Is there anyway we can avoid ground combat?

[JacobFlowers]

Simple question in the title of the thread.

I'm not really interested in ground combat. I'd love to go down to planets with away teams, and if there are missions/episodes that resemble Star Trek 25th Anniversary, then I'm all for it! Or even if it is simple exploration of a planet. However ground combat is not somethign I am interested in, espescially for a Star Trek MMO. It never really excited me in the TV series' either (thankfully there wasn't too much of it), I more preferred the Ships.

So is there a TYPE of mission I can look out for or specific ones to avoid, is that option available to players altogether, etc?

Anyone else want to know about this?

EDIT: I am open to this however. If those of you who have gone to PAX or Eurogamer and tried the game first hand and think ground combat is SPECTACULAR... then I might be willing to try it out! :)

[Mavrixx]

No. Missions will have both. Cant advance if you dont complete missions.

[JacobFlowers]

No. Missions will have both. Cant advance if you dont complete missions.

Quote/Source?

[The_Stig]

Cryptic did say that space is only 1/2 of the game, another half is the ground combat. If you are a pacifist :D you will not advance. I am not a big fan of the ground combat right now either, but it will be required to progress. No way around it.

[Bedlam66]

Cryptic did say that space is only 1/2 of the game, another half is the ground combat. If you are a pacifist :D you will not advance. I am not a big fan of the ground combat right now either, but it will be required to progress. No way around it.
I think the Exact Number was 60/40 space/ground

[JacobFlowers]

I think the Exact Number was 60/40 space/ground

Yes, that is correct. I knew this already. I'm just wondering if there are certain missions that don't involve ground combat.

[thawn4444]

HEY MY WORDS ARE OVER HERE!!!!!

Touche, Bedlam66

[JacobFlowers]

Cryptic did say that space is only 1/2 of the game, another half is the ground combat. If you are a pacifist :D you will not advance. I am not a big fan of the ground combat right now either, but it will be required to progress. No way around it.

Well, I am a pacifist, but when backed into a corner, I will fight. But that's not the point. Space combat is cool, and I might have fun with that. But ground combat in star trek? meh. Ground exploration would be COOL, anyoen remember Star Trek 25th Anniversary?

This desire doesn't necessarily come from watching the game play footage. But when Cryptic started giving hints that this game was going to be combat centric... then I began to think 'aw man... do I HAVE to beam down to fight the klingons... baH!" ya know? Just doesn't interest me.

[thawn4444]

Well, I am a pacifist, but when backed into a corner, I will fight. But that's not the point. Space combat is cool, and I might have fun with that. But ground combat in star trek? meh. Ground exploration would be COOL, anyoen remember Star Trek 25th Anniversary?

This desire doesn't necessarily come from watching the game play footage. But when Cryptic started giving hints that this game was going to be combat centric... then I began to think 'aw man... do I HAVE to beam down to fight the klingons... baH!" ya know? Just doesn't interest me.

Not even if you could pull off some sweet "kirk-fu?":D

[The_Stig]

I see what you are trying to say, but your preference is shared by only a small minority. There are no AAA MMOs out there that have basically no ground combat as progression requirement (EvE being the odd one out). Most MMO players want to kill things both in space and on the ground, exploration is a nice perk but not the most significant. In your case you just might be SOL when it comes to ground combat.

[Hardac]

Not even if you could pull off some sweet "kirk-fu?":D

JUDO CHOP!

I'm sure there are going to be missions just set in space. But no ground combat? Like pure exploration? That would be cool if there were.

Also I don't think ground combat looks bad at all. A little stiff and unpolished but not bad.

[JacobFlowers]

Not even if you could pull off some sweet "kirk-fu?":D

I'd rather be busy making Kirkians. ;)

[Fecklar]

well i get the point and yeah i think scanning for life forms with an away team or searching for a downed craft is perfectly legit or even if sometimes you dont go down to the planet at all but it gives you something to do on your own ship related to the planet like luanching probes into planets like jupiter and controling them remotely in a third or first person view becuase really i dont care how good of an envira suit you got your not gunna goto a gas giant with an away team

but i dont think simply avoiding ground combat makes for a good game either though the mechanics behind it at the moment deffinetly need to be revisited

as a captain for any of the factions you will in your fleet career have to vaporise atleast someone on a planet for the full experience of your science fiction star trek game mmo

[JacobFlowers]

well i get the point and yeah i think scanning for life forms with an away team or searching for a downed craft is perfectly legit or even if sometimes you dont go down to the planet at all but it gives you something to do on your own ship related to the planet like luanching probes into planets like jupiter and controling them remotely in a third or first person view becuase really i dont care how good of an envira suit you got your not gunna goto a gas giant with an away team

but i dont think simply avoiding ground combat makes for a good game either though the mechanics behind it at the moment deffinetly need to be revisited

as a captain for any of the factions you will in your fleet career have to vaporise atleast someone on a planet for the full experience of your science fiction star trek game mmo

I'm fine with it happening SOMETIMES.

