Gaming In The Real World

It would be great if we had the time to game as much as we want whenever we want, but that's just not realistic for most of us. I've given up MMOs because they were just too demanding of my time or demanded I be in-game at set times it just wasn't possible for me to guarantee. EvE in particular I left because I just couldn't make it work logistically. Now that I'm playing STO, however, I've noticed a marked difference in the way the game is structured that allows me to play when I have time, not only when it's also convenient for others.

Normally, I'm not a big fan of instancing. I come from the EvE school of thought that it's a better game when all of the players are in the same play space. At the same time, though, I must say it's used to best effect here. Instancing allows players like me who log on at weird hours to still be able to find teammates to take on some enemies, and for me, that makes it a significantly better game than one where I have to make sure I'm on in a certain time range in order to ensure that I have something to do.

Right now, I'm taking a couple of days break from STO. There's just too much to do in RL right now. I did log in for a few minutes earlier today, but I doubt I'll have time until tomorrow, when the next winter storm hits. I've been playing so much since I've had it that I think I may have damaged the left button on my trackball mouse. It doesn't trigger reliably anymore, meaning I may have no choice but to replace it if I want to play STO, or really pretty much any PC game. What sucks is that it works well enough just for web surfing and other mundane tasks, but I can't see how I'll manage to survive a decent STO firefight with this thing.

Given that here in New Jersey we're looking at several inches of snow over the next few days, I have a feeling that I may find myself with the time to discover the answer to that burning question.

Running On Empty

Yeah, it looks like I've reached it, too.

There apparently comes a point in STO, at least currently, where you actually begin running out of new things to do in the game. At the same time, however, it's also important to remember that just because you've been somewhere in-game previously it doesn't necessarily follow that you're done with that area.

For example, after I'd appeared to hit a wall in the game yesterday, I checked my mission logs and realized that I hadn't finished the mirror universe mission. I'd tried it and failed repeatedly when I was still a Commander and flying a less powerful ship, so I'd just put that mission aside in the hopes of beating it once I had better skills and hardware. I went back to that mission and was able to finish it this time, but the experience of doing so pointed up for me one of the problems I have with this game in general: The lack of a sense of continuity within the STO universe.

Here's what I mean: When I'd originally gotten the mirror universe mission, I went to the indicated system and started the mission. I got far enough into it to be stuck on the other side of the portal, in the mirror universe, and had to defeat three docked Terran Empire ships before they could activate. This was where I failed repeatedly, and eventually gave up on the mission for a while.

The next time I logged in, I was placed in sector space and offered a button to press that would take me back to where I was in the mirror universe mission. I chose to ignore that and go do some other things to gain more skill points and a higher rank before taking on that mission again.

Now, here's my nitpicky continuity question: If I'm in a mission where I'm stuck on the other side of a portal but I haven't yet made it through and back to my own universe, how is it possible for me to continue doing missions in my own universe while this mission remains unresolved? A good writer could and should have closed this loophole in the mission story text.

For me, that's the biggest problem with STO. It feels unfinished, like there's a very solid foundation and a well-built core structure, but many of the finer details and amenities haven't been installed yet. There's still sawdust on the floor, bits of loose wiring that await connections, windows and doors to be installed and balanced...you get the idea.

Even after participating in several betas, I still don't possess the arrogance to call myself a gaming expert, but I know what I like and what I expect when a game comes out of beta, officially opens its doors, and begins charging players to participate. STO comes close to that, but it's become clear to me that this game should have launched with significantly more playable content than it did, or the content that was released should have been made to be more difficult and time-consuming to get through.. What's available is good, some is even truly great, but it seems like right now for me it's all about my daily visits to the B'Tran Cluster and chasing down enemy signal contacts to finish tweaking the fitting of my assault cruiser.  

As a player who was there at the very beginning, it's becoming harder and harder for me to find new things to do in STO. I'm not saying that's totally the case as yet, but I can see that time rapidly approaching. If Cryptic's got more content ready to go, I hope they release it soon.

I'm considering starting a new toon, but I'd really rather keep working on this one. On the other hand, I just downloaded Bioshock 2, so maybe that's how I'll spend this afternoon...right after I log into STO and see if there's anything that actually does need my attention and piques my interest. First things first, after all.

Y'know, it's funny.  A while back, I said that waiting for STO to go live was like being a little girl who knows what she's getting for her birthday but doesn't know exactly what it will look like when she finally gets it. I still feel the same way, almost a month afterward, that I know and like this game but I still haven't had a chance to see it in its full glory.

By now, you might think I'm questioning my decision to get the lifetime subscription. The truth is that I'm not, at least, not yet. In my opinion, there's plenty of time for Cryptic to finish the job and make this game what it should be. I understand the business realities that may have lead to this game being released before it realistically should have been, and while I'm not thrilled with the less-than-optimal amount of content, the game itself is entertaining enough and holds enough promise that I'm willing to give Cryptic a little more time to catch up.

