STO: Final Promotion

I have been having a lot of fun playing Star Trek Online and have finally reached max rank (level) on my main, Cynfull is now Vice Admiral :)

The last couple of levels went really fast by just doing the episodes and a lot of duty officer missions, the fun thing about duty officer missions is you basicly do them offline, they can last from a few minutes to a day or 2 and there are always missions completed when you log in giving lots of xp.

So i guess i will be seeing how end game plays in STO :)
I am now finishing up the last couple of Borg episodes and then i have played them all, of course i might go for a re-run of the previous episodes.

I still think i need to work on optimizing my gear and bridge officers, as i really haven't looked into that yet, really have no clue as to what the best gear for all the slots are, so there's still plenty to do.

STO: Get back to work!

It has been quite a while since i last logged into Star Trek Online, so needless to say it was really confusing getting into back into the game :)

I am probably (very) late to the party but i actually quite enjoyed the duty officer stuff.
I have not read much about it yet, but it seems like a lot of fun, it really makes you feel like a starship captain when you are assigning crew to do all kinds of tasks ranging from science and exploration to development to trying to catch a crew member who apperantly has contraband on the ship or have the bartender pour you a drink.

Needles to say i almost instantly blew all of my cryptic points on duty officer packs :)
So right now most of my ingame time is spent hanging out on the ship assigning the crew to their duties.

Now to find out what i should spec my char, as there has apperantly been a skill reset and i have to re-asssign all of my skill points and i can not remember how the skill points where distributed... Guess i am gonna have to read up about that.

STO: I like my little shuttle pet

It's hard to see since my ship is so huge, but i definatly like my little shuttle pet, the Class F shuttle that came with the Original Series bundle. It's right there behind my ship.... somewhere.
And of course the starship interior looks awesome aswell :)

STO Foundry: Lost and Found

While my Captain is slowly progressing through the ranks i am really having fun with the Foundry missions and i am glad that some of these authors don't forget to put a little humor in their missions.
It's also a great thing to see the possibilities within the foundry engine to create stuff like that.

Some of the scenery and missions have been amazing and well thought out.

And now on the a few humor shots :)


When i first encountered these two, the one in the black/red was trying to pull her feet off the floor first the right one then the left one and this went on and on, so i wondered what was going on and got this after talking to the women standing next to her.


I found this guy staring at the wall and this was all he had to say.

However after the battle..



Yeah but what does that button actually do...??

One little annoyance though is that some authors forget that some of us are "noobs" (like me) and somtimes don't know the entire space map and when only given a system name it can take hours to actually find the mission starter, so it would really help if you include as much info as possible, like system, sector and sector block.
I am sure it's not that difficult to do and it really saves a lot of time.

Just yesterday i spent at least an hour to find a mission starter for "Chronotons and Klingons" and then spent some time on google to try and find it, however it turned out the mission starter was actually inside DS9, while the mission text suggested i should be close (or in) the Bajoran Wormhole.
The Wormhole is not mentioned on the map and i had not done any quests that involved the Wormhole, so i had no idea where to find it, so i didn't know that wormhole was right next to DS9, only found that out by searching on google...

In the end i really enjoyed the mission but it was a pain finding the starter and i am sure not everyone has the patience to try and find that starter and might just drop the mission or give it a bad rating.

STO: Enjoying the Foundry

I have really been enjoying Star Trek Online this week.
The Feature Episodes are really awesome to play through and although the standard explore and defend missions are still boring i am really enjoying this game again.

With the recent Foundry missions being added to the game, which is basicly user generated content the game takes a whole different turn, i can see a lot of fun coming to this game and it definatly adds a lot to the endgame and gives a lot of more interesting stuff to do between feature episodes.

I have only done a few Foundry missions so far and a couple of them have been a lot of fun.
So i can really recommend trying out some of these Foundry missions.



