Tag Archives: STO

01/23/12

Does anyone appreciate scale anymore?

Just a quick post to say the following: I love that SWTOR is so effing big. I love feeling like I’m part of a huge zone or inside a massive structure. A lot of people don’t. The cynics will tell you that it’s all an artificial way to keep you playing longer (because tedium = retention, right?). I read a comment from someone just yesterday saying, “you don’t have to look beyond the too-big space stations and empty hallways” to see that Bioware is milking you.

I have to ask, what is it exactly people want? We complain when things are too big; we complain when they’re too small. We complain when zones are too linear; we complain when there’s poor flow. We even complain that they’re not doing enough with the hallways. 

When I first started playing MMOs, what spellbound me was the idea of connecting to a virtual world. I have always, always felt that tiny zones, unenterable buildings, and the “look how big we seem to be but actually aren’t!” window-dressing did as much to destroy the virtual world as the quest progression system. So when it comes to TOR, it’s almost refreshing to see a game finally bring back the sense of scope we’ve optimized out these last few years. There are moments where you can’t help but to stop and appreciate how grandiose everything is. When you see a pyramid, it looks like a pyramid, rising high into the sky above you. When you enter a headquarters, there’s multiple floors, bunches of rooms, and lots of “extras” playing out all over the place. It’s atmospheric.

I find it so odd that people would want to strip that from the game. Isn’t Star Wars all about the infiniteness of space — being a part of a tapestry much larger than yourself or any other one player? Can you even approach that going small? I understand that running between objectives gets boring, but when that starts to get to me, I ask myself: would I change it even if I could? And the answer is no.

Scale is one of those things that might annoy players in the moment but that sparkles in the memory. It’s also a passive means of drawing you in and forcing you to appreciate the world you’re running through. Artificial slowing? Maybe. But then again, it’s like we tell our kids in school, it’s better to do too much than too little. Bioware opted to go big or go home. We received the many worlds and space stations of SWTOR a result. The other approach we’ve already seen. It’s the Cryptic model; release early, expand later. If that’s what people are asking for, to take a step down, then I suggest waiting here until something better comes along.

09/1/11

F2P STO Means I’ll Play It

So there’s a bit of a kerfuffle going on right now about Star Trek Online going F2P. First off, let me just say: Wilhelm is right, why wasn’t this game free-to-play already? It’s for that reason that I entirely agree with a big part of said fuffle: The game simply wasn’t worth $15 a month. Free with occasional purchases, now that’s something I could see myself doing. Despite how much the game has grown (those season episodes are a great idea), the breadth and variety of content was seriously lacking at launch, and I find myself struggling to overcome that initial impression. Despite wanting to play for the last couple months, I justify spending $15 just to check out a game for a couple of hours.

That’s where the subscription model breaks down for Cryptic. STO isn’t a bad game, it’s just not the deep, polished experience most people look for in a $15 a month fee. Remove the monthly sub, however, and you have a game that’s far above a lot of other F2P offerings. STOs problem was never that it wasn’t fun, it was that it wasn’t fun for long enough at a time. You can see jaggies for so long before you start to think of how much better some other game does it. For all of that, though, the game is a blast to play off-and-on. It’s kind of like that girl (or guy) you date for a while but wouldn’t want to marry. Take away the fee and you don’t have to worry about those awkward phone calls anymore. You’re done? You’re done.

I’m happy at this news. I’ve said for a while that I’d go back to STO if it was F2P and assumed they must have been doing alright to have not made the move already. They probably were and this is a lateral move to get in line with Perfect World’s other F2P titles. I bet this makes them do better, though, and honestly, I really hope they do. STO always deserved to do better and to be more than what it was. This will help get them there.

