Hitman 2....

Muffins for all!

I even got the battle-toad done.

A little bit of a different challenge pack, one that was made easy to do and probably done so to promote contract creation.... i.e. Use binman as a target in a player contract and the rest falls into place. With muffins.

Waffle....

I'd never signed an NDA before..... Not for a game(Destiny pre Beta thingy maybe?)....

I was second guessing if I'd do the tech test or not. I didn't want to do it if I was being negatively biased(you've seen my previous posts about it). I want to give it a fair hearing as it were. The NDA was off-putting but I wanted my mind changed. So much to talk about....

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I've said too much!

Thankfully there's an Ubi dev forum to waffle on.... And three friend invites....

Free is free....

✨ Start your visit with a free copy of Obduction and feel the summer vibes ✨ pic.twitter.com/YaLlyFZ18j

— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) May 30, 2019

Games with Gold....

This June see's a mix of games. And for once I'm more positive than negative....

Portal is a game I've always heard was good but never tried. I will now.

Rivals of Aether  Has polish and gameplay like Super Smash Bros, or so I'm told. I'm interested in the gamepaly. This platform fighter should be an interesting one to try out.

I've no interest in Ice Hockey so I doubt I'll get anything from NHL 19. But a free game is a free game and I'll try it out.

Earth Defense Force 2017 on the other hand has no interest and I doubt I'll even attempt playing it.
I can see where games like it can be fun..... Just not for me right now. Oddly enough it reminded me more of teh giant ants from C&C Red Alert than anything else.... No I want to play C&C RA....

PC Game Pass....

Well that's another hat in the ring.....

Not sure how I feel about another company/game collection.

I'm still feeling optimistic at GoG's all in one collection system!

Starbase....

Starbase looks like a cross between Astroneer, Space Engineers and Star Citizen. One to keep an eye on....

FrozenbyteGames

STO....

As with all things it's a toss up between time or money.

Really good video on being epic in STO without cash/paying cash for ships/items:

Gauss STO

STO....

I really do love Star Trek Online. It's got so much from, every series and then some with the expansion of lore/races/stories; But TFO's. TFO's are killing me here. Task Force Operations in STO are not complex. I've seen broader and harder tactics needed for WoW dungeon runs. Héll even WoW needs a Tank and a Healer where STO has the roles but doesn't need them.

Another waffling rant ahead......

I've stopped doing all 3 Discovery missions for the marks. I've a lot of marks at this stage and the hassle of running more than one is no longer worth it. You only get the bonus marks on the first run after all so why endure more pain for less gain.

I'm bleating on about this (again) because of frustration and disbelief. I can't emphasise this enough. Deep frustration and total disbelief. Is STO so casual as to be idiotville! What does that make me!!!!!!!

I'm not an OP player. I'm using a 'free' event ship and mission reward gear. I've purchased gear off the exchange and market and upgraded them all with my own gathered materials. I do't use the C-Store ships I've got. I don't belong to a fleet for fleet modules/ships etc. I'm a casual STO player. Why am I out DPS'ing players with better ships/gear. How can so many players be clueless about new content when everyone is doing the new content as soon as it comes out! It's been out for a while, they should know!

I don't get why they don't get it!

Today I got Operation Riposte as my first Discovery TFO of the day. Day 9999.9 in héll. You guessed it I've had another shining example of the 'current state of play'.

With the extended down time I would have thought there was gonna be a good mix of players, but no. No there wasn't. It would seem the talent today sank further.

Planet stage, I'm destroying missiles when I'm joined by another player, who keeps darting between missiles as I blow them up. Fine he wants the job so bad he can have it, no point in two of us doing the missiles. I go to help defend the transports. 30 seconds later a transport gets destroyed by a missile. I looking back at the planet and there's 6 missiles homing in. Players eye's were bigger than his belly and couldn't handle the task. Myself and another player turned and 'helped'. It's a learning process right, sure.

Klingon transports are fleeing, I take up my usual position and turn myself into a stationary turret to obliterate the incoming waves if ships. Everyone is flying around but none are tractoring the transports and moving them back to the Federation line. No problem, I'll do it. First time I've had to tractor a transport and still attack/defend myself in route. What should I have expected! It's a learning process, sure.
I turn around after dropping off the transport and there's 25-30 Klingon ships and a shít ton of transports just sitting in space.....So the group can't kill the npc's and won't tractor them in. FFS!

