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Star Trek Online - Going Free to Play

B

BattleMonkey

Member
Surprised this wasn't mentioned already, maybe everyone expected it but Star Trek Online is going free to play supposedly by end of the year: http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/0...tainment-confirms-star-trek-online-going-f2p/

Assume it will be an easy transition, the game is so microtransaction heavy already. Troubled MMO from the start but it has had great support with tons of improvements and stuff coming to for it still. The new shooter mode especially really sped up the ground combat aspect which was kind of a slog before.
 
D

Darklord

Banned
The beta that was released 2 weeks before launch was a broken, buggy, boring mess. The ground missions were a joke. Has it gotten any better?
 
S

Sophia

Member
Yet another MMO realizes that your just above average game really isn't worth paying a subscription for.

I might check it out again once it goes free to play... maybe. STO wasn't the best game around.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Darklord said:
The beta that was released 2 weeks before launch was a broken, buggy, boring mess. The ground missions were a joke. Has it gotten any better?
Click to expand...

They fixed a ton of things, the ground stuff is still pretty meh tacular. They put in a third person optional combat mode that made most of the mobs weaker and quicker to kill to speed up combat, while making "boss" dudes tougher. Most of the newer content also has much more balanced combat as the stuff that shipped with the game was really repetitive and long as you would fight your way through wave after wave of enemies to pad content.
 
rukland

rukland

Member
I knew this was coming and I knew how I would feel. See I was a sucker and I bought a lifetime sub during beta. The game launched and I played for all of about a month. Yup I feel really dumb at this point, but I so wanted the game to be good.
 
The Elite

The Elite

BOSS
rukland said:
I knew this was coming and I knew how I would feel. See I was a sucker and I bought a lifetime sub during beta. The game launched and I played for all of about a month. Yup I feel really dumb at this point, but I so wanted the game to be good.
Click to expand...

What will they be giving you for your lifetime sub? I assume you will have access to all content for free?
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
DoctorWho said:
What will they be giving you for your lifetime sub? I assume you will have access to all content for free?
Click to expand...

Like other games that did this with lifetime subbers, they will be likely getting extra in game bonuses, and probably free monthly store credits for microtransactions. Champions was like this and it's the same company
 
M

mclem

Member
Has there been any MMO which has offered a lifetime sub option and is still thriving on subscriptions? I'm starting to consider it as a warning sign.
 
rukland

rukland

Member
DoctorWho said:
What will they be giving you for your lifetime sub? I assume you will have access to all content for free?
Click to expand...

I have not seen that yet, but I am hoping they do something for those of us who spent the money.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
mclem said:
Has there been any MMO which has offered a lifetime sub option and is still thriving on subscriptions? I'm starting to consider it as a warning sign.
Click to expand...

DCUO? Well not sure on the thriving thing.... :p

rukland said:
I have not seen that yet, but I am hoping they do something for those of us who spent the money.
Click to expand...

It will likely be done exactly like their other games Champions Online, which means the lifetime subbers get the "premium" access for life still and any benefits that entail in game, you might also get some random crappy little gifts when they launch the F2P system.
 
rukland

rukland

Member
BattleMonkey said:
It will likely be done exactly like their other games Champions Online, which means the lifetime subbers get the "premium" access for life still and any benefits that entail in game, you might also get some random crappy little gifts when they launch the F2P system.
Click to expand...

Well I guess I should reinstall and try playing again. Checked my account and it's funny to see it say I have been active for 585.82 days.
 
WarMacheen

WarMacheen

Member
Sweet, another F2P MMO that wasn't worth the monthly fee before because of how crappy it was.

Cryptic should stop making MMO's
 
K

Ken

Member
acheron_xl said:
F2P you say? I may make this my first MMO.
Click to expand...
You should give LotRO a try. I played STO at launch for less than a week and stopped. I played LotRO on a trial and ended up grabbing a Lifetime subscription.

BattleMonkey said:
.
Click to expand...

Thanks. So do any of those items give gameplay stat bonuses?
 
G

glaurung

Member
I used to be a subscriber and due to that fact I still get their newsletters.

With each and every version and update they became more and more desperate, offering free XP and SP and whatnot.

Going F2P will steady their boat, but the people who coughed up the oh-so-popular lifetime memberships will be pissed off. With good reason.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Neat! I love Star Trek, but I stayed away because of the bad reviews from journos and my friends. Will be trying it now for sure.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
I bought it at launch, really enjoyed my month of playing, but couldn't justify to myself the cost of a monthly fee.

