Curse

Engage · Jan 14, 2010, 02:36 PM // 14:36

I'm in the process of downloading the client for the open beta, offered here. If you'd rather download it from a different site, the open beta is offered elsewhere, just check the listings on the official site.

Even though the open beta has been out since the 12th, I'd wager some of you have tried it out. Any thoughts so far?

Kenzo Skunk · Jan 14, 2010, 03:06 PM // 15:06

"Bless your weapons and go.."
I`ll be Borg, definitely..

tasha · Jan 14, 2010, 04:43 PM // 16:43

I've seen far less polished games at this stage in development, but there still seems a lot to do in terms of content considering its only 2-3 weeks to release. Bit worried the quests will get very samey (aren't all MMOs though), but concept is decent and has potential.

Unlucky Slayer · Jan 14, 2010, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Would be nice if you didnt have to enter a contest, or preorder the game itself to get in on the "open" beta. I'd definitely be Ferengi if I could play.

Fril Estelin · Jan 14, 2010, 05:02 PM // 17:02

Also downloading it, though I don't have a key, yet. Batch of review via KTR:
http://www.killtenrats.com/2010/01/1...and-long-form/

I'm worried about lag and graphic reqs. And there's this :/

Winterclaw · Jan 14, 2010, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unlucky Slayer

Would be nice if you didnt have to enter a contest, or preorder the game itself to get in on the "open" beta.

That.

If you can't get into an open beta without preordering the game, chances are it's going to suck.

Engage · Jan 14, 2010, 06:55 PM // 18:55

I got an open beta key from FilePlanet. I'm a member but not a paying subscriber.

You don't need to pre-order it to get into the open beta.

Operative 14 · Jan 14, 2010, 08:32 PM // 20:32

I've played it for a few hours so far, the Federation side only. I've been really looking forward to this game. I'm part of a Trek Based multigaming clan, and have been a life long trekkie (following in the footsteps of my mother before me who was a trekkie since the original series). Don't know if that means anything but...

I like it, it's a good game. There were some lag hiccups, but it was reasonable and didn't affect gameplay at all.

The space combat I find pretty interesting. For anyone who will understand the reference, it's what ST:Legacy wanted their system to be (though in comparison to Bridge Commander it is lacking, but that's pretty much a given). It's slower paced for a ST based fight and it makes you think more strategically about what weapons and tactics you'll use. I REALLY like this aspect of the game, I thought it was well thought out and implemented.

The ground combat I found a bit lacking. In comparison to Guild Wars, which I think is pretty reasonable, the combat is far more turn based. You spend a lot more time waiting for skills (different types of phaser or melee skills) to recharge than you actually spend firing, so it's a lot slower paced than a Guild Wars battle, and in comparison to a shooter (you're using guns afterall!) it's annoyingly slow. And I could not find any sort of default attack (where your character just attacks without using skills) so that added to the annoyance. The maps I've seen so far are relatively small as well.

Interface wise, the game is nice. In space the interface works very well, you have a really good, simple interface that lets you do quite a bit. Also, in space combat, I liked the option of using the WASD keys (which I preffered) or the mouse for navigation (which was handy for more demanding manuvers through junk or whatever), it's great. The walking around controls are a bit less easy to deal with, but I think that's more that I'm used to GW in an MMO setting than other games. For instance, to talk to people, you have to physically walk into a certain range and press a use key. I kept clicking on NPCs out of reflex to talk to walk over and talk to them, and it was annoying that it wouldn't work. GW is the only MMO I've played (with about 5 minutes worth of exception for Silkroad), so again, this might be biased towards favoring the GW way of doing things over the way it's traditionally done. It's easily something you can get used to though, I just found it clunky even after I got used to it.
And I know it's petty, but the movement animations aren't quite there yet. In Guild Wars and most other games, it looks like your character is actually walking around. However when you're walking around with your character, it looks like they are sliding around on ice (that's one of the things I hated about Silkroad as well). Again, not gamebreaking but just clunky.

Overall, so far I think it's a fun game. The space combat system works very well, and the ground portion is more than servicable. I would recommend trying it. At this point I don't think I'll be getting the full version, the monthly fee is a definite cannot-do for me, and I don't think it's worth a $350 lifetime subscription. If it were Free to Play (not Free to Own) I would definitely get it and hail it as a game changer.