I should have just gone AFK. Why bother with anything. Maybe I should take a shítty no geared alt in a C-Store ship and fúck about in TFO's.... 'For the fun'. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Anyway we got passed that but a príck kept using a repulse setup on the last dreadnbought 'boss'; Which meant he kept pushing the boss out of everyone's weapon range. Fúcking repulse ray, as if there wasn't enough of a problem getting DPS onto the target as it was.

The sooner I'm done with the rep the better.

Just another day......

Two Point Hospital....

I'd like to say I'm slowly progressing through the hospital because I'm retrying tactics. That is true, in a way but the real reason is that I keep jumping around different hospitals. Getting stuck then moving on to another, rinse and repeat. So it's quick tactics then failure then delay then wait and moving on. 

The longest amount of time I've put into the game recently has been to do with the group content. 

Going into the game it shows which extra content you have installed. I admit it made me feel guilty that I'd gotten the content and yet rarely play them. Except for the golden toilets. All the hospitals needed that upgrade!

So I hopped back into the second of the Big Foot hospitals to give it a 'real' try. Glad to say it took some time but I got there in the end. Unlike most other hospitals I seem to do much better on ones that are research based. As research can be carried over across multiple hospitals, it's not quiet gaming the game. But it feels good!. Research an item to 99% at your massive searcher lab and finish that last 1% off on your current map. Every bit helps. 

My previous map for research had been Mitton University. Unfortunately I'd run it into the ground since getting the 3 stars so could no longer abuse it for research. I thought I'd be able to go back and save it but it looks like I can't. Trying to go back in the game only prompts if I wanted to restart the map. No thanks, it's done! 

So I'm very happy to have Swelbard as my new (and improved) research centre! A profitable and "good" 3 star hospital!!

As for the next challenge... I don't know...... I can tell already the last of the Yeti DLC won't be so kind.

Eve Online....

In an off the cuff manner I hopped on my main last night; Just to gather up remnants of rewards/holiday gifts from alts. It wasn't till I saw his way-point jump path showing a new icon that made me think 'is that the new encounter!'

Yep, upside down triangles instead of squares on the jump path mean they are controlled by the Triglavians. I was 20 jumps from home. One path had 5 Triglavian systems and another had 3 in the way. Both paths had items on the other side I wanted to gather.

I chanced the shorter side first. Luck was with me, I didn't see a single Triglavian till the last stargate out of the systems, frigates and a cruiser. All already engaged by players.

Once I'd picked up what I needed I set course the other way. This time 5 systems were under their control. I felt like I was pushing my luck. I don't know how they prioritize targets but I wasn't taking a chance. I flew to the system before Triglavian control and offloaded my cargo and fit off and jumped the 5 systems. OnceI jumped in I saw lot more action going on. At the gates in and out of each system and I could glimpse red markers as I passed by in warp. It reminded me of Nullsec when a large fleet is making trouble. I felt my heart rate go up. This clone, like the pilot in the trailer had a full set of implants. Do they tackle ships(web/scram)? Do they do volley damage? Lots of questions (could they use warp bubbles in hi-sec?) but I pushed through. And like in Nullsec, as I jumped thought and came face to face with reds I took the best moment in 30 seconds and clicked warp while clenching. It's not that I couldn't afford the loss, it's more about getting away with it no matter how slight the chance of getting caught might be.

I like the changes to the system description into Predator like symbols in Triglavian space.

With chances mitigated and taken I've collected all I want so I'm left with a choice. Thinking of fly a full cargo-hold through 3 systems that are potentially deadly..... I'll stay docked up till the storm passes. Checking again today things are still 'blocked'. time to alt hop!

Eve Online....

The next expansion is being implemented as I type. The more Eve changes the more I'm scanning the patch notes for what interests me; The more I do that the more I'm realising how much more outside my scope is expanding. I'm having to skip and scroll, scroll and skip a lot more!

https://www.eveonline.com/article/ps0g7i/patch-notes-for-eve-online-invasion

Another invasion by another alien race(my previous waffle). This is really getting tiresome. CCP needs to make some real lore. How about some new space(even a few systems) that needs to be conquered(via concord missions/fleet actions), with an alien race that no longer exists after all has been taken/done.... 

I wonder how the new 64 bit client will act. I might wait a few hours, maybe sometime tonight after they have rolled out 4 more patch the patch patches.

