The End of Cryptic & Future of Star Trek Online

[@WinterRav3n]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 *📢 The video provides an update on the situation between Deca and Cryptic Studios, focusing on their future changes.* 01:08 *🚀 Cryptic Studios is facing significant changes, but Star Trek Online remains stable and is not directly affected.* 02:20 *🔄 Deca is hiring experienced personnel for Star Trek projects, signaling positive developments for the game.* 03:57 *📝 The CEO of Cryptic Studios, Phil Fraser, assures continued development and content for Star Trek Online.* 04:53 *🎨 The future of Cryptic Studios and Star Trek Online are described as separate entities, with Star Trek Online set to receive ongoing development.* 06:56 *🕹️ The video discusses potential improvements in Star Trek Online's monetization system and community engagement.* 10:13 *🔄 New personnel at Deca could bring fresh perspectives to Star Trek Online, potentially revitalizing the game's development.* 12:14 *📊 Community feedback is highlighted as crucial for guiding the game's future under Deca's management.* 13:23 *🤔 The video encourages viewers to share their thoughts on the changes and the future direction of Star Trek Online.* Made with HARPA AI

[@abenjamin13]

Fantastic 🫵

[@_Yep_Yep_]

I remember STO gave me a lot of joy before work and life put me off games. Good luck to you guys still playing.

[@MrGilfred]

It will all depend on how much love do the new devs have for Star Trek universe and for STO. If their love is great then they have a good chance to do well. If not then we might have trouble.

[@andystocking5316]

My most-hoped for monetization change: give us a way to account unlock ships!

[@MCStu]

100%

[@Grazyfarmer]

I don't mind paying for the game, i do mind all the endless grinding. I do hope they remove the mudd store because that's a needle in the eye. I'm positive in this change I hope the game gonna have a new ground combat system more modern. And some things we will never suspect. But I have a good feeling about it.

[@Kael_Strum]

hope everything works out well for all party involved and see fresh changes in the game. thanks for the update

[@thedustdevil303]

Golden Tip for new owners of the game - the more you give the more you get, put that in your lockbox😎✌

[@robertcooley5211]

I started to play this on-line game once it went to free to play many years ago, about 6 months after that I became a life time member. I have seen many changes to this game some good and many not so good, one of them that I have always missed was the ability of players able to make there own sub story arc with-in the game for other player to do that gave a lot more content from the two or three main story arc the game had at the time. Some were big and small but many of them were very good that did come with some added loot given at the end. But once they took that out of the game, it up set many good players who spent hours some time hundreds of hours making them to help add to the game. Stu I am not sure you if you know of this, but I am sure there mite be an old KZbin video or two still out there about this.

[@Ashendal]

I really just want Deca to start doing what was shown cryptic could do, but they just stopped bothering with. They showed they can revamp starting experiences with the multiple times they did it for Fed's, including the copy paste for discovery, and they redid the Klingon start plus put out a recruitment. Deca needs to redo the art for the Rom start because it's over 9 years old at this point, and do a recruitment for it when it's all done just like we saw with the Klingon one. Things like that where it was "just so hard you don't understand!" for cryptic, until it magically wasn't and they got it out the door quickly. Even without art, there are a lot of revamps to things like traits, adding in EW's for ships that were released before that and never got one just reusing older art assets, putting out new items that help lacking playstyles or just revamping existing ships with new mechanics to help like science carriers, and stuff like that. There is a lot Deca could do, and needs to do, if they're serious about actually keeping the game going. If they're just going to keep doing what Cryptic did, which is honestly below the bare minimum at times, it's just going to be a disappointment.

[@afterlame]

If they actually revamp and return those long-removed Klingon War missions that Cryptic's been refusing to do for over 5 years now, then I'm all on board with the DECA. We'll see.

[@Trygvar13]

The WoT and WoWs example was spot on. Yes it is still gambling however you are guaranteed to get a tank. And if you get one that you already have you get in game currency as a reward (usually gold).

[@Brizzle427]

Maybe a controversial opinion but I wouldn't mind paying for expansions if it meant they'd spend less time releasing new ships I'm never gonna use (z-store is oversaturated imo) and instead used their resources to make an expansion that was up to the quality of Delta Rising or Legacy of Romulus. Since those were the only expansions that actually felt like expansions.

[@Fosgate777]

Your not alone, I’d much rather have actual “expansions” like Delta rising or Legacy of Romulus then them just cranking out Ships. I feel they need to alter their formula, make an actual expansion for a new areas where all players come together in social zones AND sprinkle in new Ships, Consoles, Traits, and items. I really feel this mixture would elevate STO to really create a buzz and fresh excitement, bringing more players back into the game which generates revenue. I’m kinda tired of the STO Starship Dealer Lot of Ships as cool as they all are! Need content to use them in!

[@freaklanemb]

Thank you very much for all the info, iv been playing for along time and I have spent abit of money on this game and very much looking forward to seeing hopefully STO being bigger and better

[@sstigger38]

Ditto myself!! Long time playing, lots of money spent, and many a fun night of grinding new characters! I still want that, and if it gets bigger and better.. AWESOME!

