Hello Old Friend

Yeah, I know it's a Babylon 5 quote, but what the hell, it fits.

Those of you who read back in this blog will know that it's been almost a year since I posted here. It wasn't intentional or desired, just the reality of life taking precedence over gaming. In a way, it's a good thing. I hadn't logged in much over the last several months, and so, I really didn't have much if anything to say here.

Things are different now though. RL is now allowing me far more free time in front of my computer, and so I'm back in STO catching up on what I've missed while I've been gone. Quite an improvement from what I remember in some ways, not so much in others. Being a lifer makes things so much easier. If I were still having to pay monthly subscription fees I'm not sure STO would fit into my budget now.

And so, having returned to the fold after so long, here are some immediate impressions after about a week back:

One of the biggest problems I had when I began playing STO was that it launched with what I considered to be an unacceptably small amount of playable content. Sure, the content that was available was very good, and in fact that's what inspired me to take the plunge on a lifetime sub, but I all too soon reached a point in the game when it seemed that all there was left for me to do in the game was explore the B'Tran Cluster and similar areas over and over.

That, combined with some real life issues that had to take precedence over entertainment time, were key reasons why I ended up not playing STO with any regularity  for several months. Not only was my attention focused on other things, but I had no incentive to return. Frankly, had I been on an ongoing subscription plan, I probably would have just canceled my subscription and never looked back, just as I have with other games when I felt they were no longer worth the time and money I was spending on them.

As an STO lifer, however, having already spent around $300 on an STO Collector's Edition and a lifetime subscription, I also knew that whenever I found the time I could always return to the game when it recaptured my interest. I kept up with the game news and knew they were introducing more content and addressing some of the gameplay issues players had. I did log in a few times over the year just to see what changes, if any, I could see for myself, but RL kept me from making any serious attempt from getting really involved again. Then, a little more than a week ago, my schedule changed to one that allowed considerably more free time at home, so I decided it was time to see how the ol' Final Frontier had changed while I was gone.

The first thing I noticed was the most obvious: The content. Simply put, there was just a lot more to do in the game than there had been when I'd taken a break. The new episodic missions have kept me busy and I find them to be a lot of fun to play. While it seems that I somehow managed to join a fleet during my off-time (though I can't for the life of me remember when I did this), I'm mainly a solo player.

Even now, my schedule and available playtime, despite having more of it, are wonky and inconsistent. I play when I have time to play and I'm pretty unreliable in terms of being able to participate in scheduled events. In fact, that's the single biggest reason why I left Eve-Online. Once you reach a certain point in that game there's really not much you can do that's not done in concert with other players, and usually finding myself unable to coordinate my RL schedule with my corporation's scheduled events led to my eventually deciding that it just wasn't worth the $15 a month for a game I could barely play.

While I may catch up and find myself in the same place a while down the road, I've got plenty of content to keep me busy in STO for the moment, but there's one issue that's really bugging me about this game: Server stability.

It seems like the most common thing I do in STO these days is reentering my password. Just getting in is like breaking into Fort Knox. While that's a common and acceptable issue for an MMO still in beta, I don't think that should be the case for a game that launched over a year ago. It seems like almost every time I want to log in, leave or enter a system, take a lift, beam myself somewhere, or pretty much do anything that requires a map or instance change, I find myself kicked out and dealing with the login screen.

In addition, loading times can be slow to the point of ridiculousness. All too often, I find myself having to stop and rerun the game in order to get into the area I'm headed for in a reasonable amount of time. Again, while this kind of thing is acceptable in a game still in beta and perhaps even in the first few months, the fact that this is still an issue for STO over a year into it is not what I consider an acceptable level of quality or customer service. As enjoyable as the new content is to play, the STO experience can be all but ruined by having to spend several minutes at minimum having to enter and reenter my password over and over just to get into the game or continue playing.

I've spent some time reading the forums and so I know they're working on these issues. I just don't think they should still be this much of a problem this long after launch. Surely by now the devs have a pretty good idea of the size of their player base and what's needed on the back end to provide reliable service to their customers. The obvious question I have is why it seems things have actually gotten worse, not better, in this regard after all this time.

Despite these issues, I'm now enjoying myself with this game more than ever before, and remembering why I took the risk of shelling out for a lifetime subscription even before I knew if this game was going to be a long-term success or just a flash in the pan.

In my next post (and yes, there will be a next post, and another and another...), I'll talk about what I've been doing in-game and my thoughts on some of the new missions I've been playing. After that, who knows? I'm someone who enjoys writing about the games I play, especially MMO's, almost as much as I enjoy playing them, so stick around, there's lots more to come.

So, I won't say "Live long and prosper.". That seems a little too formal and a bit too final. Instead, I'll wind down this first post back with a different Vulcanism I find far more applicable to my own life (and maybe one day I'll tell you why). "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations".

And now, I've still got the better part of a free Sunday afternoon in front of me so it's time to post a quick note on the forums to let people know this blog is back, and then fire up STO so I can go destroy a dangerous comet and disable some 23rd century Klingons.

See ya next time.

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.

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.