Star Trek Online : A New and Unbroken Thread!

[Sir T]

I continue to be confuzzled about how you acquire dilithium in such vast quantities.  My characters haven't ever had more than 30k at a time.

Not that it matters at the moment since ARC is being a bitch and not letting me log in.

Have a one or 2 klingon alts that just run marauding missions and security missions and then pile the proceeds into your account bank, then do the turn over contraband missions with all your characters by pulling the stuff out of your account bank for efficient Dill suckage.

[Stormwaltz]

What's ARC?

ARC is Perfect World's new in-house launcher for their various games, essentially a launcher that launches STO's launcher.

So it's kind of like Steam, except you can only access STO, NW, and a bunch of shitty Korean F2P games.

[Ingmar]

What's ARC?

Perfect World's platform launcher thingy.

[Merusk]

Not that it matters at the moment since ARC is being a bitch and not letting me log in.

You installed ARC? o_O

I guess the Khan outfits are nice and all, but seriously: fuck bloatware.

I did because I thought it was a consolidation interface like Blizzard's very nice new Battle.Net interface.  Remove all the launchers for one unified version.  I discovered it is not, but it wiped my Neverwinter/ STO launchers and menu directories and I've been too damn lazy to just create new shortcuts.

Though it does provide a much nicer shop interface than fucking with their site if you want to buy zen.  Plus having a new costume option for my Romulan is worth it.  The Romulan outfits from TNG and TOS sucked then and suck now and none of the other options work for Rommies, despite just being Vulcans with face ridges.  

ed: Heh, they also just gave out 20 lobi and a Ferengi shuttle from the in-game mail I just got.  Must be a very low adoption rate, with good reason.

[Torinak]

Not that it matters at the moment since ARC is being a bitch and not letting me log in.

You installed ARC? o_O

I guess the Khan outfits are nice and all, but seriously: fuck bloatware.

I did because I thought it was a consolidation interface like Blizzard's very nice new Battle.Net interface.  Remove all the launchers for one unified version.  I discovered it is not, but it wiped my Neverwinter/ STO launchers and menu directories and I've been too damn lazy to just create new shortcuts.

Though it does provide a much nicer shop interface than fucking with their site if you want to buy zen.  Plus having a new costume option for my Romulan is worth it.  The Romulan outfits from TNG and TOS sucked then and suck now and none of the other options work for Rommies, despite just being Vulcans with face ridges.  

ed: Heh, they also just gave out 20 lobi and a Ferengi shuttle from the in-game mail I just got.  Must be a very low adoption rate, with good reason.

Did you disable the always-running service(s) that it (allegedly) runs, that don't seem to be related to its game-launching function?

[Sir T]

I did because I thought it was a consolidation interface like Blizzard's very nice new Battle.Net interface.  Remove all the launchers for one unified version.  I discovered it is not, but it wiped my Neverwinter/ STO launchers and menu directories and I've been too damn lazy to just create new shortcuts.

I've just installed it. I  installed it by installing the initial installer, copying over my old STO folder into it without replacing anything, and then running it from ARC. Worked fine, just had to DL the new patch and that's it.

Anyone that uses steam and is complaining about Bloatware is laughable.

I just realised I havent done any of the VOTH content. Might do that tonignth actually. Havent plaed properly in months.

[Merusk]

Too many pronouns, not enough proper nouns makes that description confusing as hell.

So it doesn't copy the STO install over into the Arc folder, you need to do that manually.  Does it still start the STO launcher or does it patch through the ARC launcher?

Blizzard's interface does the latter, replacing the Warden launcher

[Lantyssa]

It may do the big patches, but you'll still have to do incrementals unless they've further updated it, much like Steam.

At least it will fill in your account credentials automatically.

[Der Helm]

I picked this back up, ran a Romulan through the first few missions, now I have to decide if I want to work for the Klingons or the Federation. Thoughts/Suggestions?

Also, is there an F13 fleet (this thread tells me there is), is it active and how do I get in again ?

[Rishathra]

If by active you mean 'exists,' then yes!  A handful of us play regularly but rarely at the same time.  State your game handle and one of us will invite you in.  Our starbase isn't high end but it covers the basics.

