STO combines of the most irritating bits of WoW with some of the good bits of WaR and the excellent space combat of Eve in a Star Trek Universe.
Pros:
Character generation is fun and quite varied, you can make a somewhat unique toon.
Space battles are kickin, very Eve like. Shield control, smooth movement, 3 planes of attack, power management, and above all, the ST sound effects!
Quest completions can be called in for reward. No need to run across half a continent back to your starting point.
Community quests as in WaR. No need to form a party, people in the vicinity on the same quest will be teamed together.
It definitely has a bit of Star Trek feel, especially in space. Quite cool to be flying into a battle with a couple of other player controlled mirandas and focusing fire on individual targets.
Cons:
Ground based combat has no real 'exploration' feel. It involves starting at one end of a corridor (with a few simple side rooms) and getting to the other end of the corridor, killing things along the way.
The ground based environments seemed quite drab and unlively, it was like being in my grandmother's kitchen.
There is no death penalty. When you die (in space or on the ground) you wait 15 seconds, hit the button and viola, there you are again.
Getting a handle on some of it is a bit daunting and frustrating. There is a lot of info available on ship slots, ship panels, officer skills, officer promotion, etc... but no real solid info on how it all fits together for the new player.
The AI isn't very intelligent and does not use its resources in any reasonable way. Keeping a cool head and developing basic strategies = consistent win, even vs. much larger opponents.
And, to me, the game killer:
Heavily based on the WoW style of 'go here, kill that, rinse, repeat ad infinitum'.
Conclusion:
I love Trek and had very high hopes for this, but found it exceedingly average.
As much as I'd like to rejoin an MMO with the SSX, it has to be one I enjoy when not with the group, so I'll be holding off for now. Maybe if there's some sort of overhaul or serious patchwork/expansion I'll consider. Seems now I'm waiting on the Star Wars MMO to restore my faith, and if I get the itches, if anything, I'll sign back into Eve.
Oz'z thoughts post 5 day buddy key...
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- Ozone
- Posts: 850
- Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 5:52 pm
- Location: 93m miles from Sol.
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