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We knew this was bound to happen when Cryptic's other [current] MMO, Champions Online went F2P, but Cryptic have just made the initial statement of intent. It was interesting to see all the doomsayers spout their crap about the imminent demise of CO in the wake of its announcement, along with all the comments along the lines of "suck it, lifers" while nearly a year later, CO is still going strong - stronger even - with the massive boost in playerbase brought on by the F2P model and the fact they didn't hate on the lifers, quite the opposite in fact! On top of all the previous content lifers had free access to, they also (along with normal subscribers) gain 400 cryptic points / month to spend in the C-Store, which is pretty neat. This is enough to buy a costume pack per month.
Anyway, I expect a similar setup to CO F2P for STO F2P (EDIT: STO feature matrix is now up: http://startrekonline.com/f2p_features ), and I'd encourage you all to check it out when it goes live - particularly those of you that hated the launch day version of STO - it has changed a *lot*. Some of the things added/changed since launch are:
Coming changes that may or may not be in by the time the game is F2P:
neither of these lists is exhaustive, I can't remember half the shit that's been added/improved now, nor all of what's coming, but this game is already nothing like it was in those few months following release.
Anyway, I'll repost in this thread when F2P goes active for those curious to see for themselves what has changed
EDIT: dstahl, head dude at Cryptic, has come out and said the F2P version should be live before the end of the year.
Anyway, I expect a similar setup to CO F2P for STO F2P (EDIT: STO feature matrix is now up: http://startrekonline.com/f2p_features ), and I'd encourage you all to check it out when it goes live - particularly those of you that hated the launch day version of STO - it has changed a *lot*. Some of the things added/changed since launch are:
- new sector space graphics to make it feel more like space (though scale is still way off because it is still meant to be just a representation)
- revamped social areas - Earth Space Dock, Vulcan, and Qo'nos have had a HUGE makeover.
- new social areas - Rura Penthe and Starfleet Academy
- flight AoA - while you still can't fly in vertical loops, they have expanded the allowed angle of attack your ship can move in, so those annoying spiral flights are much fewer and farther between.
- sector space encounters now only trigger if you fly directly into them, rather than hunting you like a bitch.
- level cap increase by 5 levels - reaching it provides a Quantum Slipstream ability which allows you to fly at warp 20 for 30s every 2 minutes.
- diplomatic XP - alongside normal XP levelling, Federation officers can level their diplomacy skills - each level unlocks new diplomatic mission types and some provide you with transwarp (instant travel) abilities to specific stations.
- complete change to ground combat - there is now am over the shoulder view with aiming reticle option. While this doesn't behave exactly like a normal shooter, it does allow you to split sustained fire between targets. Ground mobs have been changed so that each mob is no-longer a grind to get through, conversely fights with a boss in the mob have been bolstered in difficulty - as you would expect. New melee functions have been added for swords, batleths, and that weirdo vulcan weighted stick thing. Grenades now land where you aim rather than at a selected target, so you can lead your targets now.
- feature episode series - there are 4 of these now, and each one has added new game mechanics, PVP maps, and really well told stories. The 5th is set to see a revamp of the DS9 station and wormhole.
- Klingons can use crafting, now have a lot more content, and are being given customised versions of Federation missions to help bolster that content. On top of that, they now have a really fun raid (not like MMO raids) mechanic where they can go and steal crap from Federation installations and shipping.
- new minigames - there is a Dabbo game now that can be played in most social zones, and the devs have mentioned there are more coming with future feature eps.
- Duty Office system - while not yet in place, it's only weeks away and will be in before the F2P model goes live - this system will provide a meta game that allows you to gain XP, diplomatic XP, buffs, and other rewards while offline.
- in-game voice chat.
- new daily missions, some of which are nice and quick for easy rewards and tokens to put toward some of the high end gear.
- new ships - just about every ship added to the C-Store so far can be earnt/bought in-game (there are a couple of exceptions to this which they are going to change soon). Klingons can field carriers now, as well as my personal favourite, the siege destroyer which can deploy to unleash a massive beam of death. Fighters and shuttles are also in now, and are required on some missions - there has been talk of a cockpit view being tossed about internally for these craft.
- Borg incursions will be in within the next month - think rift events in RIFT, except these will let you transwarp directly to them.
- borg now adapt to your weaponry so you need science gear to remodulate your energy weapons once they adapt.
- visual improvements to aliens, costume options, and animations - the Gorn look fucking badass now, no more of this papier mache shit.
- multi-vector assault mode - this is a console that can be slotted on a few Federation ships to allow them to split their hulls into several ships
- gear sets - currently confined to ship items only, but captain sets are coming. And yeah, they make a difference...
Coming changes that may or may not be in by the time the game is F2P:
- feature series 5 on DS9 - featuring the Cardassians
- Tholians coming in feature series 6 or 7 (awesome!)
- single map sector space - no map loads while traveling between sectors - this will be awesome.
- new fleet actions
- new PVP maps
- rebalanced task forces (removing fucking trash mobs from some of the task forces)
- new task forces
- actual fleet controls, that will allow a fleet to set up and run their own private fleet actions - finally, the Crystaline Entity may be killable since PUGs have practically no chance!
- fleet bases - this is actually based on tech Cryptic has deployed successfully in Champions and is working on heavily with the NWN MMO they're also building.
- new hair tech
- warp to friend - this option is already in for people who have invited people, but they're going to expand it so everyone can use it.
neither of these lists is exhaustive, I can't remember half the shit that's been added/improved now, nor all of what's coming, but this game is already nothing like it was in those few months following release.
Anyway, I'll repost in this thread when F2P goes active for those curious to see for themselves what has changed
EDIT: dstahl, head dude at Cryptic, has come out and said the F2P version should be live before the end of the year.
I expect the ridiculous XP on the red alerts will be nerfed soon but damn, that was fun
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