But I feel I'd get rather bored of it if it was in every.single.away.mission. :::shudder:::

[Faerlzress]

I'd rather be busy making Kirkians. ;)

Your preference in men is a bit disturbing.

Even so the game isn't a triple XXX and you won't have that option for a myriad of reasons.

[Fatherfungus]

I will take an educated guess


if you do not want ground combat you will be playing PvP most the time

because, with exception of neutral zone pvp, almost all missions of any importance will include
a ground combat part

[cocoa-jin]

I thought you could advance without doing quests. That you could explore the vastness of space on your own. I can see quests accelerating advancment over random exploration...but I thought it was supoosed to be do-able.

[Fatherfungus]

I thought you could advance without doing quests. That you could explore the vastness of space on your own. I can see quests accelerating advancment over random exploration...but I thought it was supoosed to be do-able.

said early in developement........zero proof and Developers pass the buck when asked

oh yes, we have that but we don't want to talk about it right now

>>> part they didn't mension until our PR department has told us what spin to use on that.


expect...exploration to be a minor part of the game...in wow you go to a new spot, you get 50 exp..
exploration done.

expect similar

[Bedlam66]

I will take an educated guess


if you do not want ground combat you will be playing PvP most the time

because, with exception of neutral zone pvp, almost all missions of any importance will include
a ground combat part
There is a ground combat component to PVP as well.

[JacobFlowers]

said early in developement........zero proof and Developers pass the buck when asked

oh yes, we have that but we don't want to talk about it right now

>>> part they didn't mension until our PR department has told us what spin to use on that.


expect...exploration to be a minor part of the game...in wow you go to a new spot, you get 50 exp..
exploration done.

expect similar



::SHUDDER::

If THAT is what exploration amounts too... PEACE OUT. A company that fails so miserably to even mildly encapsulate what an IP drives at does not deserve being funded by my money.

But I doubt they will ruin it so badly as that. I'm HOPING to be pleasantly surprised.

[thawn4444]

said early in developement........zero proof and Developers pass the buck when asked

oh yes, we have that but we don't want to talk about it right now

>>> part they didn't mension until our PR department has told us what spin to use on that.


expect...exploration to be a minor part of the game...in wow you go to a new spot, you get 50 exp..
exploration done.

expect similar

This, class is a fine example of what we call a "Doom post"

[scorpiovaeden]

I'm really looking forward to the away teams and ground combat. Probably more so than the space missions. I believe your question was accurately answered as well.... also that ground missions will be part of almost every mission. If 40 or 50 percent of this game is something that makes you shudder, you might want to look elsewhere for an MMO.

[Kayos]

No. Missions will have both. Cant advance if you dont complete missions.

Wrong, they said you can advance by just pvp, so if you wish to just do in space pvp you could do so.

[justplainzero]

::SHUDDER::

If THAT is what exploration amounts too... PEACE OUT. A company that fails so miserably to even mildly encapsulate what an IP drives at does not deserve being funded by my money.

But I doubt they will ruin it so badly as that. I'm HOPING to be pleasantly surprised.

Why the heck would i want to fly around in my ship all day and "boldly go where no man has gone before"..../yawn. Remember..its a GAME based on an IP. flying around the galaxy while looking at duty rosters and sensor reports is as much fun as picking up wet dog poo.

[tarengrim]

Well, since it is all just effects and, well statistics in the background, do not see the phasers and stuff as Phasers but arguemnts.

Imagine you are talking to the Alien race instead of shooting holes into their bodies. And your arguemtns "hit" them until they are "convinced"
I personally wouls also have loved to be able to reach the max level/end game, without ever ordering a shot to be taken, concentrating on gliding through dangerous nebulas, scanning the areas or exploring new Warp routes. However as it looks, you will get missions that work like:

Go to point a
Surprise, enemies attack you ship, destroy them
Beam to Object b
Surprise, enemies are already there save the artefact, neutralise the threat and so on
Return to ship
Earn xp (insert name for xp in the game)

However as long as we have not played the game ourself, there is little use in discussing it. Lets hope for the best, maybe there are ways to do missions without heavy phaser fires.

