Star Trek Online - To Boldly Beta where No One Has Beta'd Before!

[Throckmorton]

I didnt realise that ship to ship combat was just madly clicking a few buttons (i thought you would issue orders from the bridge - though I am still only in the tutorial).

Not loving it so far

It's not button mashing. Things like weapon fire arcs and shield balancing are important. You have to maneuver in order to maximize your attacks (broadsiding for example), while at the same time balancing damage to the shields on each side. You also have to manage power distribution and skills.

Combat drastically changes with the items you equip. For example with the default config you need to broadside the enemy to hit him with both front/rear phasers because each has a 270° arc. But if you equip a turret at the back, you get max damage anywhere within the front 270° arc which completely changes how you fight. You could also equip higher powered cannons, but those have a much smaller 45° arc so you really have to make good use of your initial approac.

 

[lupi]

flying around in tier 2 BOP now. did some pve against feds first, wow does it tear through the tier 1 vessels now with that extra weapon slot.

 

[damocles]

It's not button mashing. Things like weapon fire arcs and shield balancing are important. You have to maneuver in order to maximize your attacks (broadsiding for example), while at the same time balancing damage to the shields on each side. You also have to manage power distribution and skills.

Combat drastically changes with the items you equip. For example with the default config you need to broadside the enemy to hit him with both front/rear phasers because each has a 270° arc. But if you equip a turret at the back, you get max damage anywhere within the front 270° arc which completely changes how you fight. You could also equip higher powered cannons, but those have a much smaller 45° arc so you really have to make good use of your initial approac.

Yes, it is tactical but flying a space ship by using a ASWD doesn't feel right to me in a MMO (IMHO)

Nor does the combat system

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=88443&page=9

Thread on the lack of autofire and need to mash buttons

 

[ginfest]

Yes, it is tactical but flying a space ship by using a ASWD doesn't feel right to me in a MMO (IMHO)

Nor does the combat system

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=88443&page=9

Thread on the lack of autofire and need to mash buttons

Try flying by holding down both mouse buttons and moving the mouse for direction, it feels a lot more natural to me than using WASD

 

[damocles]

Try flying by holding down both mouse buttons and moving the mouse for direction, it feels a lot more natural to me than using WASD

Cheers, I'll see how it goes

 

[Daverino]

Try flying by holding down both mouse buttons and moving the mouse for direction, it feels a lot more natural to me than using WASD

One drawback of that is it is difficult to stay in a turn. It's good for free flight, but once you get into a turning battle with an enemy, it becomes difficult to keep your camera on the enemy and turn at the same time. I prefer broadside attacks, so I will usually use the mouse to keep the camera on my target and use WASD to keep my relative position. If you're an escort captain and all about your front weapons, using the mouse may work better in combat.

That said, I use the double-mouse when I'm flying between targets. It's easier to fine-tune your heading.

 

[heat901]

I got the mmo itch and I am really tempted to buy this...

 

[FerraraZ]

I got the mmo itch and I am really tempted to buy this...

I got the same thing.

 

[heat901]

I got the same thing.

You wont do eh!

 

[Nik]

I got the mmo itch and I am really tempted to buy this...

Don't. Really. I played through the open beta and was bored by the 2nd day, even though I raced through the beta in full. It's the same shit over and over and over.

 

[lupi]

logged on for the first time today and there's a 128meg patch. probably the last one as it "goes live" in about 12 hours.

 

[manimal]

I bit the bullet and purchased. Spent 40 seconds trying to start a klingon character and couldnt so went back to mag...

 

[lupi]

You can't start a klingon char when you first start. Must either get a fed to lvl 6 or complete the fed pve quest stop the signal (which will only take ~ 2 hours if you have an idea of what you are doing and will get your fed char to level 4.

 

[SunnyD]

Don't. Really. I played through the open beta and was bored by the 2nd day, even though I raced through the beta in full. It's the same shit over and over and over.