The only thing i constantly feel like doing is talk to my companions and try build a "relationship" with them, especially when i visit my bridge, i guess i am really getting used to the Bioware approach and i somehow miss the fact that i can't in Star Trek, as in STO they are basicly just pets, you can tell them to attack, stay or give them commands to use certain abilities but that's it.

My character is slowly moving through the ranks and is now a Captain 4, has allready got her new ship an Exploration Cruiser, really a nice (and big) ship to see.
I have to say i was somewhat worried about reaching endgame too soon and have nothing to do but exploration missions or daily missions while wait for Feature Episodes, but with the new Foundry i am pretty sure there will be plenty of stuff to do.

The Princess and the Klingon

Who says you're never too old to learn, i have been playing STO for quite a while now and never realised there was an autofire function..
I found out last night because i accidentally rightclicked while firing off a torpedo.
This really makes things a lot more easy (and comfortable) while fighting in space, before my hand would actually start to hurt from pressing (spamming) the space bar for lasers and the numeric keys for torpedos, playing for more than a few hours would be very uncomfortable.

Not only is it more comfortable but i think it also makes sence, i mean you're the captain of the ship and have your crew to fire the weapons, it's not like you fly a fighter and have to do everything yourself (apperantly my ship has a crew of 500).
Needles to say i am very happy about finding this autofire function (i know i am a noob) :)



I also finished a little mission called Saturday's Child, where you escort a princess and save a planet, which was really fun to do, although i did manage to "bug" the mission as i destroyed the asteroid before defeating the I.K.S. Kang (i missed the hail from the Kang) which left me with the message to destroy the asteroid which of course was no longer there since i allready destroyed it.
The only way to finish the mission was to leave the system and redo the last part of the mission, which was very annoying, really think the game should have detected i allready destroyed the asteroid instead of telling me to destroy something that is no longer there..

To boldly go where everyone has been before

I have been having a lot of fun playing through the Feature Episodes, i have (finally) finished going through "Series 1: The Breen", which was a lot of fun and have now started with "Series 3: Cloaked Intentions" and just finished "The Vault" a really different type of mission which has you flying in a tiny little shuttle through a huge space station.

Somehow i managed to miss the start of "Series 2: The Devidians", so i definatly have to look for that.
The Feature episodes are really a lot more fun than the standard explore and patrol missions, which tend to get boring after visiting 3 systems as they are often not much different from the previous missions and they often feel like grinding missions, there just to level your character.

I am really enjoying the story based missions and that's definatly one thing that i think STO is doing right, and eventhough i am not a big Star Trek fan i am really enjoying them.

And i also managed to finally reach a new rank, Cynfull is now a Commander, which also means a new ship. Since i so far enjoyed flying a cruiser i went with the heavy cruiser.

Heavy cruiser "Pok's Demise".

LT. Commander Cynfull reporting in

I recently picked up playing STO again and have to say it is still a lot of fun to play, but does get kinda repetitive after a while.

Every now and then there is stuff that sparkles my interrest again and since i have a lifetime sub it's easy to jump back into.
Blogposts are a sure way to get my attention and i particulary enjoy reading posts about feature episodes on blogs like MMO Gamer Chick, West Karana and Combat Archaeology, reading their posts make me all excited about playing again.
Often they will write posts that feature a lot of backstory from the Star Trek series, making the feature episode extra interresting.
However since i am not a big Star Trek fan, i like it but i have not watched all series, a lot of the lore/story passes me by, sure i might occasionally come across a name that sounds familiar, but more often than not it feels like just another quest in my log.

Just the other day i finaly managed to finish the "The Ultimate Klingon" questline and eventhough i don't know much about the Star Trek lore, this quest was pretty cool and it felt good completing it.

At the moment my character is only LT. Commander 5 and most of the missions are just the standard explore/kill missions that tend to get very boring after exploring system number x.
But the "The Ultimate Klingon" questline made me hopefull that not everything in the game is as boring and that there are definatly nice storylines to follow.