XCOM....

I've been messing about again in XCOM; My latest run was to see if my other group of Squaddies could make it through a mission. Lesser armour and with laser weapons. A mission against a small alien ship should have been easy but pushing to the end was somewhat hapless. A team member at the end could have been a hero.

Laser Squad:

A Casual Carebear

Unlike my last run I didn't do a save after the mission. I think I'll be reloading the last save and trying to run my best squad through missions to get as many chryssalids as possible. I'm still in need of more of the better plating that can be produced from them. Not to mention I need 2 more Plasma launchers....

STO...

While yesterday I mentioned my frustrations, Today saw me running with groups that lack DPS and know-how; The mix of those two can be a pain if it's not balanced. So I fully recognize that in my frustrations of such a run I do become the leetist blogging waffler, not in game but I have to vent somewhere.  Imagine that, the casual gaming PvE carebear bitching about players taking a game too casually..... Maybe I should re-brand.

I did up this video to show my frustrations as I work to clear the missiles from the planet all you can hear from the rest of the battle is the group failing to save the transports. Makes me want to be more like people I complain about. AFK. I'm in such a bad/negative group content head-space of late!

A Casual Carebear

I don't have an answer to this, step up as a leader is so much hassle. Stay silent and endure it while bítching on my blog.... I can do that.

Two Point Hospital....

With the more recent additions of group/community projects I'd ignored them in favour of trying to progress my "normal" hospitals. That is until last weekend where I found myself teaming up with my wife to unlock as much of that shared content as possible.

My normal career unlocks are almost done. The profession V's are a tough ask but can be done later as you go through the main game(I'm about 70% through it), like the other goals they take time. Multiplayer challenges will be ignored! 

Somethings afoot in this Two Point Hospital Marketing dept.

WoW....

True, given my last WoW-ish post..... A lot is down to player perception!

For the full video (point I wanted to point at is at 11:34):

Taliesin & Evitel

STO.... WoW.... Everything in between....

No idea where I'm going with this but I'm gonna waffle for a bit..... Lots and lots of waffle!

My recent experience running the three Discovery based Task Force Operations has me thinking a lot about the similarities between STO's TFO's and World of Warcraft's dungeon running. From a PUG point of view.

Players with no knowledge of a run but gear can brute force content. Both games are forgiving from that angle. High DPS players can balance out their opposites, those with the knowledge but not the gear.

Knowledge may lead the way but DPS is progress.

Both games also share the normality of joining a group, not talking, doing the content and then leaving. Noting inherently too bad about that, slight social disassociation maybe but what you don't know about your not going to miss. In some ways maybe it's a blessing in disguise!

Till recently I've always thought of the STO random groups as being more civil to each other than other MMO's. I've never really had many run in's with players in either STO or WoW; But there now seems to be that overly loud 1% bemoaning a groups lack of 'better' DPS etc.. Maybe it's kind of inevitable no matter the game involved. It only takes one(ásshole) with a chip on the shoulder after all....

This also got me thinking about the upcoming Vanilla WoW. Players used to the pull everything'n'dps it all down day's will be frustrated by Vanilla WoW. Although the last expansion did change things requiring groups to think and have knowledge before running in. But doing dungeons in vanilla meant knowing more, watching your aggro was a must. Tanks didn't manage your aggro, it's where the "real" 'you pull it you tank it' comes from. I can foresee a lot of newer to Vanilla/classic WoW players being frustrated fast. That's especially true for healers. I remember playing a priest healer in vanilla and while bubbles and heals are great, heals over time can cause mounting aggro in a long battle. So leaving your group at 50% health instead of 100% was a viable tactic. You do that these day's and you'd be called all the expletive names under the sun for your lack of over healing.

With WoW classic coming up it's been interesting to see how many people are oozing nostalgia!
Small interactions meant more in Vanilla WoW. Looking through old screenies I came across a great example. Low level dungeon running; Even as a low level healer it was nice to be appreciated.

I don't think I've ever seen PUG groups thank a healer (Or tank) since way back when.... Real social networking!!

It was more apparent in the PvP circles where you knew your enemy. We all lived on the same server. It meant more. I've gone fishing and emoted with a PvP rival between battlegrounds!

Sudden memory of actually using a wand as an offensive ability..... .whhhhhooooooohhhh.

