A lot has changes in the world of STO in the last two weeks. Mainly with the Agents of Yesterday expansion.
I'm a Trek fan and always have been ever since I was young. I grew up watching the re run's of the original series. I do get a lot more out of the game as a fan of the franchise. I get the uuh and aaah moments when something in a story line connects with an episode of the series.
Not quite a fan boy but Trek fans are a more specific o.t.t. than any fanboy or girl.
With STO there is a game that does a lot for the nostalgia factor. Yes there are microtransactions and yes there is a lot in the game that is buggy and annoying. But it is free. Free and being nostalgic are a combination that make me go back to the game. The more you go back to it the more it grows on you. There is a lot going on in the game. The patch notes alone hold so much information.
I've created two new characters of this new 23rd century faction / classic era of Trek so that I can take advantage of the expansion bonus's for them (not available for 23rd century characters created after august).
What the game has done is to create the classic era of Trek as a new faction for the game. This faction is automatically aligned with the federation and though the starting story arc you move from the 23rd century into the modern game.
The expansion is the best and most immersive I've seen in the game since I started playing. The use of the classic era is ideal for an expansion. I love the classic look of the sets, ships, uniforms. I love the way the star field in the 23rd century has the same colourful look as the tv series rather than the more bland starfield of the "modern" trek.
I used that "love" word a lot because of the nostalgia kicking in. It's more than just liking the game elements. I really, really like the game elements. It's the little things.
23rd Century starfield:
Modern starfield:
I even like the way that the game makes your 23rd century characters ui look like the classic era tv show. Even if you are in a more modern ship the old tv show noises from doors to button clicks are still used and make it so immersive. The ui does change depending on your faction and having the 23rdC original series ui adds to the game.
The 23rd century map:
With time travel there is a lot a series and a game can do and dear god does Star Trek Online use it a lot. I think I complained about how much in the last year alone how much if was worked into story arc's. And that stuff gets really really confusing. But in saying that this expansion adds so much more character into the game.
I found that in the starting missions the look and feel may have been intentionally made more granular to further push the way the tv show looked.
The addition of old cast members from different series and movies all adds to the mix in a good way.
Levelling up a new character is xp boosted as going from the 23centry to the modern era already has my character at level 11.
I've spent a lot of time to also finish off my main max level character to complete the summer event, get the free T6 ship from it. equip is as best I can and finish off the Delta mission episode missions. That completes all of that characters PVE mission content.
This week also gave an opportunity to replay missions with the once off rewards reactivated. The ophidian cane, Breen and Reman duty officers and the shard of possibilities. Some of those are things that I'd seem and wished I'd had been around to claim the first time they came around. Glad to have them now.
The summer event ship in it's original paint looked a little too fuzzy dice for me...
So I altered that to be nearly all black where it would let me alter it and it looks much better for it. Adding in a few of the new visual enhancements from ship modules and tada!
With the work being done to bring the game to the XboxOne and PS4 there were some interesting comments online about the new graphics that will be implemented. one comment was very significant, at least for me because it pointed out that that new graphics ramps up the contrast rate so much that it washes out the details you normally see on in game items.
This can bee seen on the consoles in this developer news article that includes a before and after slide image.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10053953
Maybe the general overall level of detail will go up. I just hope it doesn't do it at the cost of the other minor details in the game that play into the immersion.
The new ui for console should also be interesting to see when implemented but I dont' know if it will hit the pc as well. So I'm taking the opinion that it's best to read and keep informed just in case.
https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10029803
I've been really really into the new expansion as well as finishing off my max level character. All I need to do is finalise him with a better ground and ship fit. Not to mention a proper more refined stat configuration including both primary and secondary specialisations. From there on it's all minor tweaking.
As good as the expansion has been there has been an ongoing bug that while not game breaking does ruin the immersive nature of the game.... I'm pretty sure they are all supposed to be seated..... or maybe it's a new galactic Simon says.
Overall it's a Free game that has given hours of enjoyment. I really doubt I'll put any money into it and better yet I've not felt compelled to in any way.
I've enjoyed my time in the game and I'll be spending a long more time in it now because of the new characters I can create with the expansion.
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