[Fatherfungus]

This, class is a fine example of what we call a "Doom post"

lol, my turn class

line up all the doomers that have posted before a MMO has gone out

next to all the rose colored glasses folks


..........see how the game came out, and tally a score

also it is not a doom post, if the game has simplified exploration...the game is not doomed


if they can't get it to stay on line when more than 100 folks log on ? now that would be doomed :-P

[thawn4444]

lol, my turn class

line up all the doomers that have posted before a MMO has gone out

next to all the rose colored glasses folks


..........see how the game came out, and tally a score

also it is not a doom post, if the game has simplified exploration...the game is not doomed


if they can't get it to stay on line when more than 100 folks log on ? now that would be doomed :-P

the "Doom" I was refering to was your "worst-case senario" about STO having WoW like exploration!


And my rose colored glasses go nice with my headpants;)

[JacobFlowers]

Why the heck would i want to fly around in my ship all day and "boldly go where no man has gone before"..../yawn. Remember..its a GAME based on an IP. flying around the galaxy while looking at duty rosters and sensor reports is as much fun as picking up wet dog poo.

What the *(^^& are you talking about? I never said anything about wanting to look at duty rosters and sensor reports. Epic fail man.

[Eclipse1987]

Although space is and always has been my first love, I appreciate what Cryptic is doing by:

1.appealing to fans of a more traditional ground style mmo combat.

2. Breaking up space combat with something interesting and different to do.

Personally I'm looking forward to gettin of my ship every once in awhile and puttin a little hurt on the ridge heads up close and personal.

[Bedlam66]

said early in developement........zero proof and Developers pass the buck when asked

oh yes, we have that but we don't want to talk about it right now

>>> part they didn't mension until our PR department has told us what spin to use on that.


expect...exploration to be a minor part of the game...in wow you go to a new spot, you get 50 exp..
exploration done.

expect similar
You know I'm getting more and more Convinced that FatherFungus here was eaten and replaced by a troll. Everything he says these days are just filled to the Brim with Such falsehoods and Fail.

[JacobFlowers]

Although space is and always has been my first love, I appreciate what Cryptic is doing by:

1.appealing to fans of a more traditional ground style mmo combat.

2. Breaking up space combat with something interesting and different to do.

Personally I'm looking forward to gettin of my ship every once in awhile and puttin a little hurt on the ridge heads up close and personal.

Me too... every once in awhile. But not every single dang time.

You know I'm getting more and more Convinced that FatherFungus here was eaten and replaced by a troll. Everything he says these days are just filled to the Brim with Such falsehoods and Fail.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. But he does have a point. Cryptic does pass the buck on the things that quite a few people on the forums have expressed an interest in. Read 'The Old Gamer's' interview. Its no wonder they didn't put that up on the front page. They asked GREAT questions, and we were met with honest "can't talk about that now". But beyond that, so many times these issues are glossed over with the same PR Cycle junk they have memorized.

Wow. Perhaps I have been eaten by a troll also.

I remember coming here last year and being GUNS BLAZING with excitement over the game. Then as more information was released, it's lessened more and more. And what with the Champions Online launch and how people perceive that MMO, my excitement has begun to wane. I think I will just have to bite my tongue for awhile and just wait.

On a lighter note, the latest interview seems to have been nice-r what with Zinc mentioning that instanced missions will still be persistent on the world map. That will make the massive instancing of the game less awful. But we'll still have to deal with loading screens galore!


EDIT: I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaay off topic in my very own thread. Forgive me! :D

[justplainzero]

What the *(^^& are you talking about? I never said anything about wanting to look at duty rosters and sensor reports. Epic fail man.

But you thought about it...didnt you...whats the first thing that pops into your head? thats right...you thought of Sensor Reports..didnt you

[shadowsafer]

Simple question in the title of the thread.

I'm not really interested in ground combat. I'd love to go down to planets with away teams, and if there are missions/episodes that resemble Star Trek 25th Anniversary, then I'm all for it! Or even if it is simple exploration of a planet. However ground combat is not somethign I am interested in, espescially for a Star Trek MMO. It never really excited me in the TV series' either (thankfully there wasn't too much of it), I more preferred the Ships.

So is there a TYPE of mission I can look out for or specific ones to avoid, is that option available to players altogether, etc?

Anyone else want to know about this?

EDIT: I am open to this however. If those of you who have gone to PAX or Eurogamer and tried the game first hand and think ground combat is SPECTACULAR... then I might be willing to try it out! :)

From all the info I read you can't avoid ground combat if you want to do episodic content.