As for which side to pick, it's mostly up to what side you like thematically, but functionally the Klingons have a slight edge as they get more contraband assignments.

[Tannhauser]

Welcome Helm!  I took my Rom to the Feds and like it but like Vish said.  If I can give you a tip, be sure to complete episodes, some of them end with a purple doff.

The starbase is cool, be sure to feed the goldfish when you get there. :) 

Live long and prosper.

[Der Helm]

I think I read something about how choosing your alliance changes which fleets you can join. Is this true ? Was that in regard to player fleets ?

[Merusk]

Yes, player fleets.  Join Klingon and you can't join a Fed fleet.

[Der Helm]

So. What kind of fleet do we have ? (I still have a feeling I misunderstand how half of the social tools work in this game)

edit: Handle seems to be Hlek@HelmF13. Easy enough to remember, right ? 

[Rishathra]

It's a Fed fleet.  My KDF character is in a fleet with a maxxed out starbase.  I can probably get you an invite if you go that route.

[Der Helm]

It's a Fed fleet.  My KDF character is in a fleet with a maxxed out starbase.  I can probably get you an invite if you go that route.

Federation it is, then. I think I have a Klingon character from way back then.

edit: Did someone from here send me an invite ? Because I might have clicked that away by accident earlier.

[Sir T]

Too many pronouns, not enough proper nouns makes that description confusing as hell.

So it doesn't copy the STO install over into the Arc folder, you need to do that manually.  Does it still start the STO launcher or does it patch through the ARC launcher?

Blizzard's interface does the latter, replacing the Warden launcher

Arc starts the STO launcher as normal.

All I was describing was a method where you DONT have to download the whole game again.

You are right that it takes over your STO shortcuts, and my old STO shortcut pointed at the new Arc folder, but It does not seen to launch ARC if you use the shortcut.

Sorry it was confusing.

And Helm the choice of Klingon or Fed does not really change much in the Romulan storyline. Either side will treat you like crap and you get to shoot the other side occasionally :D Fed Rommies cant walk on the Klingon homeworld and Klink Rommies cant visit Earth. Occasionally your Klink Romulans will need a slap as hey will start talking like Klingons, and the NPCs you deal with are different and they will give you their versions of the standard missions and objectives. You get access to most of the Doff Missions of your chosen facion, and it affects what fleets you can join. That's pretty much it. Oh, and you can use all the ships of your chosen faction apart from the top tier stuff, which really means that you can use some of the modules of ships you have bought on your Rom ships.

[Merusk]

Anyone know a way to look at ship bonuses without going to a wiki?  Just completed the 4 year project on my rommie and I can't decide if it would be better to invest in proton for its Tactical mode or just go ahead and move the plasmas over.

[Surlyboi]

I'm all about the anti-protons just because they burn borg the best and are just all-around solid.

[Sir T]

Anyone know a way to look at ship bonuses without going to a wiki?  Just completed the 4 year project on my rommie and I can't decide if it would be better to invest in proton for its Tactical mode or just go ahead and move the plasmas over.

Well, you can look at its ship stats by having it as your active starship and pressing U.

Anyway, I did the "Hey, we hired Tuvok, yo!" mission and I didn't like it much. I admit that my enjoyment would have been hampered somewhat by the fact that I hated Voyager, so listening. To. Him. Talk. Like. Every. Word. Is. A. Brick. was pretty crappy. The rommie version of the ship is really beautiful but My connection is pretty laggy, so spending an hour bieng unable to catch miniature versions of Q for 25 days to get it does not seem like much fun to me.

[Tyrnan]

Even with no connection problems it still isn't fun.  I lasted 2 or 3 days doing it on 5 characters before I went just went "fuck it!".  The thoughts of running it something like 75 times in total plus re-running the FE 15 times to get the full set on all characters just sapped the will to live right out of me.  I know the game has always been fairly grindy but they seem to be taking the piss a little lately.

Have they made any announcement on how they're going to price the C-store version?  I'm guessing since it's Cryptic/PW there will be a triple pack for each faction with some "awesome" deal where you can get all 3 for only $100 or something?

