Star Trek Online

[Xev]

Have they added a separate environmental suit slot yet? I recall reading that it is a goal to do so.

If they did I don't know how to get to it.

The latest huge download major update was handed down to us, today. I've spent ~ 15 minutes with it so far and plan to spend more soon if dinner would ever finish cooking and go into my belly.

The new Event Progression system seems (much?) friendlier. I wasn't real happy about the new character creator efforts awhile back but I think the same person did this and it seems much worthier.

I ran one of the new non-Dil rewarding/Event Point Awarding/double Skill Point Awarding patrols and it was not a pushover (OK I wasn't on a Main but my newb is pretty good and... he exploded once.. whereas he can breeze through most other patrols.. so I wasn't expecting that). The Dil awarding patrols award 720 Dil, which, is the same as running an Advanced queue. Not that we need another way to get Dil... just commenting because the old patrols don't award that much.

That's about all I've seen in the new update, so far.

There's not a lot of Patrols in the new Patrol System, yet. I'm not sure if the ones that are in there are all new, or not. I didn't recognize any of them, but, I haven't ran that many outside of the Rom Patrols and some in the Delta quadrant (that I just recently found out my newbs can get into!).

I think the new Patrols are available at level 10, too, which is good. When I made my very first newb it was hard to find Space-only action to level with. The more the merrier.

Looking forward to running some more new Patrols and snooping around more. I probably won't normally run the new patrols except when levelling or when I want some fast action that will last a predictable amount of time. Good to have some new options for that kinda thing.

[Xev]

OK, so, in this Iconian Ground TFO I (@toonsquad) usually just avoid agro and hit the glowies when it's time, soooooo... I'm not trying to deeps until the boss (that was nearly toast already by the time I got to it) fight at the end.. but.. still.. this made me chuckle..

CLR—Brotherhood of the Sword[3:28]— Dmg(DPS) —@akiosmona 92,721(464) @szeven6 37,905(189) @cariine 20,069(105) @mxphoenix 10,955(55) @toonsquad 2,824(35)

The top deepser? His largest single hit was just a little higher than my total dps.. lol

[Xev]

I've seen 2 much needed brand new Boff Space abilities (lockbox..) in the Exchange recently. Much needed, because, there often isn't enough useful ensign/lt. level boff abilities for toons with high recharge.

Since I saw a new Eng and Tac ability it makes sense that there must be a Sci one I haven't seen yet.

The new Tac ability is a shield drain and the Eng one is a unique kind of hull heal. Both seem good with a small amount of testing done so far and I had no problem finding slots with my 2 main Tacs for them.

[Xev]

Something kinda quirky and cool about the new Boff Space Tac ability... If you defeat a foe while it's active - you get a 1x use Admiralty Card of the ship you exploded!

[Xev]

I seem to have peaked..

I can't break 100k again. I hover at ~ 85k or less with my main. My main alts are stuck at ~ 65k.

65-100k will allow you to dominate much of the content, however, when 800k+ is possible.. I have to ask what I'm doing wrong. I'm not a horrible toonbuilder and I can fly decently and I've been at it for a few.. years.

I'm starting to think a big part of it is consoles. I have nothing in use that does major burst damage except the single target death ray from the 3 piece Quantum set, on one toon.

I've tried about everything I can think of up to now and am completely happy with my Boff ability choices and ships.

*shrug*.

This is what leads me to believe that it has something to do with my consoles.

[Xev]

•Resolved an issue that caused updated Delta patrols to reward more skill points on completion than intended.

•This does not reduce points earned for starship mastery.



•Increased the XP/MasteryXP modifier present on Patrol maps in the new Patrol System from 2x to 3x.

I was really enjoying those skill points (for Specializations for newbs) they reduced. Hopefully the reduction won't be too much on this very nice to be able to obtain XP.

Starship Mastery XP, another very nice XP to be able to obtain quickly, was already good and now it's 3x, so, that's a yay.

That's what the new Patrols were good for, for me, up to now. XP. Spec XP and Mastery XP. Their niche.

And they are nicely made.