Perhaps you should start wondering if this is really your kind of game though if you want to do episodic content without ground combat.. :-s

Personally I'm looking forward to it and I think it can be a lot of fun. Since I plan to play medic this will also be the only chance actually heal people. In space there isn't much use of being a doctor, apart from maybe some perks to help your crew recover faster, but that kinda stuff all happens off screen.

You could just pvp and explore though without doing episodic content, that way you'll avoid ground combat too.

[JacobFlowers]

From all the info I read you can't avoid ground combat if you want to do episodic content.

Perhaps you should start wondering if this is really your kind of game though if you want to do episodic content without ground combat.. :-s

Personally I'm looking forward to it and I think it can be a lot of fun. Since I plan to play medic this will also be the only chance actually heal people. In space there isn't much use of being a doctor, apart from maybe some perks to help your crew recover faster, but that kinda stuff all happens off screen.

You could just pvp and explore though without doing episodic content, that way you'll avoid ground combat too.

What do I envision as supreme episodic content?

Star Trek 25th Anniversary. But of course, generating content for the masses is not feasible for a small studio like Cryptic. So you can't blame me for not wanting to engage in shoot outs every time i beam onto a planet. Yea, your right... maybe STO isn't the game for me. We'll see.

[boolybooly]

I find it hard to believe that they would offer three distinct ship classes including escort, cruiser and science vessel without considering that a science vessel will do more sciencey things than an escort class vessel. Clearly they are setting up the game to provide as broad a range of gameplay as possible and not allow one fans vision to impose on anothers!

My suggestion would be to wait and see what the devs have to say about it, which is presumably the point of the thread.

What is the correct deflector array configuration for opening a wormhole to the developers home planet again?

[Dext]

Simple question in the title of the thread.

I'm not really interested in ground combat. I'd love to go down to planets with away teams, and if there are missions/episodes that resemble Star Trek 25th Anniversary, then I'm all for it! Or even if it is simple exploration of a planet. However ground combat is not somethign I am interested in, espescially for a Star Trek MMO. It never really excited me in the TV series' either (thankfully there wasn't too much of it), I more preferred the Ships.

So is there a TYPE of mission I can look out for or specific ones to avoid, is that option available to players altogether, etc?

Anyone else want to know about this?

EDIT: I am open to this however. If those of you who have gone to PAX or Eurogamer and tried the game first hand and think ground combat is SPECTACULAR... then I might be willing to try it out! :)

When I get to try Ground combat out I could say more but yet I have not an I will not pass judgment on it until that time.

[Peregrine_Falcon]

Me too... every once in awhile. But not every single dang time.
Believe it or not I actually agree with you on this.

It would be refreshing to have an adventure that isn't solved by combat now and then.

[shadowsafer]

Believe it or not I actually agree with you on this.

It would be refreshing to have an adventure that isn't solved by combat now and then.

I thought that diplomatic solutions/ missions would be added as well? Originally with PE they wanted to make a system where you could solve quests in multiple ways, depending on what you wanted. However I think that system long since died and there will only be linear ways to solve quests.

On the one hand it's understandable that it's gonna work like that since it saves lots of work (adding just 1 option triples the workload with roughly 300%, not just 200%), on the other hand, it's a pity since more flexibility in solving quests the way you want adds a real dimension to the game.
Then again, if you can't work out such a system properly you shouldn't start on it either, it'd just give a buggy and unfinished game then.

I made a morpg a couple years ago where multiple quest solving ways was supported, usually 3 - 5 different ways to finish a quest and the workload was just insane. Replay value was very high but you also went through the content faster on a single char then if I supported just 1 way to solve a quest and instead added more quests in.
I think Cryptics main motivation to add a lot of action is that they don't want the game to become boring if you're only gonna talk your way through without seeing much action. It's also a kinda violent era, so a lot of action makes sense from that perspective as well, however I do hope to do some diplomacy as well.

[billybob442]

Believe it or not I actually agree with you on this.

It would be refreshing to have an adventure that isn't solved by combat now and then.

Yup .. I agree with both of you. I can think of a few quest in MMO's I've played where combat totally didn't belong in the quest but the developers shoehorned it in anyway.

I like the idea of giving a player some resources and a goal and letting him find a way to resolve things. So whether the mission gets solved by being sneaky, using your head, or kicking in the door guns blazing is up to the player. Do whatever fits your play style. I know that technology puts some limits on how flexible and 'open' a game world can be. Also as Shadowsafter pointed out there is a war on which means that sooner or later triggers will have to get pulled but even still Cryptic needs to set up their content so you're not required to solve everything with a gun unless you just want to.