[@ryanhau1073]

Curious to see what going to change. Like will we get a re-release of the Old Klingon War story? A change in how requent story content is release? Also remember when they shut down the Foundry, Mike mentioned that Cryptic moved workers from STO to the Magic game they are developing, so if Deca is hiring new developers, wonder if they are going to do something, like fixing and bringing back the Foundry or creating something new from the ground up.

[@yorkinwanya2066]

That would be lovely. I think Foundry was the biggest asset to STO (can't claim for NW). But it's been five years since Foundry was packed away. And since we don't know how much of knowledge has been lost over the years, it maybe an impossible wish, buuuut... we can always hope. :)

[@ryanhau1073]

@@yorkinwanya2066 like the reason they shut the foundry down is because at the time the people who created the code didn't work at cryptic anymore and the current devs have be reassigned to other games. But thinking what if they created a new UGC system from the ground up, think most STO players would like it even if it means they have to start over from scratch

[@MrGadfly772]

The return of the Foundry would be terrific. It was one of the few things that worked.

[@tenalpoen]

It's infinite free content to keep trekkies occupied well into the future making money for them for years to come, so there is absolutely going to be discussion on bringing it back, whether they actually can or not.

[@Mega747400]

foundry was a gold mine for EC from certain missions.

[@alyssadraculesti]

I wont hold my breath for anything. As of late I only log in for the free events and then hold on to the reward in case they finally release a new Romulan ship in the C store that my reward may work on. There hasn't been one since 2020 except for the legendary scimitar. The last non legendary Romulan ship released in the C store was the Rahhae Recon Warbird. Which was released in December of 2020 and it was VERY anemic.

[@PhillipLemmon]

i wish they put at least the BASE faction ships to the z-store... ddex-rom vor'cha/negh'var-klingon ..... and that's pretty much all I want, LMFAO!!!!

[@zeke3672]

Been playing since the beginning. I, unfortunately, can't say I'm sad to see the old dev team go (with a few small exceptions). The game badly needs new blood. I see a lot of people worried about microtransactions being more prevalent under DECA, but the game is already a microtransaction hell. Look at what you need to have to upgrade a single ship to full functionality, let alone your gear and crew. As for content, we get what, maybe 2-3 new episodes a year if we're lucky? Maybe a new STF? Meanwhile they keep pumping out those lockboxes and $30+ ships/bundles. The game is already basically dead, it's a husk on life support. Phasing out the dev team will either finish the job, or bring it back, for better or worse.

[@pershing3346]

Yeah, we keep on hearing from Kael and the CEO that the game has years of life but they don't tell us if that is years of content, or just years before the servers will sunset.

[@Robotrik1]

Those 30$ ships are now 50$ to get to X2 status (not counting discounts of any sorts) .

[@Byrvurra]

As someone with plenty of familiarity with mobile microtransactions, I literally don't know how the MTX in STO could get any worse. They nickel and dime you for literally everything on a per character basis. A mobile developer taking over with modern mobile game sensibilities might unironically be good for the game, they certainly can't make it any worse.

[@shadow7037932]

​@@ByrvurraAnd in many mobile gacha games like Star Rail/Genshin there's at least a some what reasonable and decent pity system in place. There's nothing close to that in STO.

[@rogeryoung9934]

I miss the Foundry. It would’ve kept the game fresh. They could’ve allowed players to build a few episodes

[@huginstarkstrom]

tbh: I am more hyped than worried. I only had to do with ingame devs a few times. There seem to have been 2 layers - community support and decision makers. Com sup was friendly and reassuring and then the problem was passed on to a very rude and unfriendly and not at all helpful superior. So, that's nothing I will miss. Also in recent times, no one seemed to bother about fixing bugs. I think that fresh blood will take time to get used to the code - but given time, I hope, that the focus will be on keeping the game playable rather than stomping out new content.

[@huginstarkstrom]

as you talk LB and making things fair: how about account unlocks?

[@TheKanglor]

100% agree that this could end up being a positive change. Fact is with an old game there's going to be a lot of entrenched ideas, and not much willingness to shake up the status quo. Besides obvious improvements like better communication and being more on top of performance issues/bugs, I'd also really love to see them take a hard look at the 'endgame.' I think just seeing how the new advanced consoles brought some life to the elite queues, they could look at other ways to give players more reasons to use all those fancy ships and gadgets they sell us.

[@DeadFilmsINC]

I'd love to see DECA change the drop rate on phoenix packs lock boxes & promo packs as well. At sometime I think they'll do that. 🖖💜👌

[@tenalpoen]

The current drop rate on epic phoenix tokens is so low it's evil.

[@DeadFilmsINC]

@@tenalpoen If so why last year I get non & this year I've only gotten one. 😝

[@tenalpoen]

I haven't seen one in over three years and I buy those boxes all the time.

[@WakeRoberts]

So long as they keep developing the game, adding ships and story content regularly throughout each year, and moves away from all of this mirror universe stuff that the dev team has been obsessed with for the last 3 years, I'd say that this could very well be a positive change for STO.

