JacobFlowers
09-04-2009, 10:03 PM
One thing that I keep seeing pop up in these articles is assigning typical MMORPG roles to the three different ship types:
Cruiser: Tanks
Science: Healer/Support
Escort: DPS
I thought it was stated pretty clearly early on that these classes were not going to conform to such types and that these kind of roles would be relatively meaningless in STO. Am I crazy or are previewers trying to shoe horn STO into standard MMO tropes to make it more comprehensible to their readers?
The Classic MMO Class Triad in STO
At first I think "oh no, the holy trinity of MMO classes is in STO, boring"... but I must take a step back and consider that this is SPACE.
I for one from the get go have had my heart set on commanding Cruiser type ships (i prefer bigger:)). I wonder how this will be however. We have collision in the game, but we do not have path based weapons. So if I move my cruiser the 'tank' in front of a support ship to protect it, will the torpedo magically pass through my ship and hit the support ship anyway?
Anyway, I have no problem if Cryptic implements the traditional MMO class system (some say it is impossible to avoid), as long as it is done innovatively, I'd love to know how they plan to make this so. I guess this will go into the details of BO abilities, and special technology etc. Who knows, I look forward to hearing it.
On a side note, I wonder if we'll see such ship specializations as "Stealth/Reconnaisance Ships" , "Command Ships", "Medical Ships", "Transport Ships", "Mobile Dry Docks", etc, OR if ship specializations will lie merely in the career you choose and your BO abilities. Interesting.
Ground Combat ... on the brighter side?
I came away feeling that this run-and-gun, in-your-face style of combat felt more like Starship Troopers than Star Trek. Maybe I was looking for something completely different, but Star Trek Online's approach to ground combat was very similar to what you'd find in any other MMO.
On the bright side, you can choose to specialize your captain in martial arts, which includes the classic neck chop and Kirk's two-fist strike. Score!
It also happened to feel very much like Star Trek, something that was somewhat lacking in the ground-based portion of the game.
hmmm... this is slightly discouraging. however in Cryptic's defense... how can ground combat 'feel more star trek' while in keeping with the current tech available for MMO's. I honestly don't know. I played WoW today and thought 'how can MMO's move past this' and I really don't know :(
Promising SS's of varied content (a long shot, i know but still)
In this screenshot (http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/102/1021786/star-trek-online-20090904051318341-000.jpg) we can notice that the guy is firing his phaser at some equipment and not necessarily other people. This give me hope that there may be varying missions and not just "kill this many tribbles". Kudos in advance to Cryptic if they are developing rich and deep mission content. Does anyone remember Star Trek 25th Anniversary? A side note, the design of the interior and even what is outside the windows look nice.
Shielding and Positioning
You have four shield arrays, covering your front, rear, and flanks, and if they're depleted you can easily click on arrows to divert power from elsewhere to get them back up... The main difference is that you're fighting in three-dimensional space, so instead of just giving cardinal directions to your allies when barking out commands, you may also have to add whether or not the enemy is above or below you.
Then why no Dorsal and Ventral shields? I think we may have discussed this elsewhere in the community, but I can find where. I'm not a die hard fan of dorsal and ventral shielding, but having those might add varying degrees of tall ship strategy (in space).
Compromise for Balance
Full impulse is great for quickly racing from one place to the next, but it keeps your shields from activating for a couple seconds,
What?? :( Anyway, it may be a balance issue, and it may be necessary, but I don't remember this being in Canon. If it is, someone please tell me. If it isn't, then is it possible to balance differently so we don't have see this kind of limitation?
Overall, a good article, albeit not much new information (but was appreciative of the naming of the ship classes. good deal). Liked the screenies also. Good stuff. In short, seems Gamespy likes the space combat, but that ground combat is rather unremarkable. I hope come lauch time, whenever we have episodes we don't role our eyes everytime we're required to beam down preferring to stay shipside and let our BO's do all the work, haha. Anyway, who knows, we're promised new info coming along soon enough,so I look forward.