[Surlyboi]

I tried fighting the assholes at the academy for all of a minute chasing Qs before I said "fuck it" and spent some of the lobi crystals I had on it.

[Der Helm]

edit: Did someone from here send me an invite ? Because I might have clicked that away by accident earlier.

Because somebody might have missed my subtle edit. 

[Merusk]

Anyone know a way to look at ship bonuses without going to a wiki?  Just completed the 4 year project on my rommie and I can't decide if it would be better to invest in proton for its Tactical mode or just go ahead and move the plasmas over.

Well, you can look at its ship stats by having it as your active starship and pressing U.

Yeah, my problem is it doesn't show all the bonuses there.  Like the 1000 day ship's shield gen vs Accuracy in Tac. mode.  Guess it's to the wiki.

Anyway, I did the "Hey, we hired Tuvok, yo!" mission and I didn't like it much. I admit that my enjoyment would have been hampered somewhat by the fact that I hated Voyager, so listening. To. Him. Talk. Like. Every. Word. Is. A. Brick. was pretty crappy. The rommie version of the ship is really beautiful but My connection is pretty laggy, so spending an hour bieng unable to catch miniature versions of Q for 25 days to get it does not seem like much fun to me.

It's not 25 days it's only 15!      Completing the mission gives you 400 and every day gives you 40.

Tip: Go in to tactical combat (b) and the Q's with the HP bar are the runners.  The ones without are the shuffle game.  Activate one shuffle then go activate another 10 seconds later and then a 3rd.  Then run back to the first, it will be finishing up with the last shuffle so you can answer, then hit the 2nd as it's finishing up then the 3rd.  Makes it go a LOT faster.  Took me less time than doing the race for the Breen ship.

Then again I also got on at times there were at least 3-4 Academies that only had 6-9 players.  Fuck trying that in any of the ones with more than 15.

[Sir T]

Yeah, Being on at a time when there was a ton of people on at the academy was the other issue. Plus there were people who seemed to be running around just setting off the Q for giggles and not even playing the stupid Q game. I had to swap zones twice and then I had the "fun" of actually doing the Q shit and watching the miniQ teleporting forward.

It really was taking the utter piss. If I want that ship that badly I'll just pay for it rather than go through that aggrivation (which I'm sure is the point). And right now I don't. The Scimitar was the last straw for e in that regard.

[Tyrnan]

Yeah, Being on at a time when there was a ton of people on at the academy was the other issue. Plus there were people who seemed to be running around just setting off the Q for giggles and not even playing the stupid Q game. I had to swap zones twice and then I had the "fun" of actually doing the Q shit and watching the miniQ teleporting forward.

It really was taking the utter piss. If I want that ship that badly I'll just pay for it rather than go through that aggrivation (which I'm sure is the point). And right now I don't. The Scimitar was the last straw for e in that regard.

A lot of the people running around setting off the Q's are either a) just looking for runners and ignoring the stupid shell game or b) doing what Merusk said and running multiple shell games simultaneously (if you miss which present Q is in the shooter mode trick will show you when you aim at the presents, unless they've patched that out).  It's a fucking awfully designed event and whoever is responsible for it should be made play it continuously for at least a month.  But of course Cryptic will look at their metrics, see that most people are running it because they have no other fucking way to get the anniversary "reward" and declare it a resounding success.

What happened with the Scimitar btw?  It wasn't out by the time I stopped playing last time and I only popped on for the anniversary thing last week.

[Stormwaltz]

I admit that after playing the stupid Q box game 3-4 times in a row (and not knowing about a cheat), I stop trying to play it and just trigger them until I get a runner.

A quest where you do nothing bit stand and watch for a minute, and you have to do it five times, and you have to repeat it every day for two weeks... Yeah, not really fun.

Also, the Romulan Dyson ship is beautiful, but as a Feddie I'm stuck with a plug-ugly POS. The Dyson design style still just doesn't work with the traditional Fed ship silhouette.

[Merusk]

I didn't know about the box cheat.. nice. I'll give it a shot on the Fed.