[@taskmaster9165]

The main thing is to fix stability,then ponder on future episode development

[@Fosgate777]

You said exactly how I feel about gambling lockboxes. I think also a lot of us shy away from opening them because of the horror stories, and poor and expensive odds of not getting the ship. I would also love to see them put in a reasonable ceiling, or cap of a worst case scenario like you mentioned, that would at least be better than some horror stories of not getting a ship after $300 which will just piss off your customer and maybe even quit playing or create for an extremely negative experience which will have facts for them not put in money into the game any longer Because of these gambling antics. I would love to see this change, and I believe just like how they split up the anniversary bundles to allow us to buy individual ships instead of forcing you to buy the whole thing all or nothing I would love to know if they made more sales this way. So my point is along with yours, could they bring in more money from more players, who would now consider opening up block boxes to get a ship who would never have done that before which also gives more players access to gambling lock box ships who absolutely don’t open boxes now. There has to be a fair middle ground or even a better model for this.

[@Xpektahdeth]

To the people whining about monetization and lockboxes...the MAIN reason this game ISNT going into maintenance mode is because of the revenue its STILL bringing in...BECAUSE of the monetization. Stop crying. Either buy the stuff or not...but stop crying.

[@richardajoy79]

Governments have been looking at tightening laws regarding gambling in games for years and if it does happen, this would impact Lock Boxes... its a positive for us, but game companies could see this and decide to release a ship in a box for x-amount of money, probably similarly priced to buying a ton of keys. I hate Lock Box gambling, but it's really the only means of getting a Lock Box ship unless have billions of EC.

[@tenalpoen]

EC is worthless right now because there's too much of it floating around. It needs to come down. There needs to be a listing fee on the exchange to get rid of a lot of those items that just keep getting re-listed over and over forever by people who use alts to buy out anyone who undercuts them.

[@Mega747400]

@@tenalpoen ever since the endeavor thing started it killed the value of EC a good ship was once attainable by anyone willing to grind 20 mil now the same ship is sitting at 1.4 BILLION there needs to be a cap on pricing on the exchange

[@tenalpoen]

You already said what the problem is. Too much EC. The solution is less EC. A lower cap on pricing would just make them stop using the exchange (for ships) and spam zone chat instead, which they already do, but it would get worse.

[@RealNorPanda]

Hey Stu, just a heads up, world of warships and other games show the "probability" and have a "grace" system on lockboxes is because it's EU Law. STO will have to be brought up to spec to be compliant with EU Lockbox law since DECA is German.

[@MCStu]

Very good point, thank you

[@jonleach3036]

I been with STO since I got on with Beta and joined Life Time subscription, I would like to see what was promised in the beginning to be able to explore (5 year Mission Type happened).

[@patrickm.8509]

Great video, I started the game first with the demo in 2010. STO has come a long way since 2010. A C-Store change I think would be good for value is with the expansion Pack & Starter Packs. For example, if you bought the Starter Pack it would give a discount on the full expansion pack. By subtracting the cost of the base price of the starter pack from the expansion pack. Edit: Thank you to Cryptic for the content over the years & making a unique Star Trek game. Where we can captain our own starship & have adventures. The draw for me as a Star Trek fan for playing the game was captaining a Galaxy Class Starship and being a Klingon captain looked really fun. Choosing to have the game be F2P from P2P was a good idea, which makes STO unique for the amount of content it has.

[@copycatloki]

I do hope that new blood will add some...freshness to the game because I've been playing it for years and it's already started skipping free ship events. What I'd hope is that they will finally add better ship options to the c-store because I'm also not a gambler, I'm not going to spend any money to get a ship that I can only use on 1 toon. I have space barbie needs and I don't care to fly the best ships with the best perks, but the c-store ships are all just "standard" Federation/Klingon/Romulan style ships with a few odd ones out.

[@ShadeAssault]

Haven't played STO in a while. Had no idea this shakeup was happening. Will be interesting to see what does and does not change. I'm a little worried about DECA being a mostly mobile game company. Mobile games are notorious for not caring about anyone but whales. As to the drop rates you are talking about ~7:30. I thought it was law that percentage chances HAD to be disclosed? After EA screwed up so hard with the Battlefront 2 reboot and governments started cracking down on loot boxes, I thought laws were passed. I could be mistaken.

[@thatHARVguy]

I play 2 mobile games via BlueStacks (playing one atm), and yes they *do* list the % for each gacha prize by name, not just by vague rarity. They have a "pity" system that guarantees the grand prize after a certain amount of draws during an event banner, just like in his WoWs example. Yup, mobile loot boxes are more fair than Cryptic/AAA loot boxes. 😳

[@draco1479]

Great video. I agree new blood can revitalize things. Also, possibly too much mentioning of pooping on people. 😅

[@kaelefth]

You can never have enough "I'm not poopin on it..." 💩

[@ornatus9616]

I just hope that the new staff that were brought in from the mobile side of things weren't hired to turn STO into a mobile game.

[@pershing3346]

​@@ornatus9616STFC already exists so I doubt it.