Fril Estelin · Jan 14, 2010, 08:33 PM // 20:33

They ran out of keys, but said there may be more coming.
*crossing fingers*

Gik' Tal !

tasha · Jan 14, 2010, 08:52 PM // 20:52

Graphics reqs wise: don't worry too much. My main pc was broken when I got my beta key so started playing it on my laptop which only has a NVidia 8400M graphics chip in it. Everything ran fine, I just needed to run at a lower resolution.

I haven't preordered the game yet (and I don't intend to). I got my key through twitter and following nowgamer.com Apparently they are releasing more keys tomorrow so that may be worth investigation. Right now I've decided not to purchase at release and look at how the game is progressing 3-6 months in. Its good but they got a way to go in my opinion.

Winterclaw · Jan 14, 2010, 10:52 PM // 22:52

Looking at the game, is it just me or are the ships broken up between offense, defense, and support?

*cough*healers*cough*

Engage · Jan 14, 2010, 11:45 PM // 23:45

Finished the quest on Vega, and decided to beam up........

lol

Was happening to quite a few people. Hopefully these issues get worked out shortly.

Operative 14 · Jan 15, 2010, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Now that is a neat Bug! :P

Engage · Jan 15, 2010, 09:19 PM // 21:19

Open beta Keys available here.

Just under 3000 keys left. Better hurry!

Regina Buenaobra · Jan 16, 2010, 02:13 AM // 02:13

I'm looking forward to read what you all think of it. I'm kind of hesitant to try it because I like Star Trek a lot and I kind of don't want to be disappointed. I also don't know if the style of game will appeal to me. Watching Star Trek is probably going to be a different experience than playing an MMO game devoted to it. ^^

Fril Estelin · Jan 16, 2010, 08:31 AM // 08:31

If anyone needs a key, please let me know. So far I went through the tutorial missions in a few minutes. It does indeed feel like the last 2 seasons of DS9, it does have an ST feel, although at this point I can't say much more. Gameplay-wise it's not impressive, not bad either, but I'll say more when I've played more.

zwei2stein · Jan 16, 2010, 07:21 PM // 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winterclaw

Looking at the game, is it just me or are the ships broken up between offense, defense, and support?

*cough*healers*cough*

Nope, good old tank'n'spank.

Lets just say i am not going to bother with this one...

Fril Estelin · Jan 17, 2010, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Played a bit more today and I quite enjoyed it. (below I've removed anything that could spoil some "surprise")

STO is not heavy on using the ST universe. It's here in the background as you get occasional (at least at the beginning) references to chars and places from the series.

The space combat is interesting but not groundbreaking. I was in a Science ship and it's quite survivable, but without other ships (you get grouped in instances automatically) it takes a while.

The ground combat was quite meh, it's a mix of slow tactical action with real-time movement (which you can pause). Training ground missions are quite boring (it's exciting to kill one of the evil ST races, but unfaithful to the series in many ways). The "warp space" is original and beautiful but quickly becomes boring and useless (GW's map travel FTW).

To make things worse, pushing the resolution higher (1268x900 something IIRC) didn't bring great results on my 8800GT 512Mo/DuoCore2 2.2Ghz, so I went back to 1024x800. It seems server lag is also part of the problem (on busy day, the main Earth hub is very annoying). I'm going to continue and give it a chance, but I'm not sure if I'll keep going, even for a free open beta...

EDIT: ping me in-game as (Vulcan) Fril Estelin on the USS Celestial.

Fril Estelin · Jan 20, 2010, 06:01 PM // 18:01

An interesting/provocative viewpoint on STO:
http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cf...re/3939/page/1

Actually found the bit about finding the quests/missions confusing quite right. Too bad Cryptic is going to wipe clean the servers on launch.

If I could, I think I may try STO for a few months...

Abedeus · Jan 20, 2010, 09:32 PM // 21:32

I would be interested, if not for the fact that Champions Online is pretty meh in my opinion. Same developer, same mistakes... I predict tons of problems with not enough content and/or endgame.