06/8/11

The Multiverse – Season 02 Episode 07 – “A Game of Bones”

Hallelujah! It’s 91 degrees in New York and we’re turning the heat up even higher with this episode of the Multiverse. This week we’re joined by our friend Gavin of Flex Your Geek, Rift Watchers, and, of course, Vagary TV! We have a great time talking about the week’s news, which includes Cryptic moving to Perfect World Entertainment, Age of Conan going F2P, TERA closing 22 of its 37 original servers, and Fallen Earth being bought by GamersFirst (of APB: Reloaded fame). Big change-ups this week, folks! The question is, which of these games will add in highly detailed fur-borne characters first?

Adam did an exceptional job polishing up this episode. Believe it or not — and you won’t be able to tell from listening — we had a bit of trouble slipping into NSFW territory with a couple naughty words. Thank you, Adam, for being our FCC (and a great producer).

We also announce the winner to our free gametime contest — so make sure to listen if you’ve left us a review recently!

Enjoy the show!

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04/28/10

Why WoW Keeps Pulling You Back

When a player announces that they’re planning on leaving WoW, never to return, a lot of us roll our eyes, smile, and nod. From time to time, I’ll come across posts like these on the official forums, usually greeted by “you’ll be back” responses and promises of “we’ll see you soon.” That’s probably why I’ve never announced my breaks on the official forums – it’s trollbait.

Since I left, I’ve sunk my teeth into LotRO like a ravenous dog (and loved it, I might add). I’ve also tried out some of the other offerings on the market: STO, EVE, FreeRealms. Nothing about my time in these other games has been unsatisfying or unfun. I’ve actually come to appreciate LotRO more than I ever have before, calling it my new “main game” over on the right.

WoW is like a Snuggie. It is NOT unmanly to own a Snuggie. Or to use your wife's. Look, my apartment gets cold and I need to type, okay?

But, to the point, I’m about six months from the last day I played WoW and I’m feeling the urge to resubscribe for a month.

Like every other time this has happened, I’m forced to ask myself why. Why do I feel compelled to return to a game that, while I love, has nothing new for me to experience. I’ve seen all that I’m able to at this point, a few spare quests notwithstanding. If I go back, it will be to do what I’ve already done, alt or veteran character, it doesn’t matter. Heroics and emblems. Dailies. Gold. Mounts. Pick-Up-Raids. Guild chat.

For a while now, I’ve fallen back on the reason that it was my first game. I have the rose colored glasses. But, I don’t think that’s all of it.

I think the reason WoW pulls so many of us back is that it’s predictable. It’s comfortable. WoW doesn’t offer many new surprises on subsequent play-throughs. It’s about being able to plot a clear path ahead. From the outset, WoW assures you that you will move from point A, to B, to Y and Z, and there’s something pleasant about that, like a worn blanket from childhood. You can count on WoW to give you exactly what it always has.

It’s worked before, right?

But this fact about it isn’t a bad thing. There’s a certain familiarity about WoW that trumps the unknown in other games – some of the time, anyhow. In LotRO, I enjoy questing. Yet, at the end of the level grind, will I find my time worth it? What awaits me at the end of the rainbow… raids? Dungeons? Grinding? The prospects at once excite me and cause me pause.

Maybe it’s not a WoW thing. Maybe it’s a “first game you ever capped out in” thing. I’m not sure. At it’s core, I think what pulls so many of us back to WoW is that we know exactly what to expect from it. We have some assurance about what we’ll be getting. When so many games ask you to take a leap, WoW gives you the safety net of past experience.

At least that’s it for me. Is there something in particular that keeps pulling you back to a game you’ve left?

04/3/10

Thoughts on the STO Tutorial

So, as I mentioned last night, I just purchased Star Trek Online from Direct 2 Drive. I had planned on letting the download manager run overnight but, as it turns out, I didn’t have to as the entire 8GB file downloaded in just under two hours! There were no patches to install or settings to muss around with, so I was able to jump right in to create my first character: a stylish Vulcan in a TNG-style uniform.