[@matthewkeeling886]

I'm hoping for a reduction of the stakes in the storyline. Some Beta Quadrant history (Romulan Exodus from Vulcan, Catian/Ferasan Wars, etc.) could produce interesting storylines... yet another universal threat will not. From a mechanics perspective I'm hoping for less focus on cannon armed ships and forward firing arcs. Some love for broadside ships would be a nice change of pace. On ground, just one thing would help massively... auto-retargeting with melee weapons. Not having that is ridiculous at this point. Also, more exploration based missions. This is Star Trek after all. Where are the random anomalies and single planet evil computer overlords!? Unfortunately, I don't expect any of these things.

[@LordBort]

I love this game and I hope it doesnt go anywhere. If it does get redone i hope its like CS:GO2 where you still have all your unlockables amd purchases in the new game.

[@Jimbogf]

Maybe DECA will fix the Pahvan set? 6 months give or take? In its current state it's the most OP set in existence.

[@BeyondDaX]

Yeah or at the very least less crystals being deployed

[@Sirithil]

This is literally the last thing I want them to do.

[@jdgill95ps47]

Thank you for your time covering this issue. I am on ps4 and log in every day. The issue I have is that I paid real money to get interiors only to find bridge officers sat but not in seats, glitched into floors. Too many npc aimlessly wondering back and forth in corridors, causing doors to open and close, and even npc jumping up on mess hall seats while your sat on it? This has been reported for years. I hope this is fixed as a matter of urgency for this anniversary, for the paid content.

[@brickbunny9686]

Given some of the things that used to exist in the random level generation, log ago, before they removed the nebula's and the kind of randomly generated worlds and how those places had a certain building block kind of feel too it, how much of the STO bugs may have come from that system and was there a design path, for the games past, that included player construct-able places, craft-able places and things? If such a thing was slated at one time, could it be re-slated again?

[@ModeKaioken]

7:50 I totally agree. Its crazy to me that gotcha games have a pitty and this game don't got that let alone showing drop rates. IMO if you open 200 boxes you should be guarantee at least a t6 ship at that point. Im not saying that is great but at least match market competitor in the gotcha space.

[@Opnn8d1]

I'm hoping that a new dev team will mean new expansions to the game in terms of features and mechanics. I don't call the game as it is now "Star Trek Online." I call it "Starships Online." because that's more or less all it's really about.. We get all these new ships that we can fly while doing the same old content over and over, when what we should be getting is new content to fly ships in. And in all this time, there is one part of the Star Trek mythos that has no practical purpose in the game: our ship interiors. It's a setting in the shows that exists in every single episode of every season from start to finish of every series. And yet there has never been a gameplay loop that actually utilizes that setting in the game. Over the years, many ideas of how Interiors could be made to serve a purpose, have been floated by many players, only to be closed by moderators because they touch on something that was labeled as a frequently created topic. Now, the forums have slowed down to a crawl because no meaningful discussion can be had there, because so many things people want to see have been FCTed and therefore are not allowed to be discussed. Nevermind the fact that in several cases, the devs themselves went and did something that rendered a previous decision moot, thus technically making certain ideas valid again, but because those things had been previously FCTed, the mods cite the old irrelevant answers and close the discussion. The FCT restriction needs to go away if a new dev team is taking control. What might not have been doable before, may be very much in the cards now. Or maybe the new team really wants to know what players want to see without any previous bias being applied.

[@BamaChad-W4CHD]

I've been playing STO on and off since beta. I just hope the game continues to be available to play for years to come at the very least. That's my hopeful worst case scenario. I would obviously love to see continued content and ships added constantly. I would love to see the loot boxes go away forever. But the game needs to make money. It's well past the ability to make money any way other than gambling. They have assured that in the game.

[@Fosgate777]

I feel the same way. I don’t like the gambling boxes either. They could put real actual effort into content for us to use the ships and items in. There’s a better balance to be created, and could be even more successful with sales than they think they are now by creating a better player engagement with excitement and trending buzz with new Social areas to explore and play in.

[@creepyoursocksoff]

SWTOR did the exact same thing with moving from Bioware to Broadsword and they were much more public about it and informative from the very start.

[@irraka5222]

I'm normally a doom and gloom guy, but the bugs and crazy monetization of everything has just got me looking forward to DECA.

[@Nemoticon]

One thing I want above all else in STO... is actual content to enjoy my ships in. Playing the same old TFOs is just so boring and the worst part for me. We have all these awesome ships and very few, 1 dimensional, unchallenging maps to use them in. Now it's just a race to see how quickly you can complete each run, we know how, when and where each mob comes in and we just swat them like flies and warp out. This is why I won't spend a single penny on the game, lack of content beyond (the very nice, but play through once only) story missions.

[@Fosgate777]

You said exactly what I have made comments for! Thought I wrote this for a moment here, had to do a double take there 🤣. I’m really glad to see this!😁 New content to use ships in is so welcome! vs old content we’ve done 1 million times over, should show how much we would value new real actual content. It’s a games replay value and boy, have we replayed the value out of this game! And that’s the thing, we are all still here. Some of us may take brakes and come back, but if it wasn’t for Star Trek Theme, this game wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is I believe. I’m with you. New real content to actually play in would help push the game forward!

[@Nemoticon]

@@Fosgate777 Thanks. I don't want to hate on the game, I do like so much of it. But I don't enjoy speed runs and that's what it is now... warp in, splat mobs, warp out, log out. That's it!!!