There's also one other thing I really like about STO, something that helped me become comfortable with the idea of getting the lifetime sub because it helps to ensure that STO will be a part of my gaming life for a long time to come. I'll talk about that next time.

You and Me in the Admirality

Yep, I'm an Admiral now, Grade 4 to be precise. I've entered the Gamma Orionis sector and my first set of missions there last night went pretty well. I now see that there's enough I haven't done in this sector to keep me busy for at least a while, but I'm interested to see how this all plays out over time.

I'm flying an Assault Cruiser now, and I'm having a pretty good time with it. I'm probably not the most lethal captain in the Federation, but I've become a pretty decent PvE warrior and I've got the hardware to back to it up. As far as PvP goes, I haven't seen much of that as yet, but I suspect I'll get good at that over time as I do more of it.

I find I have to keep reminding myself that this is still the very beginning, that STO has still been open to the general public for less than a month. That reality excites me and concerns me at the same time. On the one hand, I've had a great time with this game so far and I'm looking forward to a lot more. On the other hand, I'm concerned that if I'm able to burn through STO's early content so quickly that I'm already just a grade below max in just about three weeks of play, what's going to happen down the road? Will Cryptic keep up with those of us who are already entering the endgame less than a month in, or will we find ourselves waiting for Cryptic to catch up with us?

It's an interesting position for me to be in. With the single exception of Fallen Earth, I've never gotten seriously involved with any other MMO I've been in beta for. As with other MMO's, even in a new game like FE I found myself outclassed by a growing group of players who were already moving into endgame content early on while I was still far behind. In that case, while I enjoyed the game, it just didn't do it for me long term and I eventually left to re-enter EvE for a while, where I was similarly far behind a certain level of player. This time, I'm not only there at the very beginning, but I've set myself up with a collector's edition copy of the game and a lifetime subscription. Instead of feeling like I had to catch up to where others already were in the game, in this case I'm one of those out in front leading the way.

I know Cryptic has some pretty cool plans and so I'm not worried that suddenly there will be nothing for me to do in STO. For me, it's more about wondering if there'll be enough for me to do on an ongoing basis. My life goes through phases where I have more or less free time generally available for gaming, and so I tend to play a lot when I find myself with the time. Besides what I've written about in past posts, one of the big reasons I got a lifetime subscription to STO is that chances are it saves me money in the long run over paying on a continuous plan for a game that I may or may not play a lot at any given time of year. With the lifetime sub, I play whenever I have time and I don't have to worry about spending money on server time I don't use. Yes, I know the logic is a bit convoluted, but it works well enough for me.

What I think will be most interesting to see is how many STO players actually make it to Admiral and join the endgame play. Depending on the time you have to devote to it, getting there isn't really all that difficult. Still, the fact that I was able to put in a couple of eight-hour sessions toward achieving that goal didn't hurt either. I usually don't have the time to do anything like that even once, much less twice, but thanks to a quirk in scheduling I was able to pull it off.

I've barely scratched the surface of endgame play so far, but it's looking good, really good. There's still one question I can't help but ask, though: Why was it so easy for me to get there? And along those lines: Shouldn't it be at least a little tougher to rank up in STO just in general?

Risk vs reward, people. If you make the reward too easy to obtain, it doesn't carry the kind of value it should.

Just one captain's opinion.

Speeding

I dunno, it just seems like it's going a little too fast. I mean, it's just over two weeks since the beginning of head start and I'm almost through Captain and into Admiral. If this is really as long as it's going to take to max out in terms of level, why even bother having levels at all? It just seems to me like a lot more effort should have to be expended to make the higher ranks than required right now.

I am having a pretty good time with this game, but it just seems like what some people are saying is true: It's a bit lighter on content than it should be. That's not to say I'm not still encountering new missions, but also a lot of re-hashes of the same missions with different environments or with or without bad guys to fight.

I'm just hoping that when I max out on Admiral there's still lots of stuff to do. After all, it seems that anyone who plays this game for even a short amount of time is going to be one. Funny how it's so early along in the life of the game, and yet right now it feels like I've almost played it through.

I definitely think they rushed this game out when they should have taken a little more time creating missions and other content. Still, I'll be just as happy if they deliver the content in future patches. The way I look at it is that the MMO and Trekkie communities have embraced this game to the tune of a million registered accounts, and so we should have the right to expect a level of content and updating worthy of a top-ranked MMO. I don't expect miracles two weeks in, but at the same time my expectations are high, higher than they were before we knew for certain that this game would be a hit.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes...