Now that they've massively upgraded many aspects of the gameplay and visuals, as well as adding more end game content, I would definitely be interested in playing it again once it goes F2P.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
Ken said:
What kind of micro transactions are in this game?
Click to expand...

Basically all cosmetic as usual.

Getting new crew uniforms isn't worth money to me, but a lot of people are willing to pay.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Ken said:
Thanks. So do any of those items give gameplay stat bonuses?
Click to expand...

For the most part no, but there was some uproar recently about some new items being added or ships that had some bonus slots and such that would be kind of an advantage. Don't know how much more of that will be seen as everything previously was cosmetic.
 
A

acheron_xl

Member
Ken said:
You should give LotRO a try. I played STO at launch for less than a week and stopped. I played LotRO on a trial and ended up grabbing a Lifetime subscription.
Click to expand...

I have no doubt that LotRO is the superior game, but I've always been a big Trek nerd. There are plenty of single player ways I can scratch my fantasy itch.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
acheron_xl said:
I have no doubt that LotRO is the superior game, but I've always been a big Trek nerd. There are plenty of single player ways I can scratch my fantasy itch.
Click to expand...

Ya, LOTRO might be better but I just don't care, elves and dwarves gets old and they're in so many games.

Star Trek Online has a very different feel from other MMOs.
 
Z

Zenith

Banned
Will try once it's free.

If they had made this singleplayer and done away with the MMO trappings of grind and loot they could have made this Star Trek's Mass Effect.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
Zenith said:
Will try once it's free.

If they had made this singleplayer and done away with the MMO trappings of grind and loot they could have made this Star Trek's Mass Effect.
Click to expand...


If the ground combat was Mass Effect and they keep the space combat, it would be the perfect MMO.

The main thing that kept me from continuing to play STO was the ground combat being so sucky. Space combat is a dream come true.

Now that ground combat has been improved, and they upgraded the graphics for space, the game is probably way better.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Zenith said:
Will try once it's free.

If they had made this singleplayer and done away with the MMO trappings of grind and loot they could have made this Star Trek's Mass Effect.
Click to expand...
Thats mostly how I play it, since its as close to my dream Star Trek game as I'm ever going to get. Why is it so hard for some developer to release an awesome single-player space RPG that gives me a customizable ship, customizable crew, and sets me loose in a galaxy of fun?
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
Zzoram said:
If the ground combat was Mass Effect and they keep the space combat, it would be the perfect MMO.

The main thing that kept me from continuing to play STO was the ground combat being so sucky. Space combat is a dream come true.

Now that ground combat has been improved, and they upgraded the graphics for space, the game is probably way better.
Click to expand...

Combat still is pretty meh, but it at least is faster now, and newer missions learned that tons of combat is not popular so you get more challenging and less encounters, but they are tougher fights instead.

Actually one of the best things has been the custom mission tools, as the community really has come up with lot of interesting missions that in many ways feel more like trek than lot of the games actual content. If your a roleplayer or got a group of gamers who are fans, the tools really let you create your own trek adventures which is pretty cool.
 
E

Emitan

Member
The_Technomancer said:
Thats mostly how I play it, since its as close to my dream Star Trek game as I'm ever going to get. Why is it so hard for some developer to release an awesome single-player space RPG that gives me a customizable ship, customizable crew, and sets me loose in a galaxy of fun?
Click to expand...
Because people wouldn't pay a monthly fee and buy MTs for a single player game.
 
B

BattleMonkey

Member
The_Technomancer said:
Thats mostly how I play it, since its as close to my dream Star Trek game as I'm ever going to get. Why is it so hard for some developer to release an awesome single-player space RPG that gives me a customizable ship, customizable crew, and sets me loose in a galaxy of fun?
Click to expand...

Making a galaxy of fun is not easy? STO while giving you lot of that, had the major issue of basically recycling content, you would get the same missions repeated just with slightly different visuals to make it seem different, but you had a set of premade missions that would just repeat. Even with alot of stuff they have added, you get alot of repitition. Really the MMO system would be ideal as you could have devs constantly developing and adding new stuff to explore and find, but Cryptic didn't really deliver this so much or fast enough.... biggest problem with STO was at launch was how content starved it was as the generic missions would repeat over and over again from level 1 to end
 
M

Medalion

Banned
Oh good... I was beginning to miss STO to be honest with you but not enough to pay for it again
Very good news!
 
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