[@Fosgate777]

@@Nemoticon 🤣🤣Your description is so accurate and true 🤣🤣

[@Mega747400]

on the top of run speed joined a borg TFO today i got maybe 3 volleys of phaser fire off and the mission was done from 2 ships.

[@Real_Firebird1170]

I’m hoping whoever they hire can figure out the coding to give us more customization options. Like why can’t they redo the underlying frames for all the different Connies to make them kit bashable with each other? The Galaxies and Galaxy Xs? And uniform freedom please. I can make alien boffs look like almost any non-Trek IP I want, but putting a Romulan Embassy boff in a proper Fed or Romulan Republic uniform is an immersion breaking bridge too far? I’m basically the only person who will ever see my boffs unless I’m running around one or handful of zones that allow any boffs.

[@Spoon2006]

I've been playing since beta and the biggest issue is it's on a custom engine so what they have now won't be compatible with anything current. This pretty much means they would have to code almost everything from scratch to support a new and better engine. Stuff like the foundry got shut down due to the original devs leaving and no one had the experience to keep it going. I've spent alot of money and time on sto but in the current state I won't be investing any more money until they get things sorted out. It's a great game but there's alot that needs sorting out. New blood in the game development is needed but they need to sort out the game engine to bring it up to current standards

[@Avalon304]

The pity mechanics for WoWs and WoT arent "In X boxes you will get THE main tank/ship" its "In X boxes you will get A tank/ship from the tank/ship prize pool" with the pity point resetting if it drops earlier. So for what ever people consider the best vehicle in question it could still potentially take hundreds of dollars to get it. But they also publish drop rates for the boxes too. So youll know the percent chance of every item in the box.

[@alanpattee4383]

Great job 🎉

[@trekman8188]

I would love to see more TOS and Enterprise ships.

[@20JK10]

I'm still having trouble trying to access your discord page. I click on your logo and a window pops up asking me which games I want to follow. I click on STO and nothing happens. I can't X out of the window either.

[@SolarWraith]

No Sto'Vo"Kor for Craptic. On a serious note....I do believe "new blood" could be a good thing. Hopefully we don't regret this change. Sometimes the devil you know is easier to deal with.

[@MCStu]

Ture

[@SciFiMetalGirl]

Ohh geez... dark mode is your friend!

[@tomoxford8815]

Great video Stu, thanks

[@evan_vangelisskoupras3085]

Neverwinter which is also Cryptic has had for a time lockbox counters(guaranteed within 200 or sooner). Yeah ambition to improve the experience, this could rejuvanate STO. They could add to it (guys from DECA). I would also like some - in game - polls from time to time, for items all those that play would like added.

[@deputymccahillxbox4132]

My only wish is that those of us on Xbox/Playstation, get content released at the same time as PC players.

[@Fosgate777]

Yeah I get excited hearing about the new content then disappointed I can’t contribute when it first comes out. Feel like I loose a lot of excitement by time they release months later on console and it’s no longer the current buzz going around the Star Trek Online Community. I want to be able to experience it in real time with PC players and be part of that excitement also. What does keep me excited is when MCStu and others cover the content release for Console players. That draws me back in!

[@tenalpoen]

I firmly believe Star Trek deserves better than what the current devs have done with it. Maybe it's not their fault, but even if it's not, TREK DESERVES BETTER. The game is in a sad state right now and I can't imagine how a new team will be anything but an improvement.

[@jimbodee4043]

Still worried about it but I have no control on the issue so will have to wait and see what they do.

[@Byrvurra]

As a relatively new player I would say my opinion is that STO really needs to work on it's new player onboarding.

[@Jimbogf]

At least refresh/redo the older missions, as those missions are to first ones new players play. They are so dated I almost lost interest in the game.

[@mightylink65]

Before Cryptic it was Perfect World International, nothing changed back then, not even the microtransactions. Everything will stay exactly the way it is.

[@bradbrown7273]

I also wish they would have a little more interaction within the game like in mass effect

[@Holy_Wraith]

I saw someone say somewhere that a special token will be given, the token allows us to make a T6 ship unlock account wide. Was any of that true? Just curious because I can't locate that source and it will prevent me from giving in to Mudd's More Dreadnaught bundle.

[@penguinmaster7]

here's hoping they stop restricting the chimera class to LTS. once they dropped the veteran system, they should have made it open.

[@senatuspopulusqueromanus2082]

Honestly, I want a full rewamp of STO, definitely visual and gameplay-vise. This game feels really old

[@PayAttEx]

Letting go of devs who have experience and have been working on the game a long time to hire cheaper software engineers is gonna be donezo for this game. There's no shot whoever they contract would be able to handle whatever spaghetti have been cooked up here.

[@Lonewolfnocub1988]

This game needs to be balanced Big Time! Most especially where Engineering Space DPS is concerned.