A notable dil reward is there (<--that's its note) and they can really pay out in Salvage/EC as well. In a spammy HUD-buried-behind-the-lewt-messages kind of way, even.

I like them, they are a good addition, and there's the latest news on'em.

~~~

It can be confusing which XP we are talking about sometimes.. Well. Specialization XP is still very good or even better in the new patrols. Ship Mastery XP was good and is even better. Lewt is good. I got 4k salvage to do an Endeavor with 2 Patrols while earning Event XP and dinging a Spec Point at the same time. Nice. 500 dil end reward is decent. 15 marks is useful. Good rewards for a nice patrol system with well made patrols that doesn't step on the  TFO system that has a different reward emphasis as well as easy teamplay ever since RTFOs were recently invented. RTFOs are borderline brilliant for STO with its dozens of different TFOs. They give extra lewt to the people doing them and they fill teams for people needing particular marks or who are just in the mood to run a particular TFO and it works. My Randoms pop in milliseconds and specific TFOs, no matter what I choose, pop fast enough for me.

I'm only running these on Normal Difficulty btw.. The old patrols are really easy on Normal. These aren't. I don't know what the XP rewards are on higher difficulty levels but if you can easily handle them I would guess that the already pretty darn good XP would be even better. The new Patrols are accessible at level 10, too. Most of the old ones you can't get into until 50.

[Xev]

Patrol XP on Elite, is, very good. ^

Well, humm. It's time for an update to the best thing in STO - RTFOs.

I'll run any TFO with a certain level of enjoyment - Ground or Space. Except. 1 particular set of TFOs. Every time I get plunked into one of them, I auto-beam out. I used to tough them out and treat them as learning experiences, but, after 9.9/10 runs ending badly I decided that rather than complain about them as I was want to do - I just won't do the thing that I say I don't like and now I auto-beam out.

Now.. I rarely get these TFOs I don't like. SO... If.. I could... say.. earn a PASS once every 10..20..whatever amount of runs... and I could plunk that pass down every time I get the very few TFOs I just won't run... then it would be a win-win for everyone. The system would be more fun.. I'm going to beam out anyway, so... the system is going to have to compensate for my loss anyway (I'm leaving already without a Pass..), and, I don't get removed from the system for 30 minutes which means I'm there to help fill teams, which, is what I want to do and what the teams want, and, what the system is intended for.

AHA!

Huh? Right?

Anyway, yeah. That's my idea. Something along those lines. Then it feels way less like Russian Roulette - the bullet, being, those TFOs that some (many?) of us have started beaming out of and taking the 30 minute Leaver Penalty rather than taking the Will This Ever End Penalty - which, often ends with a Leaver Penalty TOO! Due to the TFOs I leave? Before I started auto-beaming out, they always ended in Leavers anyway due to we couldn't complete them and people would trickle out until the only option is to leave. So.. for example, we'd all run around until we were all thoroughly frustrated, which, took ~ 30 minutes, and then we'd take the 30 minute leaver. On *very* rare occasion the TFO would actually complete. On *Uber Rare* occasion would the TFO actually be ... fun.

Now, I just take the Leaver.

Gimme a Pass! Plx.

[Xev]

It's time to un-newb our newbs! Upgrade Weekend starts now..

I've got ~ 120 Phoenix upgrades and 4 Rom upgrades (admiralty), and, all the weapons I know I want except.... 1 that I can't get until Tier 6 Terran Rep, in, 21 days.

I've got 3 Rep shields I like, too..

Better have good upgrade rolls, huh? Well, a lil gold is way better than all Purple. I rly like this build so I'm rly glad to be able to gold some of it. I'm kicking myself for using all those Phoenix upgrades to get his stuff to mk 15 very recently, but, oh well, I guess I need to learn how to read their calendar. This post is for other calendar challenged people who may not have thought to log on this weekend. And, to share my joy. Ha. 

[Xev]

I had a pleasant upgrade surprise that I thought I'd share..

I thought I'd give the (Discovery Rep) Tilly shields a go so I golded one for my main so he could get a new toy out of the upgrade weekend. I liked it so much... I golded the warp core (replacing the Colony core that I always get, now, due to I don't really see anything better - i.e. it's a generic choice) and I like it, too. So much so that I have a new warp core and shield for my main and my newb. That 2 piece bonus plus the shield pen is pretty yum for me due to I always fill those 2 slots with generic choices that are effective but not very noteworthy. My ship seems more agile in combat, too (? dunno why - maybe just wishful thinking).

