Change Coming to STF's

[Christian M. Hanson]

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=266088
Cryptic_Gozer
Cryptic Studios Team



Join Date: Dec 2008
Small STF Update - Incoming
Hi Folks,

Just wanted to drop in and give you info on a STF update that "should" be in next weeks (04/20/12) patch to Holodeck.

All STFs -

Drop rate for Mark XII Borg Tech has been slightly increased for Elite difficulty.

A new Death / Re-spawn timer has been added to all ground and space STFs on both difficulty settings (Normal / Elite) - More information on how this works below.

KA Ground (Normal / Elite) -

Players must defeat the Borg in the upper level of the facility before they can proceed into the lower portion of the base. This means players can no longer run past and or totally ignore the Borg in the upper levels of the base.

The optional objective timer will now start as soon as players leave the first room (the one you spawn into).


New Re-spawn Mechanic -

Currently in the game when a player is defeated the "Re-Spawn" button appears after 15 seconds. This happens every 15 seconds no matter how many time a player dies on any given map / mission.

After the next patch the re-spawn mechanic on STFs (and only on STFs at the moment) will work a little differently.

Every time a player dies and re-spawns on a STF the time for the "Re-Spawn" button to appear will get a little longer. This timer starts at 15 seconds and increments an additional 15 seconds each time a player dies and uses the button to re-spawn. The re-spawn timer will keep going up until the cap is reached. The cap is 120 seconds (2 full min).

On ground STFs dead players can still be revived by other team members (assuming they are still alive of course) and bypass the new timer.

There is also an attrition timer that will reset the built up extra re-spawn time on the player if the player goes 5 min without a defeat / re-spawn.

Let me give you an example...

I die the first time - 15 sec before I can re-spawn
I die again (in less than 5 min from the last death) - 30 sec before I can re-spawn
I die again (in less than 5 min from the last death) - 45 sec before I can re-spawn

I think you see where this is going... all the way up to 120 seconds.

However if at any point the time between deaths exceeds 5 min, the reset timer is set back down to the default 15 seconds, and the stacking is reset.

Goz
__________________
Star Trek Online - Game Designer

[CAPT Huckabee]

Ok, great the drops are increased, but the respawn timer?!?! Wtf....so basically if you don't bring an experienced team, your screwed on optional and it will take you FOREVER to beat a boss like Armek......correct me if I'm wrong but that is what I forsee

[Ryo Himura]

I was psyched when I read about the drop rates being increased, but once I read further I got irritated, the other "revamps" are just bogus IMO.

Like with what Mr. Huckabee said, I've only been in a few team where the people KNEW how to revive each other.

Also: the optional starts in the room you spawn in. I'm assuming that's the starting room? If so, then they better give us more time just to get to the probes, especially on elite...

[Christian M. Hanson]

The forums are raging about these changes.

[Anton Mercer]

Christian M. Hanson wrote:

The forums are raging about these changes.

i would definitely think so...

[EvildeadXL]

So they are making the one STF with an optional objective that can actually be accomplished by a pug "impossible" without a highly coordinated team of experts...

[Morgan Shackelford]

Are the forums ever not raging about changes? I fail to see how forcing communication and preparation on the community is a bad thing.

Do you want to stand out from Joe Schmoe Silver Member who just started two months ago, or not? If you're reading this, then you're in a fleet that has the potentiasl to put groups together to accomplish these things. It won't be easy, but, I think we can do it. And in doing so, each of us as individuals and the fleet as a whole will stand out from the pack.

These respawn timers mean one thing - don't die. Or try harder not to than before, at the very least. Have a healer in your group, coordinate with the team, and communicate on vent better.

At the end of it, I'm not necessarily a fan of what they're doing; but, if you've been pugging STF's, you know how rare it is to even get a team that will talk to each other. Punishing self centered mutes might actually force players to start working together, instead of having 5 guys in an STF each doing their own thing. In any case, it's not the end of the world; let's see how it actually plays. A lot of times these kind of changes look horrible on paper, and end up not making a huge difference in game.

[Christian M. Hanson]

Half of the PUGs I end up in, there are atleast two people that leave when the instance gets hard. These changes are only going to increase the number of people that bail out I fear.

[Morgan Shackelford]

Christian M. Hanson wrote:

Half of the PUGs I end up in, there are atleast two people that leave when the instance gets hard. These changes are only going to increase the number of people that bail out I fear.

Good. Maybe they'll stop queuing all together.

[VADM pRett]

sparrow794 wrote:

Christian M. Hanson wrote: Half of the PUGs I end up in, there are atleast two people that leave when the instance gets hard. These changes are only going to increase the number of people that bail out I fear. Good. Maybe they'll stop queuing all together.

Preach it, Brother Shack!

[CAPT Huckabee]

sparrow794 wrote:

Good. Maybe they'll stop queuing all together.

I concur. There's a reason I only PuG space normals. The only time I do Elites or ground is with ya'll. It's either going to get better or worse.......I just feel the later will happen, but thats just me

My concern about the timer is us trying to get people through who havent been.....the timer thing is going to happen, and its got huge potential to discourage.

[Morgan Shackelford]

I will definitely be the first to admit that 2 minutes of just sitting there dead is a long friggin time. God forbid you've got two people (or more) on your team out of commision at the same time this way...