[@mr.c7094]

A good shakeup in the company is good…. Until you hire a company like Sweet Baby Inc

[@hardcorehardwarethe1st]

Was actually thinking about getting back in…getting that lifetime membership, I typically sign in every couple of years and spend the Zen that builds up. But it sounds like maybe I shouldn’t waste my time…I dunno. Anyway, you can probably find one of my old KZbin videos of me solo’ing the original Borg ground FTE’s back when they were not called FTE or FTP or whatever they’re called now. I think his name was Vanek? Or whatever…I don’t even remember that borg’s name…but I was one of, if not the first one to spec my toon to solo him…and I did join teams that were struggling and would just beat it for them…back when the drops meant something and everyone was trying to get the end game ground gear. Lol this was…I dunno, 12-13-14 years ago? Lol I played right up through the PWE buyout and the Delta Rising expansion…after that, I stopped being a daily player because the micro transactions became insane and Perfect World seriously messed this game up with the grinding. Unfortunately a dev like DECA being known for mobile gaming is most likely going to keep these micro transactions, could even make it worse…like getting rid of the free Zen for lifetime membership.

[@Flight--tz5nf]

As much as I bitched about Cryptic. I would love to see Star Trek Online succeed. I am a Trekkie to the bone. Cryptic on the other hand? They made their bed. They lay in it. Everyone at Cryptic Studios should lose their jobs. I won't shed a tear. STO needs a developer that actually cares about the product. Not one who milk's it for every penny. And treats some of the player base like a pile of shit. And disrespects what Star Trek is about.

[@KamenRiderGumo]

I honestly haven't played since they started shoehorning Discovery garbage into the game. Put a lot of hours into building ship and character, loved the Jem'hadar expansion, and decided to finally get that lifetime subscription. Then they started to put the STD stuff in there and I just checked out.

[@thatHARVguy]

As predatory as mobile monetization is, they do have a pity system to guarantee the grand prize for the event banner. Mobile games even list the drop rate % chances for each gacha prize. Does Cryptic still refuse to list theirs?

[@bradbrown7273]

I play on ps4 i wish they would fix bugs like the free lance security kit. The mirror defiant torpedoes wont fire durig the terron episode

[@Jeff-ne1lh]

I would like to see new blood in some of the product managers'/lead dev positions in STO and NW it's no secret that there has been stagnation and outright phoning in of bug fixes and content...it's time for fresh eyes

[@bX-rk2oo]

Yo yo yo MC Stu play that funky music white boy! (Just trying to make you laugh) Thatnks for all of your video content over the years.

[@PhillipLemmon]

i would like for them to have more sales,...and not this....low tier 10, 20%im talking higher like 50 or even 75...THAT way we would be more apt to buy things like ships , services etc. also they could bring in (or back if it was a thing long ago) is MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTIONS. i don't want to pay $300-$400 on something I don't know will last if I didn't jump on it when it launched. just make it fair and affordable.....then you'll get your moneys with from the games players. my opinions of course.... thoughts?

[@UncleFloydGG]

well said, coming from Neverwinter, the game economy is broken, new and casual players feel hopeless, end gamers demand priority, the community is the opposite of thriving (other issues regarding development and monetization are likely similar to STO)

[@MCStu]

Yes, I think pretty much the same.

[@IrisCorven]

DilEx has been a goddamn nightmare for close to 5 years. I remember buying my first REAL ship using the DilEx, and being amazed that I had the capacity to get the store ships by utilizing my time played. I did it maybe 4 or 5 times - not a single one of those since it capped. It's just broken, inflated, there's no Dil sinks to really even it out and give new players a chance to get hype about being able to earn a ship in game that doesn't take a multi-month daily login campaign to achieve, etc... There's no reason for new players to stick around when the reward for doing so is "Wait."

[@UncleFloydGG]

@@IrisCorven agreed, the exchange is false hope, broken game economy for theses types of games mean broken game, the company let things get out of hand long ago

[@deadmeat8754]

In my opinion, the DECA transfer actually signals STO is going in to maintenance mode. New content will slow, or dry up and the game, to your point about monetization, will survive as long as it draws enough to make a profit. This, of course, will also be influenced by the fate of the Star Trek IP. Personally, while I don't celebrate employment losses, I've felt the Cryptic Team has been institutionally bad and welcome the fresh eyes and ideas.

[@UkrainianPaulie]

Frankly the engine is so outdated. Ground is painful to look at. STO reminds me of LOTRO with ships.

[@sabrewolf4129]

Still waiting for the TOS Federation Class Dreadnought.

[@willt3223]

will the life time subscription still be a think or will they wipe it out?

[@Blackreaper95]

I doubt they will especially since the game has been f2p for 10+ years

[@lucifer0264]

​@Blackreaper95 I sincerely hope they don't remove it lol I finally gotten life time subscription last month,they need to refresh the life time subscription in my opinion

[@Blackreaper95]

@@lucifer0264 They need to refresh a lot of things especially the Task force reputations.

[@lucifer0264]

@@Blackreaper95 true that, its just sad that the main important things havengt been refreshed in years,and another thing i find confusing is i cant find the captain yacht whatsoever yet they say talk to a ship acquistion person,so i did and scrolled through all the ships and i still cant find it.

[@Blackreaper95]

@@lucifer0264 They are shuttles pretty make sure you aren't filtering by rank just small craft when you talk to the ship requisition officer.

