As with every good TV series I really like the way that the game has a "season" as it's expansion's.
The details of the skill changes are detailed here and they are of great impact. The main reason for the change is listed as the first answer:
"Time and again, we have received feedback from our players that the Skill System is unusually difficult to understand, and has done a poor job at helping players master the combat mechanics involved in Star Trek Online. In fact, even a basic level of understanding required a good amount of research and “tribal knowledge” that was difficult for players to obtain through game experience alone. For both the benefit of existing players, and to lessen the barrier to entry for new players starting their Star Trek Online experience, we felt it was necessary to simplify the system, improve the levelling experience, and de-mystify many of the underlying combat mechanics."
Bravo STO! In particular I really like the way that they phrased the learning of knowledge ingame as "tribal knowledge".
All current skill points will be refunded, so if you have points spent and unspent they will all be pooled together and ready to be spent in the new system.
Unspent reskill tokens will also remain to be spent. But even better for the release of the next season and for the reworking of the system they are reducing the cost of a respec token! They have not said by how much but that is good news. It's what I've been saving Dilithium up for(conversion to ZEN for s token). Maybe now I'll be able to get two.... or save for something else.
The vast majority of skills are being given a same or similar skill in the new system. I'm sure a lot of players will be happy as their are not that many builds that really rely on an obscure skill that can't be replaced by another. "Any abilities you have purchased/unlocked from Specializations will remain yours" yay!
Something really controversial in my book is the removal of the ships crew!
I know that Eve Online has had a lot of push for ship crews. Indeed they did implement a "crew" system for industry and it had to be scrapped. STO is now scrapping crews on ships. I would have liked the crew to remain but I can understand the reasons they are removing it but the lore...... the lore! Poor lore.
"This is a mechanic that never worked well in Star Trek Online, and
needlessly confused some systems (such as Hull Regeneration). Rather
than try and improve a system that added complexity to an already
complex game, we decided it was time to retire the mechanic as a whole.
As a result, you will no longer see a Crew meter in the HUD, and all
existing mechanics that relied upon Crew have been changed so that they
behave at all times as if you had 100% of your available Crew.Any items/traits/etc. that improved Crew Regeneration have been changed to improve Hull Regeneration.
Any items/traits/etc. that improved Crew Resistance have been changed to improve resistance to Subsystem Offline Durations."
Very interesting changes! I'm glad to have been a part of the game and seen it the "old" way and to see it change and improve into the new season. I wish there was still a crew indicator that at least was a reflection of the hull damage. Even if it is cosmetic for old times sake.
I had to laugh at the next change. "We have abandoned “Abandon Ship”". I never found it useful at all and if it stops some player griefing I'm all for it's removal.
Lots and lots of changes incoming.
The next bit of news is a great way of making the STO universe feel more alive. It involves every player in this inbetween expansions phase. With a massive war with the iconians over and a return to some exploration there is a rebuilding event to bring strength back to the factions. This post war recovery event starts today and runs until the 10th of March. The first week unlocks a bonus XP second week. So it's like a main doing an in game event that unlocks an XP buff your lower levelled alt can use.
"Captains can aid the recovery efforts by completing PvE Queues and Fleet Actions. Based on the contributions made by all Captains during this week, a Bonus Experience Week will be unlocked for the following week, with a bonus of 50%, 100% or 150%."
What a great way to have an event.
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