I came close to exploding, once, right after I made the change (Dranuur Gauntlet against Vaadwar), but, otherwise, my survivability seems about what it was before + now I have a new (basically passive) weapons buff = yay.

[Xev]

It's a Have Fun weekend...

Phoenix Packs..

Upgrade weekend..

30% off of ship bundles and starter packs (thru Sunday!)..

Sounds like a party to me.

[Xev]

Something I bet a lot of people don't know about ship buying, is - if you buy a single ship from a bundle then you can never buy any bundles that the single ship is in.

[Tahquitz]

Yup.  It's to encourage folks to spend on a sale.  The developers said that was deliberate early in the "Starter Pack" era (New Romulus/Dyson Sphere releases.)

[Xev]

Which sales? Single ship sales or Bundle sales?

Why are there single ship sales if they want to discourage single ship purchases? Why exclude someone from 2 bundles, in my case, due to you wanted to include them in a single ship purchase?

They could be selling me an Escort Mega Bundle right now but instead I used a Free Ship Token to buy another single ship from the original core Pilot Ship bundle.

Nah, that doesn't make sense that they'd want to exclude me from big purchases due to I took advantage of one of their single ship sales. But, then again, well, yeah. Things don't always have to make sense do they.

*shrug* I got what I wanted and they gave it to me for free. This info about bundles is worth knowing, if you don't, though. (You can't buy bundles that contain single ship purchases).

[Tahquitz]

Bundle sales.  If someone is on the fence whether to buy one ship, or wait for a bundle to go on sale, they know if they buy the one, the rest will be at retail price or individually sold at discount.

It's a flaw in the store (as any online system has for selling goods: Amazon confuses folks when they pick a color on some items, and instead get a different item altogether) but in favor of larger sales they erred towards bundles.  Want the bundle?  Wait and spend for all of it, or wait longer for the sale.  Want the ship?  Forgetting about the bundle means getting it faster.

[Xev]

Well, hopefully we informed at least someone. It's decent info to know.

[Xev]

Soooo the Kobayashi Maru is back starting tomorrow.

2 highlights..

A combat pet that also docks my D'Koras.. That I finally bought for all my mains.. S'ok.. I got them cheap, There's a Ground version of this type of capability in a mish now (since some months) btw.

Kobayashi Maru Transponder

This device is capable of summoning the E.C.S. Kobayashi Maru to your position across the vast distances of space. Doing so provides different functionality depending upon whether you are currently in a system map, or within Sector Space.

When utilizing this device in Sector Space, the crew of this fabled ship appears and offers services such as Bank Access, Mail Access, and more.

And some inventory cleanup/yay I can skip some farming

Legacy Progress

Veteran players that have participated in previous Featured TFOs may still be in possession of multiple "Featured TFO Commendation" items, which are no longer used in the new Event System. In an effort to maintain the value and investment attached to these legacy items, players that still have these will be able to turn them in for Daily Progress and Event Campaign Progress.

[Xev]

•Both Normal and Advanced versions of "Infected: Manus" are no longer eligible for Random TFO inclusion.

YAHOO

That's a good start..

One less Borg Ground RTFO I have to take a leaver penalty for. The only RTFOs I take leavers for.

On the other side... I skip Borg Ground RTFOs due to no one knows how to complete them not due to they aren't good. Borg Ground queues are among the most sophisticated and atmospheric, but... when you get stuck in a few of them for 30+ minutes until everyone gets frustrated and starts trickling out... and then come to find out that nearly every run ends the same way.. if you're like me, you stop doing them.

These TFOs are good they just aren't explained well enough that people can complete them. I mean, you aren't going to spend an hour in a TFO when all the others take 5-15 minutes unless you just have nothing but time and patience and don't care about rewards or angry players.