Onward

So, I'm a Commander, Grade 5, now. Obviously, I've been spending a bit of time in-game. It's funny how with a new game like STO you sometimes run into things that aren't really bugs per se, but nonetheless are really annoying and need to be fixed.

For example, at one point you get an exploration mission to the Afehirr Nebula. You're told by the NPC who gives you the mission where it is (off the Psi Velorum sector block), but when you go to your map it's not there. You can't set a course there, you have to manually fly your ship to the end of the Psi Velorum sector block where you'll find the border and be able to warp in as normal. It's all there, it's just not listed or shown on your map.

I'm starting to become more strict about what I bank and what I sell to make an attempt to keep my inventory at a manageable level. I'm trying to hang onto stuff that will be useful to my crew once I make Captain and can promote them to Commanders, but I also like to keep a stock of hypos, shield boosts and power cells for ground combat. I have a lot of RL retail industry experience, and I decided that my biggest user of "shelf space" with the lowest amount of benefit (profit) was commodities. I'd accumulated a lot of these, but with the exception of just two missions where I'd had to deliver medical supplies and astro-something-or-others, I'd found no practical use for them other than to sell for energy credits. So, that's what I did. I sold off just about my entire stock of commodities, though I kept the medical supplies, just in case. Not only do I have a nice cushion of energy credits now, but also a lot more space in my inventory for other things.

Another thing I find interesting about this game is how the storyline missions have slowed to a trickle now that I've made Commander, instead of the virtual smorgasbord players were offered at the lower levels. In short, once you get to a certain point they start making you work for it. Storyline missions are now offered to me one or two at a time, usually after I've done some other higher-level mission or area exploration.

While some may have a problem with this style of play, I happen to like it. It encourages the player to stop and smell the roses, not to rush through. While I'm as motivated to rank up as any player, I'm not playing STO to get the highest rank as quickly as possible, I'm playing to have fun. For me, ranking up is a consequence of having fun (and playing the game well), not the other way around.

I mean, damn, we're in freaking Star Trek! That's the great part about this game, not how high of a rank you can manage. At least, that's what it's about for me, anyway.

Warp Speed

Yeah, that's the reason why I haven't written here in  few days. I've been playing STO. Once my collector's edition arrived and I finally figured out how to claim my bonuses, I started playing, a lot. It's pretty much what I've been doing for the last couple of days. I'm currently a Lt. Commander, Grade 6, about to be Grade 7.

I've gotten pretty good at space and ground combat, too. I don't die all that often (at least at the moment), and I've got myself a nice bank of energy credits for if and when I need them.

There are a few little things that annoy me though. For example, there's a mission where you have to destroy Rubindium asteriods. When you target these things, your ship suddenly announces that you're under attack and declares red alert. Why is a Red Alert declared for targeting a piece of rock that doesn't shoot back? The same thing happens when you destroy B'Vat's empty ship at the end of the Guardian of Forever mission. What exactly is my ship supposed to be under attack from?

There are also many missions that could be explained more clearly, such as ones that take you to the Sierra-39 starbase, rather than the Sierra-9 Outpost (or something like that). Very confusing. I'm hoping stuff like this will be resolved in future patches.

According to MMORPG.com, STO already has over a million subscribers, just two days after it's official launch. That's great, and I think it validates what I've been saying all along: This game is gonna be a huge hit.

So, I'll keep checking in. I never get so lost in a game that I don't surface and write about it. Still, I have to admit that it's been a long time since I've taken up this much of my free time with any single game. Right now, though, it's time for dinner. Maybe after that I'll do a few more missions. I want to make Grade 7 before bed tonight.

Timing Is Everything

It's funny how sometimes when you order something from an online company that features package tracking, it'll tell you the package is in transit until you actually have it in your hands. When you buy from a retailer who ships with the US Postal Service, like Amazon, you can find your package marked as already delivered in their tracking system even as you're still waiting for that day's mail to arrive.

In my neighborhood, the mail would arrive around 10:30-11:00am every weekday, with Saturdays perhaps a bit later around noon or 12:30. It was like this without fail from the time I was a kid. Now we're lucky if the mailman shows up by 4pm. Today, it matters. The tracking page says my Star Trek Online Collector's Edition has already been delivered.

*****

The mail is here, but my package from Amazon is nowhere to be seen. Technically, it's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so I'm not allowing myself to become upset yet. Still, if it's not here tomorrow I am so not going to be a happy camper.

*****

Even though at times it seems like the servers are down as often as they're up, I'm having a great time so far with this game. I'm still building up my main. She's a Lt. Commander now, captain of a pretty nicely turned out Constitution Class cruiser.

I took a look at the Liberated Borg in the character creator, but decided against creating one right now. I'm thinking perhaps when/if I need a break from playing my main for a while, I'll create one then. We'll see. In the meantime, I think I'll go log in and play some more.