This morning I, and likely every other Star Trek Online subscriber, received a survey from Cryptic asking how we liked the game so far, if we were likely to subscribe past the first month, what other games we played, what our favorite parts of the game were (Character/Ship customization), what parts we thought were really ill-thought and crappy (Memory Alpha) and so on.
There were no long form questions where we could explain to Cryptic just what I really want from their game. So here’s what I’d say to them — and based on my comments, I think a lot of Star Trek players are thinking the same things.
Cryptic, you’ve made a really fun and enjoyable game, but you shipped with only two or three month’s worth of content. Once you reach max level, there is no reason to ever play that character again, and it’s unclear how “raidisodes” will change this much, unless you take the WoW route and make raid progression its own sort of leveling game. But that would kill the casual nature of the game so far.
So here’s what I’m thinking, and some of these are things you have either announced or hinted at.
Ships
At the Battle of Wolf 359, remembered in one of the very first systems you see after leaving Sol, Starfleet didn’t just send admirals commanding large, lumbering ships. They sent every ship they could find. There should be a use and purpose for every ship you can command, from the DS9 runabouts to the Miranda-class light cruiser you start with to the battlefield dominating Sovereign-class star cruisers. The runabout could perhaps move directly from one starbase to another. The Defiant-class escorts could move too fast to be targeted by battleship and dreadnought weapons — things like that.
Make ship upgrades an option, but not something you are compelled to do when you are promoted. Captain Janeway commanded the Voyager all the way back from the Delta Quadrant. Tell me that an admiral would be ashamed to command it.
Don’t admirals have more than one ship under their command, anyway?
Territory
We’re shown all the time just how bitter the war is. Federation vs Klingon vs Romulan vs Reman vs Cardassian vs Undine vs Hirogen vs Jem’Hadar vs Borg. We’re in a war with many fronts, but no battle is ever won or lost. Make things matter.
The Klingons can have the Qo’noS sector, Feds can have the Sirius sector, everyplace else is contested. Even if all you do is warn players they are entering space controlled by the Klingons, and color the map red and nothing else, at least there’d be a reason to do the PvP scenarios or fleet actions in those places. Maybe the Borg are encroaching on Klingon space. Does the Federation join with their enemies for the common purpose of driving away the Borg, or do they stall for a bit in order to gain some advantage over their foes?
The state of the war should be up to the players. This keeps players invested in the game and makes memorable battles — the outcome of which can change the state of the game. As it stands, nothing you do has any consequence. Make it matter.
“Crafting”
Memory Alpha is a poor joke. Turning in stuff you happen to find laying around to upgrade useless things in enough quantities so that you can do it all over again with another NPC until, eventually, somewhere down the line, you finally get to something you might use?
The whole thing is pointless. I don’t know anyone who does more than the very first turn-in upgrades.
Players need to be able to build consoles, weapons, kits, equipment, even ships. Tom Paris built the Delta Flyer. Why can’t we? Every engineer in Starfleet has their own secret way of modifying the deflector dish to do something special. Why can’t we?
Feds can breed tribbles. Klingons should be able to breed targs! Cooks should be able to make truly incredible meals that will grant their crews some bonuses. Memory Alpha needs to become a research center for players, a whole planet just for crafting. That would be nice.
Seasons
You call your story missions “episodes”. I love the story missions! My favorite part of the game. Why not expand that a little, and every couple of months, come out with a “season finale” or something that will take into account what the players have done since the end of the last “season” and advances the plot. If the Federation has been vigilant in keeping the Borg at bay, have them up their attacks on the Klingons. If the Klingons have been ignoring Romulan arenas, have Romulans step up their attacks in Klingon space. Etc.
Other races
First, give the Klingons their own PvE arc. The Klingon House vs House PvP arenas means nothing when you don’t even know which House you’re in, or which you are fighting. Flesh that out. Give Klingons a heritage and have their PvE storylines revolve around honor and House politics.
I want to play the Romulan storyline. Their struggle to keep their race and empire alive after their home world was destroyed is epic. Let us see that first hand.
The Cardassians have been decimated by the Dominion. It’s incredible that they still have such hatred for the Federation — they should be gathering strength and allies to at the very least shut the wormhole down.
Why not have Vorta and Jem’Hadar storylines? If I remember correctly, at the end of Deep Space 9, the Founders were dead because of Section 31’s evil plots. Their subject races clearly are trying to keep the Dominion together. Let’s get into their skins and live those stories.