So the game is definatly nice to play but i can't help but feel that having watched all series/episodes would really help in appreciating the game more.

Meet LT. Commander Cynfull

Meet LT.Commander Cynfull of the U.S.S. De Ruyter :)

This is my main character on Star Trek Online (and so far my only one), i just noticed these character pages on the STO website and i have to say awesome!!

I always like this kind of stuff, always cool to be able to see/share your character on a website.

Anyaways, here's the link to my character page (if you're interrested that is) :)

Guess i should work on a bio now..

Stardate: 87813.64 Captain's Log: Promotion

Finally reached Lieutenant Commander (level 11) today, got my new ship, a very cool looking cruiser.
And of course i immediatly went and did some fleet action mission.

Have to say i definatly enjoy this cruiser a lot more than my starter ship :)
I initianatly wanted to go with science vessels, but figured cruisers would be a lot better suited for doing solo missions.

On a side note i really thought the additional (optinional) mission for my "promotion" called "attend Lieutenant Commander Ceremony" was a fun thing, it wasn't much but it was the thought :)

Star Trek Online Lifetime Perks

Just recieved this email from Cryptic, looks like lifetime members will be getting some more goodies.

STO LIFETIME PERKS

Greetings Lifetime Members!
We just wanted to thank you again for purchasing a Lifetime Subscription from us. As you already know, this entitles you to play the game without paying a monthly fee. But, that’s not where it ends. Later this month we’ll be releasing special perks for you, just to show our appreciation. Here’s some of what we’re working on, exclusive to Lifetime Subscribers:

Exclusive In-Game Chat Channel
Talk shop with other Lifetime Subscribers. Share thoughts and ideas about the game, or anything else.

Front-of-Queue Support
Waiting isn’t fun, and we don’t think you should have to do it. Any time the server is queued, you’ll go to the front of it.

In-Game Title
Visibly show off your support.

In-Game VIP Lounge
Spend time in an exclusive area inside the game. This social area is limited to Lifetime Subscribers only.

A Unique Costume Piece
Show off your lifetime status in style.

We’ll see you in-game, and thank you again!

-The Cryptic Team

The ship seems to be holding together captain!

Star Trek Online has pleasantly surprised me, since launch the game has definatly been running better on my computer.
The crashing problems seem to have completely dissapeared and i am running the game on pretty decent settings without problems while before i had to seriously turn down the settings to keep the game from locking up.

So whatever they did, they seem to have fixed my problems, great job Cryptic!

Only small things right now is the occasional "server not responding" message, which has not been a major issue as it usually connects anyway, just takes a little longer and some lag/rubberbanding while in a solo (ground) mission.
But other than that the game is running great and it has been a lot of fun, so far i have no regrets getting the lifetime sub as this is really a game i would like to keep playing :)

Lifetime subs, the way to go!

After recently purchasing my second lifetime subscribtion (to Star Trek Online, I allready own a lifetime sub to Lord of the Rings Online), I am really starting to think about cancelling (all) monthly subscriptions.

Lifetime subs, I think are really the way to go for MMO's.

Personally I really like the idea of paying once and just being able to play whenever i want/like without worrying on whether or not I payed my subscription.
Although you're paying a large amount of money at the start, I really think in the end it's worth it.

You're showing the Devs you trust them by commiting yourself to their game when it comes out and to trust their "vision" of the game in the long run.
It's also very save to say you're gonna be buying any expansions they'll put out in the future.

Now I know people are gonna claim that servers will have to be paid for, well look at Guild Wars, they seem to be doing ok with just the amount of money they get from box sales (and of course RMT) and their expansions. So there must be a way to make it work for MMO's as well.

I really think it's just a way of having an easy money tree.
Players are simply forced to pay up or they're not playing.

I think the way Hellgate: London did it was awesome (or at least better), you could pay for a subscription to play online, as in MMO, but if you didn't want that, you could still play the game offline as single player.
Of course Hellgate London also showed the risk of getting a lifetime sub, when the game shuts down, your lifetime is gone..