I also found a cool little moment of my first character with a friend, quest teamwork ftw! Unleash the nostalgia floodgates!

Anyway back to STO. In practice for players like me who are between the OP and the clueless, who does well but still gets blamed for not being O.P. enough. Yet also gets gg's from the not so geared. It's all confusing. All fine lines and grey areas. All unspoken. You have to be very adaptable to the current group and the situation they are in. STO lacks the little moments beyond generic GG's, at least for me these day's.

There used to be a great community atmosphere within holiday event areas (Winter/Summer) but it's declined so much as well.

Random WoW groups working well together may move on and do another dungeon, that's never been a thing in STO. Everyone just bails at the end regardless. 

One of the Operations from the Age of Discovery in particular is apt in seeing player knowledge. Operation Reposte; There are a few stages where you need to reposition in order to progress. It's obvious when a group doesn't move to the next location. Either they don't care or they are clueless. My hope during that time is that players learn. But there seems to be more clueless people every TFO! This TFO has been out for a while. It's been featured as a 'highlighted event', it's tactics should be known. Then again there have been so many OP groups maybe they were all carried more than anything. Ignorance of the tactics in this TFO are compounded when the transport escort stage begins. These need to be defended against waves of enemies in multiple locations and people with no knowledge just wander about and engaging aimlessly. Never mind them ignoring the anti ship missiles from the planet. I love that stage, so many moving parts, but with clueless players it's hard work to keep it all afloat. And I'm no OP player!

Anyway. Depending on the level of the group I'll usually take the missiles. It's a part of the run that makes a player more blinkered to whats happening (above)elsewhere. I've found myself doing a 100% great job in destroy missiles yet hear "transport has been destroyed". And I'm guilty of my initial reaction "Noobs". I'm part of the problem, I don't want to step up as a leader because herding cats isn't worth it if you can DPS through the content, collect reward and leave. Which is what I've done. Whats the answer? I've no clue but as long as I can get a heap of marks and run my reputation gains I'll tolerate the 'lesser' runs and enjoy the OP ones.

STO players on the mid to lower end of the DPS scale tend to fade faster and sometimes not even put in any effort. Once they get killed they don't respawn, just wait AFK. Things like that are also on the rise.

Mention anything and players take offence even if you are in the right and say so. Drama!

Speaking of Drama. Local chat on Earth Spacedock is almost like city chat in Stormwind or Orgrimmar these day's. Some of those conversations! It had always been a helpful community chat. Yet it's easy to see the backstabbing and 'leetism' seeping in.

Maybe I do need to be vocal. Take charge etc. But I shrink away from it. It's not just about herding cats, in practice I don't want the hassle of dealing with players who have the potential to be ássholes to me. I could start by being vocal to those that are showing effort.... Maybe.... Ignorance has been bliss but the pot is boiling over now and actions are speaking louder....

XCOM....

Watching some XCom YouTube vids got me nostalgic(again) so I loaded up an old save. Part of which has a 'mess-about' team of utter ridiculousness. The last time I blogged about an XCOM return was Jan last year. While I never really spoke about them the pink coloured 'Team Super Best Friends' were done out of utter ridiculousness, fun because I could.

Their loadout in retrospect is slightly worse then the normal teams. I must have rearranged gear and loadouts in the past, taking the more rare gear off them. Still as the low level squaddie's that they are, they're better geared than the other lower level team which has laser/older weapons/armour. Which I kind of like for an underdog take. Harsher but still fun.

Anyway back to the old save and back to looking at Team super awesome best friends pink panthers. What harm to take them out for a spin! 

Nothing spectacular happened on the mission but I was surprised it wasn't an overwhelming disaster. So, so many missed shots. I think I've had enough nostalgia for now.....

A Casual Carebear

Original Xbox....

Sometimes ze sheet hits the fan. A few sessions into my nostalgic retro blast from the past on my original Xbox it stopped working (original Xbox original red ring). The error seems to be more to do with the DVD drive rather than the hard drive. I'm grateful for that but I wish I'd received an Xbox to USB cable a day earlier. I've had to manually eject the drive and try cleaning etc but it 'sounds' like it's internal laser/mechanism is screwed(technical term). I'm disappointed and a little annoyed, when I'm like that I know better than to whip out the screw drivers straight away. I backed away from it which has given time for the games I ordered to arrive.

