, I like it. The fact weird things get said in chat and TPR is around now and then to get me through tough missions (and give me money) is a plus.And here's the new boat I got last night. It is a Constitution Class, like the original Enterprise. Unless I am mistaken.
Posted by DoctorChaos on Mar. 20 2010,18:44
You are correct. It is a Constitution class starship. So do you have an Orion slave girl named Lilu?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 20 2010,18:58
(DoctorChaos @ Mar. 20 2010,21:44)
QUOTE
You are correct. It is a Constitution class starship. So do you have an Orion slave girl named Lilu?
Two.
Edit - I've built an all-female bridge crew.
And made ALL of their boobs max size.
You can do that.
Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 21 2010,08:39
Of course you can. They know their audience.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 21 2010,08:45
(GORDON @ Mar. 20 2010,13:36)
QUOTE
When you are with an allied ship, can you set yourself to auto-follow it?
Sure. You can also auto-follow other players you aren't grouped with. Just select the ship you want to follow, then right-click and there's a follow option. It's not very smart about it, though, you'll tend to either fly around them in circles if you go too fast, or ram into them. Pressing a WASD key will make it stop following and start flying under your control again.
QUOTE
And where did you get all of your money? I only make a couple thousand selling a full load of stuff from a string of missions. You've given me 300k so far, and spent a mill on a new ship the other night.
So where is the money tree?
So where is the money tree?
I sell a lot of stuff on the Exchange. A lot a lot. Pretty much anything rated Uncommon or higher is worth selling on the exchange, and some Common items as well (mostly ship's weapons). But the really big money has come from 72% food. The 72% food items are used to breed fancy tribbles, so some of them will sell for as much as 400k a pop. It's dropping though, and some of the 64% food used to be worth selling but isn't anymore, so try to make some cash off of it while you still can.
The tribbles have totally inflated the economy of the game, really. That's why stuff in the Exchange is so darn pricey. On the bright side money really isn't all that important. Truth is the fancy equipment isn't all that much more powerful than the basic cheap stuff, and the differences are overshadowed by the bonus of just having the next tier of ship.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 21 2010,09:26
It seems like every other character I meet in the game is descended from a major character from one of the series. I met Chief O'Brien's son the other night. Sulu's great grandson is one of the first peeps you meet in the game.Obviously I haven't met any Picards, ha ha.
Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 21 2010,09:43
(GORDON @ Mar. 20 2010,06:44)
QUOTE
and TPR is around now and then to get me through tough missions (and give me money) is a plus.
Has there ever been an MMOG where you didn't need someone giving you money?!
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 21 2010,09:55
(Cakedaddy @ Mar. 21 2010,12:43)
QUOTE
(GORDON @ Mar. 20 2010,06:44)
QUOTE
and TPR is around now and then to get me through tough missions (and give me money) is a plus.
Has there ever been an MMOG where you didn't need someone giving you money?!
I owned the market in Star Wars online. In certain commodities, I was buying up EVERYTHING for sale of a particular item, marking it up, and putting it back up for sale at a higher price. I was spending 5 million dollars and making 7 million back.
But that was time consuming and the game wasn't exciting enough to keep me interested.
And... I recently realized I could start doing the same thing in the Star Trek market place. *evil laugh* At each rank you get the next 2 higher tiers of items.... and the higher tiers are, obviously, more in demand. I may start cornering markets.
Posted by Leisher on Mar. 22 2010,12:00
I damn near bought this at lunch today. I think if it goes on sale on Steam again, I'll grab it.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 22 2010,13:16
The space battles are "Star Fleet Command," lite. The ground "away team" missions are Star Wars Online.Actually, the space battles may not be as "lite" as I think. As you get better ships you are able to do more of the "swiss army knife" things you were able to do in Star Fleet Command.
Posted by TheCatt on Mar. 22 2010,14:40
(GORDON @ Mar. 22 2010,16:16)
QUOTE
The space battles are "Star Fleet Command," lite. The ground "away team" missions are Star Wars Online.
Actually, the space battles may not be as "lite" as I think. As you get better ships you are able to do more of the "swiss army knife" things you were able to do in Star Fleet Command.
Actually, the space battles may not be as "lite" as I think. As you get better ships you are able to do more of the "swiss army knife" things you were able to do in Star Fleet Command.
Translation?
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 22 2010,15:57
In SFC you could use tractor beams to stop enemy ships, transport mines in the path of your enemy, use the tractor beam as "point defense" to stop incoming missiles, target particular shield quadrants of the enemy, make high-speed impulse turns, etc.It was fairly decent "naval" strategy, and simple enough to still be fun.
Looks like a large chunk of that stuff may be possible with higher ranks and better ships.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 22 2010,16:18
Yeah, as you go up there's a much wider array of more interesting abilities to use. My current favorite is Ramming Speed which is really hard to pull off in the cow of a ship I'm driving but when I am able to get it lined up and pull it off I often nearly insta-kill whatever it is I've run into.I'd have to say it's similar to Eve combat. At lower levels it's like Eve lite, but it's getting some traction. Only instead of the skills you can use in combat being based on installed equipment they're based on what skills you've trained for yourself and your bridge crew. Ship equipment just provides bonuses to those skills. Except the weapons themselves, of course, those are purely equipment driven. But skills do still give bonuses to the weapons.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 22 2010,16:38
Like EVE? Unlike Eve I've always seen every ship I've fought. In Eve they were just dots on a radar screen.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 22 2010,16:44
Well, there is that. The max range is 10km, which is close enough to actually see the ships. That's a nice difference. And flying the ship is a bit more like a flight sim than a point-and-click adventure.So not completely like Eve.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 22 2010,16:49
I think that is a big part of what made EVE so bland. In STO I can see the ship I am fighting, see when he is coming about to get me in the arcs of his forward weapons, and see when I have damaged it.It is a lot more interesting than looking at dots circling you in a radar screen.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 25 2010,18:55
2GB patch today? What the fucking fuck?Someone buying this game off the shelf today is going to have 10GB of patching to do.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 26 2010,20:44
Exchange question:How do you sell shit?