Elves in SPACE

Character creation was good, as any Cryptic fan will tell you. A friend jumped online with me today but refused to tell me his name, insisting I’d “know him when I see him.” Sure enough, a minute later an almost perfect replica of Drizzt Do’Urden was standing in front of me (sans the scimitars). There are lots of options for the creative-types to make their character look pretty much however they want, within the Star Trek IP.

General Comments

The tutorial impressed me.  There was a lot there for even a casual Trek fan to gush over. Even if the game were to fail on every other count, it still feels like Star Trek right off that bat. That’s exciting and exactly what I was hoping for.

The voice overs were mostly very good. The tutorial instructions and NPC voices were done well and added to the immersion of the environment. Ironically enough, Leonard Nimoy was probably the worst one of the bunch. I guess he left his acting days behind him because the total lack of enthusiasm on his part was disappointing.

Combat

Space combat was great. I love that it’s tactical. There’s much more micromanagement than in a lot of other MMOs, since you’re always watching your shields, or propulsion, or energy levels. Positioning is important to, so you can get the most out of your ships weapon loadout (certain weapons are only on certain sides of the ship).

Ground combat… didn’t disappoint me like I’d thought it would. It, again, felt very ‘Trek. It’s not fast paced. It’s not ultra flashy. But, it’s shooting with lasers and phasers, and crouching and rolling, and doing things you’d expect to see in a show. Now, I know that the tutorial is usually the most polished part of a new MMO, so maybe bugs crop up later on. But, if it’s consistent throughout, I don’t see it being as big of a problem as people make it out to be. Maybe the slowness would become frustrating, but that’s something I can’t make a judgment on without seeing how the game unfolds in later levels.

Atmosphere

Environments were wonderful. I loved flying my ship around space and seeing distant suns blooming against my camera lens. It was all artfully done, fun to look at, and a pleasant change of pace from traditional fantasy MMOs. The same applies to the ground environments. Ship interiors were… shippy. What can you expect?

Issues

Now, with any reflection on a new MMO, there’s bound to be some issues. For some reason, both my friend and I would crash whenever we tried to group at different stages of the same mission. Weird. And glaring, considering how early on this happens – and to both of us, so I know it’s not just me. The game performed well, even at maximum settings (2x AA), but I did get some occasional hitching. Overall, these are fairly minor problems, as once we were out of the tutorial, we were able to group up without problem.

Conclusion

So, let me say again, I’m impressed. Cryptic may have done things that I think were thoughtless in the past but this introduction to STO actually went very well. It, honestly, far exceeded my expectations in every single way, and that’s something. In the end, I don’t know that it will answer everything I want from an MMO– but, if it can answer everything I’d want from a Star Trek game (which is to feel “trekky,” be fun — not necessarily perfect –, and offer me a unique experience) then it’ll do all that it needs to for me.

If it keeps up this way, I could even see sticking with it for a while. Sometimes it’s important to notice that, even under the firestorm of negative reviews, there are still people who find genuine fun in these games. Tipa, Kae, and more are smart and experienced players. Would they stick with it if it were as bad as people make it seem? No way. I’m not expecting STO to live up to my usual MMOs in every way. But it doesn’t need to. It needs to do what it tries to well. Hopefully, it’ll pan out that way in the weeks to come.

Tutorial: One and a half thumbs up!

02/16/10

The Multiverse – Episode #7: “MMO Divorce”

Hey Everyone,

We’re back at it again, with Episode 7 of The Multiverse. This week, we talk about RMT, where MMOs are headed, and whether or not Global Agenda and MAG are really MMOs. We also talk a little bit about Final Fantasy 14, the outbreak of nude mining in Mortal Online, and Lego Universe.

Riknas couldn’t join us this week since he was taking a vacation with family. Rest up, Riknas! You’re due back this Friday to record the first episode of our new weekly show!

That’s right, starting this week, we’re going to be recording every week. We really enjoy putting this thing on, so it’s a natural move for us. Going forward, we’re interested in expanding the show even more and doing some live stuff. Stay tuned for more.

Here are the the notes for today’s show:

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Show Notes: Multiverse #7