It proved to be easier than I expected to source the games I mentioned in my last (original)XBox post. All from one site which covers second hand stores around the country. So with potential new game experience in one hand and a broken Xbox in the other I really was in a mixed mood.

I noticed yesterday that two more games I had my eye on had "come into stock". Ninja Gaiden Black and DoA Xtreme Beach Volleyball. Ninja Gaiden because it's supposed to be 'that' good & XBV because it was supposed to be 'that' silly  -   yet 'good'. Plus I'm a DaO fan. Anyway a search by store revealed that they were in my local one! Someone local to me obviously unloaded a bunch of their original Xbox stuffz. Which included a load of OG Xbox games inc. those two and a crystal Xbox.  A newer (by release year) as if to answer my woes!? Well the jackpot noise popped into my head. So last night I picked up both games and the Xbox(better safe than sorry).

The console's in good shape, some marks and dust but after a good clean it was pristine. The cables were all in good shape, composite/phono to scart connector was even the original branded version. The controller on the other hand has seen better day's. Some screws missing and both thumb pads look like they cracked (about a third) and broke off. But as I have the other Duke controllers from my original original console I'm ok with that. The other S controller I have does not work fully so I may start trading parts/screws and see how that goes but I'm not pushed about it.

All the games are in excellent shape as well. The Hobbit, Brute Force, Mechassault 2, Robotech Battlecry, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Ninja Gaiden Black and DoA Xtreme Beach Volleyball; As second (or third) hand goes I count myself lucky(again); All bar one have their full documentation, even down to the extra insert/cards.

I've noticed that since my Xbox 360 red ring fix and the controller 'thing'/'incident'; I've not been as gung-ho rip it apart and fix it as I usually am. Bought my way out of this problem for sure. Which seems to be a trend. All in, the seven games and the console(with power/AV component cables & crystal controller) came to €100.50(including postage and packing). Not bad for a retro haul in good condition. Especially for getting games I'd wish I'd bought back in the day.

It would be nice to get my old saves from my original but if I can't..... I'm not pushed. Also a mood/tone that's not like me. Must be the weather or something.......

Once I've had a good blast through the games I'll do up another post....

For all....

That will be amazing!

We all have the same problem with our games and gaming buddies scattered in between multiple clients.

GOG GALAXY 2.0 will combine all your games into one library and connect with your friends across all gaming platforms!

👉 Sign up for the closed beta at https://t.co/NZjsq4hP1A pic.twitter.com/ecExDnMKAv

— GOG.COM (@GOGcom) May 22, 2019

WoW Classic....

The last free day's Blizz gave to players saw me back but not hooked. I was happy to revisit my characters, check their bank/bags and do some "admin" on them; But like the last 'while' there hasn't been people on. Those I do talk to are in the same boat. Of the large guild there's only really three players, one really hardcore and the other two play because they are a casual husband and wife team.
While I felt nostalgia it was tinged with loss at what had been. Free day's over and no need to go back.

I've bigger nostalgic feeling for when I started the game in vanilla. 90% of the players I befriended in Vanilla where still friends years later even after server/faction/guild splits. It was a version of the game that was a community builder. The interactions meant more because there was the feeling of more being at steak. I've waffled a lot on this blog about past experiences. It'll be fun to see how it lives up to the nostalgia, even if it's for a few months.....

I'm not the only one thinking of WoW Classic in that way.

wowcrendor

So WoW Classic is coming in August, with what looks like a massive rollout. Why shouldn't I be hyped for it?!


Nostalgia!

Nostalgia!!

Nostalgia!!!

GRB....

Moving from Wildlands to Breakpoint (re game mechanics) isn't going to be seamless and even if it was I think there would still be problems. Maybe i's my negativity creeping in but a solo survival based game with a heavy emphasis on co-op? Really? 

The more info I see about Breakpoint the more I'm put off by its current form and implementation. While I was very miffed about no A.I. team, even the news that as a solo player you get a drone to help with sync shots isn't motivating me. The more I hear the more I know this game isn't for me. Survival elements and the Bivvy could be interesting but adding the classes complication killed that end of it.

How to maintain game balance and challenge when tackling a game with 1 or up to 4 players! What could go wrong?(insert amply sarcasm)! 