I'm not for dumbing games down, at all, but I am for having fun in them and Borg Ground TFOs, for me, have become so consistently unfun, that I 100% skip them every time now when they come up as an RTFO. So, yeah, they can remove away until they figure out how to make them fit in with the other TFOs (better explanations/better rewards for example) to make them worthwhile/fun. I mean, I'm sure they're already very worthwhile and fun to a small group of people that know how to run them and can get teams full of people that know how to run them (and that enjoy Ground..), but, as an RTFO, they don't fit and removing them is a good quick fix that I'm all for.

Now we need an Elite RTFO queue (how's that for playing with dynamite)... and... RTFO Passes. You get 1 Pass per....20..50..100 (I dunno) runs. Whenever a TFO randomly comes up that you really don't want to run... take out the pass. Elite queues could be good on comedic value alone. You'd have to be battle hardened to do Elite RTFOs. I've never even attempted a Ground Elite. I probably can't even complete half the Space TFOs on Elite. I'm sure lots can, though, and I plan to be one of them : p

[Xev]

People ask...

"Who is STO"...

STO is a complex personality, as are most of the small breed of modern day renaissance games.

We have Assault Rifles Phaser Rifles, we fly Space Ships, we have Admiralty, we have Klingons.

We have Exploration. We have pew-pew. ~~ there's always something to do.

/salute

[Xev]

Endeavor Rank 153.. Yes, still playing. I didn't farm this long to give up nao!

I want that ship device/pet and another free C-Store T6, too, so I'm doing my Kobayashi Marus..

*punches clock*

If you haven't logged in for awhile try going to Reputation/Events and seeing what's autocompleted since you logged in last.. I think finally just about all of my stuff has. They've been changing how that stuff works and in the process autocompleting old.. event things. (so much dil...and marks..) I've got enough old event type currency (I forget what it's called...) to autocomplete the next mini-event or two. If autocompleting old Events isn't enough - they've let us keep old event currency and cash it in on new mini-events.

I'm sorry I forget what the mini-events and currency for them are called. STO has too many of both for my brain to retain apparently. Just check out Rep/Events, and, the new Events Tab that's in the same place where you go to get Mishes and you'll see what I mean.

There's a Zen buyout option for just about everything, now, too. This can actually be a good deal for anyone at some point due to you may not have been able or wanted to earn Progress on a particular Event at the time but then later find you want the thing completed bad enough to spend Zen on it at some point after the event ended.

[Xev]

For the first time in some years I haven't logged on to STO for a few days. Not because the game is any less fun but because I have waited so long to play another game that happens to be in a genre that I've waited a long time to be back into, and, there are only so many hours in the day.

But.

I finally get to watch Star Trek: Enterprise. I say 'get to watch' because it's actually really good (and I haven't had a chance to watch it since it came out... a long time ago). I think I already like it as much as I ever liked The Next Generation, which, was probably the next best thing to the original series.

The sets and tech and languages in Enterprise is pretty good and its got good stories. What else can you want. Oh. Yeah. And a Vulcan who can barely fit into the upper part of her skin tight uniform has to get some kind of honorable mention.

I'm only through the first 20something episodes and am looking forward to more. I'm finding out that there's a lot of Enterprise in STO. which. is good. It's too bad they don't have more of the original series in the game. I think it wasn't until I started playing and they made the TOS intro that they even had any original series content with people actually from the original series (Not counting the very great Fed "Congratulations, Admiral' you get when you ding, from, you-know-who). Go go Chekov for his pretty great contribution from the TOS crew at that time (and now I finally know who WAIT!!!/degenero-face Daniels, is, too).

Anyway, yay. Looking forward to playing more STO just not right now. Finally got my (Tier 6...) Terran Rep phaser cannons and they are golded and barely fired. NWO has kinda sucked me in more than I expected it would. Hopefully I get back to STO before I lag too far behind in the farming. They don't need that hook to get me back but they.... do keep one busy.. keeping up.