[Huutini]

Believe it or not I actually agree with you on this.

It would be refreshing to have an adventure that isn't solved by combat now and then.

But - but - but - what? Weren't you that dude who always proved statistically that Star Trek always was a show about violence and death and combat and that diplomatic and pacifistic stuff didn't fit into the lore 'cause they were statistically irrelevant?? :eek:

Where's that change of heart coming from?

[kkmccall]

It would be refreshing to have an adventure that isn't solved by combat now and then.


One of the reasons I loved playing my Spy in Tabula Rasa was that with that class I had far more Choice of playstyle than any other class.

I could go in the front door, all guns blazing, I could walk through the front door in disguise & pick off small groups from behind the front lines, or I could sneak in & complete my quest objective without having to fire a single shot. I loved having that choice.

On the topic of this thread, I am completely the opposite. I would love to avoid the Space Combat portion & play mainly on the Ground.

For me an MMO is all about the character. How they interact with npc's, mobs & their environment. The space part in STO is 'faceless', very much like Eve (which I still play). You are the ship. So I would like the ship part to just be a vehicle to get me from point A to point B. Although I have no objection to 'some' space combat. If STO was purely ship based, all ship combat & nothing else, I wouldn't be here, it would hold no interest for me whatsoever. I get all that from Eve, which is far, far deeper.

This really just highlights how Cryptic are appealing to the greater audience. Some here love Space Combat & would be happy with just that element alone. Some here love ground combat & would be happy with just that element alone. But STO caters to both our preferences.

There isn't really any other alternatives to futuristic Ground Based MMO's on the market as far as I am aware. Tabula Rasa was the only 'futuristic' MMO that I knew. Made a nice change from the Fantasy world of Swords & Sorcery. I was probably one of the few people that loved Tabula Rasa. Now I don't know of any other Futuristic ground based MMO. Not in the same league as Tabula Rasa was anyway.

For Space Combat, there is always Eve, & to a smaller extent, SWG. At least they do cater for Space Combat fans.

Back on topic. I would assume that you will be able to go down to planets & not have to enter combat. Exploring a planet doesn't necessarily mean you have to wipe all indigenous life forms from the surface, & the Klingons can't be on every unexplored planet in the galaxy. There may be some with the occasional large predator or small packs of predators, that we may have to protect ourselves from.

But really, until we get to play it, or get more info from the dev's, who knows what's available in STO.

[justplainzero]

What do I envision as supreme episodic content?

Star Trek 25th Anniversary. But of course, generating content for the masses is not feasible for a small studio like Cryptic. So you can't blame me for not wanting to engage in shoot outs every time i beam onto a planet. Yea, your right... maybe STO isn't the game for me. We'll see.

You keep going on about "Star Trek 25th Anniversary"...we get it...Star Trek 25th Anniversary was awesome. You wish all games were like Star Trek 25th Anniversary. Now if they could only add more Star Trek 25th Anniversary into STO, you would be happy.

[Peregrine_Falcon]

But - but - but - what? Weren't you that dude who always proved statistically that Star Trek always was a show about violence and death and combat and that diplomatic and pacifistic stuff didn't fit into the lore 'cause they were statistically irrelevant?? :eek:

Where's that change of heart coming from?
Nope.

I was the dude that found that website by the guy who proved that 70% of ToS episodes had combat in them. I linked that in my posts to refute those people who were insisting that Star Trek was never about violence.

However, that still means that 30% of the episodes don't have fights in them. And I think it'd be nice to see some of those adventures too. If Cryptic can do them in a way that is surprising and isn't boring.

[Replica]

You could probably advance either in all ship based PvP or advance in all Exploration (having ground combat much less frequently). It would be possible, but I think you would likely miss the best of the game content. I would be surprised if you could find any story arcs or epic mission series that didn't require ground combat.

[Kaybok]

I think you will be able to stay in space 95% of the time if you dont mind doing the generic "Go scan 10 anomolies" missions. I'm willing to bet there's quite a few generic space-only missions. You could farm those a while then take your results to Memory Alpha for crafting. Beyond that I cannot guess.

It seems the genesis planets or star cluster exploration will make you go to the ground for first contact. Hopefully most of those first contacts can be done with diplomacy but I'm sure part of the fun is not knowing if you'll be forced into combat situations. I'm sure Klingons will be looking to make contact also and you may have to defend villages, etc from them.

And we know Craig Zinkevich keeps saying its 60% Space 40% Ground for the Episode missions. I believe you should avoid the episodes if you want to avoid ground combat. It's clear these are designed to take you from space to ground throughout the episode.