[@IrisCorven]

I'm happy that so many people are optimistic about this, but having been a veteran of MMO's since UO/EQ1, I know exactly what to expect and not to expect from this kind of thing. So I'm glad that they're going to give it a try?... But I don't have hope it's going to pan out, or improve in the way most of the folks in this comment section seem to. I think expecting anything more than this game being left on life support with some new incentives to spend cash for the next 5 years is extremely wishful thinking. And that's more so than what Cryptic was already doing. They know there's a dedicated fanbase for this game who have stuck around even during the worst issues, bugs, and shady dev/marketing tactics. They know there's a cow to keep milking, there.

[@hardcorehardwarethe1st]

I really loved this game, was one of the original players (pre-FTP) back when the bug ship was THE ship and PvP wasn’t dead…The PWE takeover really killed it for me. Way too much grinding and micro transactions. I don’t see DECA improving that aspect.

[@ghostshepherd6749]

Warframe treatment with cross play/ transfer. Allow those of us with accounts on different platforms just merge them

[@stevenwalker4923]

I've spent hundreds on keys and only got 3 or 4 ships. With the phoenix boxes, thousands of boxes opened, and 3 elite tokens. Buying 250 keys to get 1 ship is an accurate assessment. They should make ship tokens Lobi purchases? It's not Cryptic's fault. They were given directives by their holding company to make money for them.

[@chadwickmccarty4944]

DECA could finesse some in-game mechanics, possibly with the gambling, but I doubt DECA will do anything too drastic. I haven't bought keys for a drought of time partially because of the dismal odds but also because lobi purchases are so restrictive & expensive so imo a bad value. I think Cryptic/STO has been suffering some tough complacency for the last few years. It is one of the main reasons I thought that Jon H. was a breath of fresh air & innovation. A major downer is the loss of USA jobs. My fingers are crossed for better.

[@admiralpegasuscc]

So if Decit do mobile games, could they look at making STO work on mobile phones?

[@MCStu]

I doubt it.

[@laughingalex7563]

And im sure the monetization would be about 100 times more insane on a mobile phone than what we have now!

[@jaedo71]

Star Trek Online should have been two separate games. A space-based MMO and a ground game. I wish someone would do just the space battle/exploration part in a new MMO.

[@doubt3430]

But like What the fuck is a point of a star trek game if you can't even fly among the stars Star trek is a space game first and foremost

[@RobertP-zk8vh]

sto has been bought like 5 time now in the lifetime its been out and i have played since day 1

[@ghfdt368]

May be a unpopular opinion but i stopped playing STO a year ago. I really felt the game lost it's way since the victory and life story arc came out. It's devolved into selling ships, lockboxes and grinding endlessly to get the ships you want up to scratch until the next set of ships come out and repeat with a few nuggets of good content added in along the way. If they go back to basics and make new content more story missions, tfo's and game modes even if they can't have actors back to voice characters id be all for that and happily pick the game up again. For right now im happy to sit and wait it out and see what happens but a fresh set of eyes and talent for this game could do it a world of good.

[@dasgnampf4156]

Imo it's very healthy to take a break from the game from time to time. I play STO since the early days and had several breaks. Some of them ~a year. I have fun catching up with the meta again. Came back 2 months ago and having a blast rn.

[@Fosgate777]

I’ve felt the same way for a long time now. Their new “content” is exactly as you described. I feel that’s a lazy easy cash grab way out instead of actually creating new zones and areas for us players to explore while using new items and ships in. Other games do it, and this one could be wildly exciting if they also put in this effort I feel.

[@pragmaticeagle4832]

Cryptic (imo) seemed to have been on the decline for a long time. It kinda sucked that they were over those games however, I did notice decent changes once they transitioned to gearbox from perfect world & if the new folks are passionate about the games I can only hope for improvement. We shall see, & will just hope for the best

[@marsmotion]

deca should look at what elder scrolls online is doing and replicate it. fun story content released quarterly or every other, new dungeons, or missions also 2 per quarter, making sure the infrastructure is robust. improve look of game over time, do monetization in a respectful way. you can afford to pay us sal if you have a good strategy and value the property and respect the players. good business isnt hard but these days it takes some long term vision and a good strategy. paramount looks to be selling startrek to wb idk what that will do. from my pers perspective they should lisc unreal and really update things. hope the game keeps going....

[@Fosgate777]

This sums up exactly how I feel also! . . . That’s it ! ! . . . You’re hired for Deca as the Lead Content Creator Relations position! I can’t wait until you start ! ! 😁 Seriously though I do feel like they take advantage of us, their players also namely because gambling lock box ships not disclosing the odds with only caring about generating revenue even if a loyal veteran or unknowingly new player tries to get a ships and loses out on hundred of dollars leaving their customer with a very negative experience with no options once they don’t win said advertised ship or jam it into a overly priced Mudds Bundle. Yes granted Mudds is account unlock and guaranteed amount vs gamble lockbox single account with no guaranteed spend amount, but they both are just super expensive. There has to be a more fair and respectful sales model then what they have now to generate the same if not more revenue. I fully agree with you!