That can be said of just about any game, except maybe Mario Party. No, wait, that's the same too.

It's a good game for Star Trek fans, but if you're in it for a story line or anything like that, you'll be mostly disappointed. If you go in with the notion that it's a single- and multi-player space pew-pew game that also has some rudimentary third-person shooter as well, then you'll be fine.

That said, I had some serious fun yesterday. Monotonous yes, but still fun. I finished the second fleet action (Halting the Gorn Advance). About 15 or so people in there going up against groups of about 20 enemy ships at a time. I had refit my escort prior to doing so, and promoted another Bridge Officer in order to access a particular skill, swapping my tactical officers around. When it was all said and done, the final score for the FA had me coming out on top with about 6400 points. The next closest was around 4000 points. I will say that my new setup is magically fun to watch in action - I was mowing down usually about 5 or 6 enemy frigates while the rest of the fleet was piddling around. It will still probably perform sub-par in PvP since Klingons seem to have a distinct balance advantage, but my performance characteristic should be somewhat more competitive. That and I don't care so much about PvP.

 

[heat901]

That can be said of just about any game, except maybe Mario Party. No, wait, that's the same too.

It's a good game for Star Trek fans, but if you're in it for a story line or anything like that, you'll be mostly disappointed. If you go in with the notion that it's a single- and multi-player space pew-pew game that also has some rudimentary third-person shooter as well, then you'll be fine.

Im in the mood for some space pew pew, to be honest hence why I want to give this a shot. If only jumpgate and black prophocey would just come out already...

 

[SunnyD]

Im in the mood for some space pew pew, to be honest hence why I want to give this a shot. If only jumpgate and black prophocey would just come out already...

Then you're golden. STO should be adequate for what you're looking for.

 

[Daverino]

Im in the mood for some space pew pew, to be honest hence why I want to give this a shot. If only jumpgate and black prophocey would just come out already...

That's exactly what I wanted and that's why I got it. So far it's working for me because the pew-pew has great atmosphere. I suppose I would Star Wars pew-pew (if I could fly the Star Destroyers), but Star Trek will do until the Warhammer 40k MMORPG comes out.

 

[heat901]

is it tru what that one guy wrote? That you have to play fed before you can do klingon?

 

[SunnyD]

is it tru what that one guy wrote? That you have to play fed before you can do klingon?

Yes, but only till about level 6, which is maybe an hour or two tops.

 

[Punter]

Reading their forums and trying to figure out all the details on loadouts and officer abilities is doing my head in. Think I will stop researching and just bumble through the missions til I figure it out on my own. Hopefully at some point we will be allowed to respec to correct mistakes I am sure to make along the way.

 

[GaryJohnson]

Reading their forums and trying to figure out all the details on loadouts and officer abilities is doing my head in. Think I will stop researching and just bumble through the missions til I figure it out on my own. Hopefully at some point we will be allowed to respec to correct mistakes I am sure to make along the way.

As I understand it, you can always get more energy credits, star fleet merits, & bridge office skill points. So if you screw up some of your BOs, you can always just replace them with fresh ones and start over.

I think the only thing you can't "respec" are your captain's skills, race, & class. Everything else can be respec'd by throwing credits and merits at it.

Also, Klingon Tactical BO's are awesome

 

[AdamK47]

How many months do you want to give this MMO?

I give it 14 months before servers close down.

 

[heat901]

I think Im taking the plung when I get home from work......I know there is a lot of "this is epic fail" but at least I wont have high expectations so it might be ok in the end.

 

[Punter]

Yes, that is my approach. Try to enjoy the game for what it is, not worry about what could be better, ride the fun as far as it goes and then find something else to play.

 

[SunnyD]

If it's any indication - my gamestop right across the street must be selling at a brisk pace. They had about 30 copies left on their shelf of the regular retail, plus about 5 copies of the collectors edition. Not sure if this gamestop was part of the midnight launch or not...