I went to "Sell," dragged an item from inventory into that top bar, put a price in the box, hit the "post" button. Nothing seems to have happened. Item is still in my inventory. What am I doing wrong?
Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 26 2010,21:13
(GORDON @ Mar. 26 2010,13:44)
QUOTE
What am I doing wrong?
Playing Star Trek Online? :-)
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 27 2010,11:05
Sounds right to me, GORDON. Sometimes it can take a few seconds because of lag. Try waiting a bit after hitting post and see what happens.If it fails because of that you should get a message saying so when it finally actually tries to do it and fails.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,11:08
(TPRJones @ Mar. 27 2010,14:05)
QUOTE
Sounds right to me, GORDON. Sometimes it can take a few seconds because of lag. Try waiting a bit after hitting post and see what happens.
If it fails because of that you should get a message saying so when it finally actually tries to do it and fails.
If it fails because of that you should get a message saying so when it finally actually tries to do it and fails.
Must have been broken last night. Nothing was happening after 30-60 seconds.
Just now, it worked just fine.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,11:11
Put up my uncommon-rare loot. Based 5k for "Uncommon Mark III." First item sold within a minute. Must be underpricing, heh.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 27 2010,11:16
I usually price my stuff just a tiny fraction below the cheapest one on the market of that type. Quickest way to find that out is to Ctrl+Click the item, then copy the name out of your chat bar (skipping the first [ and last ]) paste that in the search text and go. Much better than typing crap.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,11:53
I keep getting "Server not responding" when going zone to zone, and now I can't even log back in and get past "Choose your character." No characters appear.Little glitchy today.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,13:55
(GORDON @ Mar. 27 2010,14:53)
QUOTE
I keep getting "Server not responding" when going zone to zone, and now I can't even log back in and get past "Choose your character." No characters appear.
Little glitchy today.
Little glitchy today.
Again.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,18:49
Entire server is down while they try to fix it.I've been looking forward to playing all night.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,18:55
That being said, I too had a "Holy shit, THIS IS COOL" mission for the first time, tonight. This mission ensured I would be playing this game for a while.... I was already thinking I may not even get to the Commander rank.It was the "City of the Edge of Never" mission. Very cool to be skirting the actions of TOS episodes, like what Deep Space 9 did with the Tribbles.
I was right in the middle of that mission which is why I was looking forward tog etting back to it.
I may have to start that mission over, if they timewarp the server.
And I would be glad to do it all over again.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,19:31
Ha. I am stirring up trouble on the STO forums.There is a "server down" thread. Someone called the player base a bunch of whiners. I said, "The whiners are paying customers."
Then an admin responded to me with a "The customer base is actually full of whiners, and you all really need to understand how, individually, you are all more than worthless to us."
Now all hell is breaking loose, heh.
An admin really shouldn't say things like that.
Posted by Cakedaddy on Mar. 27 2010,21:00
But they can, cause they know that the few that leave far don't out weigh the many that don't, or something like that.I wish EA felt the pain of my boycott. But, I doubt they do.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 27 2010,21:13
Before the server crash I had made about 40k selling stuff in the market.... which, at my level, seems pretty good.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 31 2010,13:49
Question:When you are in ship-ship combat, you have your available bridge officers in that window at the bottom of the screen, with buttons for the functionality they have available. Is there any way to change what is in those buttons? I have 2 engineers and they both have the same "repair hull" function available.
Posted by TPRJones on Mar. 31 2010,17:11
Yes, you need to retrain one of them with a different skill. You can do this using one of your unused bridge officers, or at Earthdock there's a trainer in the Personnel area that will train most any skill you want them to have.For engies, I use Science Team and Engineering Team as their first tier skills. One heals shields and one heals hull, and they both work on teammates as well as yourself. Pretty handy to have.
Posted by GORDON on Mar. 31 2010,18:06
Yeah I want that repair shield skill.
Posted by GORDON on Apr. 06 2010,20:51
Kept getting harrassed by a PK Klingon, tonight, apparently.Was in a mission where I had to screw around against a couple Borg. Have to go slow and be careful, because if you aren't paying attention you end up in the middle of 3 cubes that take turns tractor-beaming you in place.
Every time a Borg would get my shields down, this Klingon would decloak behind me and blast the shit out of me. The one time I got him in front of me decloaked I did some damage, but then he just cloaked again and got behind me and I eventually got tired of it and quit the mission.
Posted by Leisher on Apr. 07 2010,05:58
Why wouldn't the Borg target him once he decloaked?
Posted by GORDON on Apr. 07 2010,06:29
(Leisher @ Apr. 07 2010,08:58)
QUOTE
Why wouldn't the Borg target him once he decloaked?
It is sort of like the animals/monsters in UO... once locked on, they don't seem to change targets unless a new target is a bigger threat. As long as the Klingon was attacking me, the Borg didn't care about him.