Also, the Romulan Dyson ship is beautiful, but as a Feddie I'm stuck with a plug-ugly POS. The Dyson design style still just doesn't work with the traditional Fed ship silhouette.

It's not terrible.  It looks a lot better than the Klingon ship, those poor bastards.   Plus the way it splits-open looks better on the Fed than the "flip out" action on Rommie for Tac moded. 

Still, I'm really happy I got it on my Rommie first.

[Sir T]

What happened with the Scimitar btw?  It wasn't out by the time I stopped playing last time and I only popped on for the anniversary thing last week.

Ahh, well it was really an "in context" thing. At the time, the Klingon PVP trolls had been crying and wailing on the forums and on the sector chat of every pit of space they wandered through that the reason that all the fed ships were overpowered is that one ship, the fleet defiant, had 5 tactical slots. This made every ship totally OP and the reason that the feds kept losing in PVP was all to due with lack of player skeel. One look at the stats of the ships showed this was utter bollox (the klingon ships outclassed every fed ship in every single stat and Klingons universally ripped Fed ships to bits in PVP, while telling one another they actually had inferior ships and doing it by skill. I had some blazing rows with Klingon idiots.) They also said that the cloak was useless o Klingon ships but somehow made the defiant OP as well.

SO they had been howling the forums down DEMANDING a ship with 5 tactical slots because any ship without tactical slots was useless.

And then they brought out the Scimitar, a ship you have to pay for with 5 tactical slots.

Now, the 5 tac slots was only one thing in the list of reasons why this ship was a "BUY ME NAOW!!" cash ship to me, but its been a while so I cant remember the list. It was a carrier for one thing, And had a tac layout. Most of the people who play STO in munchkin mode are tac players as tac ships get Dual cannons. and cannons are totally broken in the game for various reasons.

But yeah, it basically was a totally money ship, and that make me largely quit the game. It coincided with some drama in the fleet I was in anyway so I was probably on my way out anyway, but it was a contributory factor. I had played the game for 2 years odd and I was sick of it. If people ask me though I recommend people play it as it is a good game as long as you stay out of PVP and the forums.

It really has gotten stupidly grindy though.

And yeah, this was a personal rant with no real point. Welcome to the internet.

[Surlyboi]

I automatically ignore any and all klinks that bring up PvP anywhere. Problem solved.

[Sir T]

I automatically ignore any and all klinks that bring up PvP anywhere. Problem solved.

Sounds a fuckload more rational than any solution I ever came up with.

[Tyrnan]

Thanks for the context.  Gotta love them Klingons!  When they use decloak + APA + CRF + whatever else and rip you to shreds in seconds it because of their "leet skillz" but when a (single) fed ship does it it's OP.  Although I'm not really surprised, I remember them moaning when they got their new 1-30 content because it was part of LoR and not some super special Klingon release.

Just checked out the Scimitar consoles on the wiki.  Secondary shields, cloaked firing and no shield drop on cloaking?  Sounds perfectly reasonable and balanced  .

[Rishathra]

Since I've started playing again I've noticed several people in chat mentioning beam setups as having competitive dps these days.  Did something change that I'm not aware of?  Are those cruiser commands pretty good?

[Merusk]

From what I've followed in my Fleet chat, The folks who mention it are using "fire at will" and other such multi-target beam abilities to hit in a 180 to 360 arc on the swarm spawns that happen in instances.  Meanwhile Cannons are forced to strafe and circle lest they lose all their frontal shields and go pop. 

[Kitsune]

The volume of space around a beam ship where it can bring all weapons to bear is a fat donut around the ship.  The volume of space where a cannon ship can bring all weapons to bear is a narrow cone in front of the ship.  A beam ship can just circle a target indefinitely while constantly shooting, the cannon ship has to make attack runs, turn, move away, turn, make another attack run, etc, so the amount of time a cannon ship is actually firing on a target is around 50%.  That brings the overall DPS much closer than the bigger numbers on cannons would suggest.

Of course, for this to actually work, you need to have significant energy boosts so the constant firing of a beam ship doesn't suck your weapon energy dry.