Now, what i do like about Star Trek Online

I have always been against forced grouping in MMO's, however i have to say the way Star Trek Online does it, i actually like.
It's no like they force you to group up, but when you enter an instance to do a mission, you're automaticly teamed up with other players doing that same mission, so if no one else is doing that mission you're still flying solo, the same thing applies for the "open encounters" where you're sometimes pulled in, if enemy ships get close to you in sector space or when you innitiate contact.

Missions do seem to get tougher if there are more players in the instance (as in more enemys spawn), but i found it a lot of fun when there are a lot of allies with you, it gives a feeling of a fleet battle and especially if you coordinate the attacks it becomes a lot easier.

And the best thing about this grouping feature is you can turn "auto grouping" off if you want to fly solo.

So i really think they did the right thing, to automaticly group you up with other players, but i f you don't want to you can turn it off.

Finally i wrote something positive about Star Trek Online :)

Now for a bit more negative, i do seem to get a lot of computer lockups (and i do mean complete computer/Windows lockup/freezing) when i set my graphics to "recommended" or high, since i have set the graphics to the one below recommended (can't remember what it said) i have no more lockups, in space it still looks pretty good, but it looks awefull with ground combat.
Personally i think it has to do with a memory leak as i had similair experience with Age of Conan, whatever it is i do hope they're gonna fix it.
Right now i am slowly turning on the graphic setting one by one in the hope of finding the culprit..

From space to Fallen Earth.

So i got home from work all excited to play some Star Trek Online, fired it up started on a quest, finished the first part of a mission chain to shoot down some patrols in different systems, went on to the second system and..... yep booted out of the server, again the server went down without any notice, so i figured screw it and went on to have some fun in Fallen Earth instead.

At first i didn't do much, just went out in a random direction and started scavenging for some time, until i came close to a quest objective, so decided to go questing instead and after finishing a few quests around Oilville i reached level 10 on my main, Cynfull.

So in the end a fun evening gaming, although not what i had planned/hoped for, but then again i allready have a lifetime sub for Star Trek Online, so i'll probably be playing it more than enough, but if they don't start getting their stuff together soon i doubt i'll be helping out much in the beta, afterall launch day is approaching fast..

Has the Fallen Earth Beta spoiled us?

I was in the Fallen Earth beta some time ago, and what i remember from it was, the Devs/GM's where always present.
You could see them in chat making announcements, helping people with problems etc.
In short: they were "on it".

I am currently in the Star Trek Online beta and i have to say i am experiencing the complete opposite, not noticing any GM presence at all.
Last night i was playing and suddenly the server went down, no word whatsoever, ok might have been a server crash.
So i went to the forums as i wanted to know what was going on, well the were not "on it" so to speak, it took a long time before a GM actually posted that the server was down, and still the message was hard to find, as everyone was on the forums replying to older posts, so the announcment actually got burried, i eventually found it because i noticed the date at the start of the title of the post.

So yeah, i do think communication with the beta players could be a lot better, afterall they are testing your game.
If the game would be ready for launch, i might understand but from what i am experiencing, the game is far from ready to be launched.

Am i expecting too much, when i say a dev/gm should be on at all time, especially during Beta?

Does this show what kind of support they are going to give when the game goes live? I Hope not.

Set a course to worlds unknown and don't forget the phasers

I just pre ordered Star Trek Online and of course got immediate access to the beta, and i have to say i am impressed.
So far i am still in the tutorial, but it is a lot of fun.
In fact so much fun that i decided to go ahead and get the lifetime sub for this game, despite having a couple of computer lockups, but that was not STO causing it but somekind of DCOM errors cause by some Nvidia shit, i also get them when i leave my computer on idle for some time.
Been messing around to get that fixed, but yeah, messing around with the registry is no fun...

Well anyways, beam me up!!