Other Factions
Starfleet is a great organization and all, but once you’re admiral, where do you go from there? You resign your commission and join the Maquis, or Section 31, or you make contact with the Time Patrol and help keep the timeline clear. Or maybe you just take an exploration ship and specialize in exploration and first contacts. Other paths of advancement. Becoming an admiral in Starfleet (or a brigadier general in the Klingon Empire) should only be the START of your career.
I REALLY LIKE STAR TREK ONLINE!
I end this by pointing out that I really like STO! I love the bridge officer advancement; I have really grown attached to my crew. The story missions are great, and certain of the fleet battles are pretty amazing. But right now, all I can tell people who ask about STO is that it is a great game for a month or two. For STO to thrive, I should be able to tell people what they’ll be working on a year after they subscribe, what kind of advancement will be open to them in four years. I can’t do that right now.
STO had a good start, but content needs to be coming fast and furious, much faster than was done for Champions Online. You have one of the two best SF licenses in the world. Don’t let it go to waste.
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Sounds great. I’ve always wondered if MMO devs are just lacking even the smallest shred of imagination or if the accounting departments in these companies have too strong a chokehold on the developer’s creative outputs.
I’d enjoy a Stark Trek MMO, but unlike you, couldn’t get myself to pay for this one. I won’t lie; doing a ground mission where I clicked on four objects in an area you could run across in 10 seconds surrounded by invisible walls and lacking any living creatures…well, I remember thinking to myself, “I hope CCP realizes this is a poster child example of how not to do ground missions, whether it is via Dust 514, or some specific EVE expansion”. It pretty much exemplified my thought on the current state of the game, which was that it was a re-skinned Champions Online game with even less content.
Maybe if they incorporated some of your ideas, I’d be willing to give it a chance some time down the road.
Fun? Well, I guess we all have our own, subjective opinion on what is “fun”. How anybody cannot fear for their investment in STO or CO with money grubbing Cryptic at the helm is beyond me. It is beyond naive. This survey is based on the massive customer dissatisfaction with the Vibora Bay – Revelation content update. The one they tried to charge for without out actually developing a full featured and robust MMO. Kind of like they have done with STO.
Understand something about Cryptic. Your monthly sub doesn’t cover the content development you think it does. Not that this can surprise any player after the fiasco of Klingon/Ferangi money grab on launch day.
IMO, STO was more linear, confusing, and shallow than Champions….which is stunning to even contemplate.
You havent stated anything new that thousands havent already submitted or suggested to cryptic. Your blog wont make a difference and peoples rants wont make a difference.
The only thing that will is loss of cash, but that would force them to shutdown for 3 years to finish the game and they wont do that.
Other than to make you feel good about yourself your blog doesnt do a whole lot but express your thoughts or opinions, entertaining chatter
Email cryptic corporate, get the ceo to address each of your suggestions and when they will or will not be implemented and why or why not. That will give us something to read about.
According to Massively’s interviews with community managers, blogs and blog commentators are very influential in getting the word to the devs — far more so than an email to a CEO would be.
Hi all
Just want to say that being a longtime Trekkie I had high hopes for this game. But being a long time MMO player as well, I’ve experienced first hand the trainwreck that is Cryptic. They try – God bless em they do – but in the end there’s something that’s always missing. They always seem to take the easy way out, and that has been evident in release after release. Something about their games that really get you pumped up at the beginning like all MMOs, but after a while you start noticing the cheap gimmicks, the hollow gameplay, the cliche story. Cryptic has always let the players down in the end, even their staunchest fans, game after game after game.
Guys, just to keep you from expecting, Cryptic really SUCKS. I can’t think of a better word. And for those who still blindly defend them, I’m sure in 1 year I’ll be back to say ‘I told you so’.
They have also been the source of a lot of needed innovation in the MMO genre. City of Heroes, for all its faults, introduced sidekicking/exemplaring, started the whole superhero MMO genre, random mission generation and so on. My concern is that they have the money to make STO into a great game.
Great post. But almost all of the things you pointed as to be improved have been in EVE Online for years. I know they’re completely different games, but if you like space combat, there’s really nothing better right now than EVE.
Cryptic shoots out MMOs like a vending machine with little to no thought how to give their games depth and long-term appeal…I mean, have you played Champions Online? Ugh.
It’s good that they’re trying but…it’s a little late.