[@1800BrokenSoul]

Stu Bro I'm at $780 dollars in the last 8 months and 0 ships. The pitty system was around 250 boxes. Some time ago the did a stealth update. Just like what they did the the Pheionx gold token a few years ago. in the past 2 years they have been out of touch with the community and I don't belive it was the community manager. Let's hope you and casual get hired. At least I know you guys aren't yes men and will be advocates for the game.

[@vlogsandgameswiththegrassh4277]

im sorta new return player. Sto seems to have a lot of episodes that touch on a lot. Have they Covered everything we know from the tv shows? what would be left? Again very new. But it kind of turns me off that i have to buy ships to get a certain tech. i watch a lot of build videos and go welp not doing that. I was ok spending 50$ but i had to really narrow down what ship i wanted and what i wanted to do. which i picked great one the lex dread is a beast. But i want Kelvin timeline phaser. Seem to be a Huge Pain Just to get 7-8 of them. I may not like them after. i really want to stay with this game but long term seem Way to expensive. So im just doing time waisters like Rep and R&D. Because ever game has them. Hoping a real Spark for the game ignites. Cause im a Fan. Its a fun game for a Fan. I would look into getting the Lifetime but ive tried this game a few times over the years never keep my interest when Subscription games offer more for less.

[@QuantumNova]

I just hope DECA understands STO is more than just one faction. Somewhere down the line, Cryptic forgot. It's at the point where I can't even spend money as a KDF player. One new ship every 2 or 3 years. >_

[@alyssadraculesti]

Hasnt been a new c store non legendary KDF ship since end of 2020 - same goes for the Romulans. Everything has been re kit bashed Federation ships.

[@Zimionz]

I doubt it. If you were the CEO of Deca, would you rather invest 1,000 dev hours into a new Starfleet ship, knowing it's gonna sell 10,000 times, or in a Klingon ship selling just 1,000 times?

[@QuantumNova]

@@Zimionz 1,000 devs hours? They have been copy/pasting ships for the past 6 years. A ship texture update is easy. 30 hours is more accurate. *Honestly I'm tired of that excuse.* Cryptic sabotage ships for the other factions. KDF would get no Unique traits or just clones ships from the federation with worse stats. Of course it's gonna *SELL* horrible. Like when they were doing the 'jab' where fed ships have a 3 piece set, but KDF variant could only get 2 pieces. The 3rd piece can't be used on the KDF variant and we miss out on a ability/passive. Would you buy the KDF variant knowing it would be half-assed? Cryptic: "See? The KDF ships don't sell." Me: Yeah, because you always do something stupid to sabotage it.

[@DarthVader-1701]

STO's lockbox ratio should be 20 boxes.

[@kxmode]

It's worth noting that DECA is owned by Embracer, and Embracer has been a wreck for the past 12 months. DECA can say whatever they want, but if Embracer kills STO or the studio... STO is dead.

[@mrfluffyhedgehog]

DECA is a mobile game company. STO already is a gambling machine with a star trek skin, sadly with this kind of new owner the only way I see this going is further down. Hopefully there will be a bit of work on the engine and stability, which is sorely needed, the lag and input response is awful righ tnow. If that gets better it would be great, but in terms of monetization it most likely will get even worse I am afraid.

[@ussenterprisecv6231]

Might be good change but idk might not since armored warfare was great until a new studio bought the game and then didn't do anything but use it as free money

[@0xArkemi]

they are gonna implement a battle pass.

[@shr4n]

Based on how you appear, I imagine the target audience for Star Trek Online (STO) to be grumpy old individuals with some savings to spend on a game-much like myself. Unfortunately, this is why we end up being drained of our money until there’s nothing left. It’s a sad but true reality. Perhaps it’s time to disconnect from these expensive franchise fantasies and explore other gaming options. Quite disheartening.

[@VanWinger]

Someone needs to get Shatner to do some voice work. Get him 'on board' at any cost.

[@zeke3672]

More crappy VA for missions that miss the bar? Hardly what we need right now.

[@JasonS76]

Things have to change at some level the past few years have not been too good. Mediocre storytelling (with a few exceptions) has hurt the game during that time. Although I blame the hier ups more than the current team for that. They were no doubt forced to adhere to kurtzmans narrative butchery during that time.

[@TheFreelancer131]

lol maybe the new devs will fix the fact that Female toons cant wear Kobali boots 2 like they used to XD

[@KP762a]

Know what STO needs? More Mirandas. Like at least 10.

[@MCStu]

lol

[@scipher99]

There is an old saying "Hope in one hand and sh1t in another and see which fills up first." It is never the hope hand fyi. DECA being a mobile dev the best indicator would be to see what they develop and how good or bad those are. I fear we are in for a whole new layer of monetization and microtransactions that will nickel and dime us to death like almost all mobile games do. Prepare for huge time gates that can be bypassed with $ far worse than we see now. On the flip side is STO could go on life support with a small trickle of content and updates. As far as stripping Cryptic is so they can get rid of U.S. salaries in favor of outsourced cheap labor for development, and cheap is what we can come to expect in quality also. Sorry STU I personally don't see this as being good for STO. I have a feeling LTS are going to be axed as legacy, why else would it have been a 50% discount. I think the LTS sale was a last-ditch effort as a money grab before the changeover. I really hope I am wrong, but we will see.