If you have answers or comments please leave them
Cruiser: Tanks
Science: Healer/Support
Escort: DPS
I thought it was stated pretty clearly early on that these classes were not going to conform to such types and that these kind of roles would be relatively meaningless in STO. Am I crazy or are previewers trying to shoe horn STO into standard MMO tropes to make it more comprehensible to their readers?
The Classic MMO Class Triad in STO
At first I think "oh no, the holy trinity of MMO classes is in STO, boring"... but I must take a step back and consider that this is SPACE.
I for one from the get go have had my heart set on commanding Cruiser type ships (i prefer bigger:)). I wonder how this will be however. We have collision in the game, but we do not have path based weapons. So if I move my cruiser the 'tank' in front of a support ship to protect it, will the torpedo magically pass through my ship and hit the support ship anyway?
Anyway, I have no problem if Cryptic implements the traditional MMO class system (some say it is impossible to avoid), as long as it is done innovatively, I'd love to know how they plan to make this so. I guess this will go into the details of BO abilities, and special technology etc. Who knows, I look forward to hearing it.
On a side note, I wonder if we'll see such ship specializations as "Stealth/Reconnaisance Ships" , "Command Ships", "Medical Ships", "Transport Ships", "Mobile Dry Docks", etc, OR if ship specializations will lie merely in the career you choose and your BO abilities. Interesting.
Ground Combat ... on the brighter side?
I came away feeling that this run-and-gun, in-your-face style of combat felt more like Starship Troopers than Star Trek. Maybe I was looking for something completely different, but Star Trek Online's approach to ground combat was very similar to what you'd find in any other MMO.
On the bright side, you can choose to specialize your captain in martial arts, which includes the classic neck chop and Kirk's two-fist strike. Score!
It also happened to feel very much like Star Trek, something that was somewhat lacking in the ground-based portion of the game.
hmmm... this is slightly discouraging. however in Cryptic's defense... how can ground combat 'feel more star trek' while in keeping with the current tech available for MMO's. I honestly don't know. I played WoW today and thought 'how can MMO's move past this' and I really don't know :(
Promising SS's of varied content (a long shot, i know but still)
In this screenshot (http://pcmedia.gamespy.com/pc/image/article/102/1021786/star-trek-online-20090904051318341-000.jpg) we can notice that the guy is firing his phaser at some equipment and not necessarily other people. This give me hope that there may be varying missions and not just "kill this many tribbles". Kudos in advance to Cryptic if they are developing rich and deep mission content. Does anyone remember Star Trek 25th Anniversary? A side note, the design of the interior and even what is outside the windows look nice.
Shielding and Positioning
You have four shield arrays, covering your front, rear, and flanks, and if they're depleted you can easily click on arrows to divert power from elsewhere to get them back up... The main difference is that you're fighting in three-dimensional space, so instead of just giving cardinal directions to your allies when barking out commands, you may also have to add whether or not the enemy is above or below you.
Then why no Dorsal and Ventral shields? I think we may have discussed this elsewhere in the community, but I can find where. I'm not a die hard fan of dorsal and ventral shielding, but having those might add varying degrees of tall ship strategy (in space).
Compromise for Balance
Full impulse is great for quickly racing from one place to the next, but it keeps your shields from activating for a couple seconds,
What?? :( Anyway, it may be a balance issue, and it may be necessary, but I don't remember this being in Canon. If it is, someone please tell me. If it isn't, then is it possible to balance differently so we don't have see this kind of limitation?
Overall, a good article, albeit not much new information (but was appreciative of the naming of the ship classes. good deal). Liked the screenies also. Good stuff. In short, seems Gamespy likes the space combat, but that ground combat is rather unremarkable. I hope come lauch time, whenever we have episodes we don't role our eyes everytime we're required to beam down preferring to stay shipside and let our BO's do all the work, haha. Anyway, who knows, we're promised new info coming along soon enough,so I look forward.
If you have answers or comments please leave them