I'm resigned to not having a thing to do with the game now. I'll check for updates especially with E3 coming up(Carbon Meister). Then again E3's gonna be like them preaching to the choir. Fans backslapping fans on how great their new thing is.... etc....

turtles pic.twitter.com/eMYHvN0Dgk

— poorly drawn lines (@PDLComics) May 10, 2019

On the off chance that I can have my mind changed I stuck my uplay account into the 'get chosen' to play the Beta option; But that's long odds on being picked never mind being converted.

BF 1....

It's been an interesting week except for the last few day's of getting my áss handed to me. Matches with large and coordinated groups. How do I know this, by getting revenge killed of course. Shoot a player off a horse, get killed in return by a rear turret gunner from a bomber/plane across the other side of the map..... That kind of thing. 

Another week another change of theme. This time not much of a change in maps so I've no idea whats attracting the larger groups. Target on my back?

It's not been all bad. BF 1 - Best Bits Mashup 14:

A Casual Carebear

Hitman 2....

Another day another MrFreeze2244 Silent Assassin Suit Only Sniper Assassin all in one run. The dude is pumping them out in spades!

In doing one of my run-throughs following his logic I came across a very excited car!

Running the same path/tactics took me 3 attempts. 1 to get the timings right(third time lucky), 1 to screw up the timings and shoot the main target alerting guards resulting in some therapeutic (for me) bullet spraying(just because). The other was a botched run where I was too close to the first knocked out npc so instead of knocking out the target I broke the neck of the first npc ruining the run. Some clips of the fun at the end of my video.

Anyway 3rd time was lucky; Still a good feeling seeing all those unlocks.

Here's my run:

A Casual Carebear

Dawn of Man....

I took another crack at the last of the renewed achievements on the Continental Dawn scenario. I say renewed due the changes and additions from patches which destroyed my previous 100% achievement listing. I'm not bitter, honest. All about the challenge.... All about the renewed challenges....

With a bit more production/workflow tweaking(less mining), 20% excessive dwelling space and a mountain of resource gathering (including clothing) I managed to get the last achievement. 

There must have been some more patch tweaking to gameplay mechanics because as hard as it was to get this achi now, it was a lot more difficult attempting it before. 

 

So with the patch/new content and the achievement(s) "done", I'm back to my original one missing achi on Northlands.

Thinking that things have changed I did a reload of my last Northlands scenario save. See if I could do the same and get it to 150 population. 

My first 10 seconds of settlement reassessment and readjustment were halted by the brick wall of 10 deaths; 6 from starvation and 4 from hypothermia; I glanced at the population number... 49. I should have remembered the previous traumas(here and here). ....Exit....

Eve Online....

20+!!! Billion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STO....

I'm still whining and I can't help it. STD content is bringing the worst out in my gameplay and in turn my posting about it. It's proving that the longer the exposure to such content the more peeved off with Discovery I am.

With the last few posts out of the way I've just about gotten over the trauma of STD's new missions.
From watching other playthough's of the second mission(frozen planet), I've seen a wide range of inconsistent mission actions. Waves of insects for me but none or very little with others etc. But the missions are done with and I won't be back. Which leaves me with the daily down to earth nitty gritty; Reputation marks.

Daily runs of the 3 Discovery Task Force Operations (all in space) to gain the reputation marks to run the reputation projects to gain faction reputation in order to gain said reputations store items/talents/ground and space gear etc. etc. etc. Convoluted sounding but simple(enough) in practice, at least for a person who's been in the game a while.

I see nice space set with interesting stats that sound better than my current fit I'll aim for it. I don't do deep theory-craft builds. "Fly casual"may be a different franchise but the sentiment is 100% accurate.

On a side note I saw a player use the new crystal kit module. He put 5 down as an ambush. I don't see that being useful for me, NPC's are rarely ambush-able. When they are I can barley get a turret on the ground before needing to react. But the crystals are very powerful......

The last two days I've run those three TFO's back to back; All went well due to the number of people also doing the same for the marks.

A Casual Carebear

The large numbers of overpowered player ships won't last long as they'll be the first ones to max out all they need. When they do leave it'll be to gain marks in a "better" manner, solo and random queue players will be hard pressed to do things quickly then. Time will tell. I do have to say that these latest TFO's do make a bit of a change from the normal TFO's. At least for me I feel like I'm making a difference as a team member.I think that's due to the mix of enemy NPC ship types allowing for more explosions. Smaller enemy ships always go first, progress is made.

I took the opportunity to get a massive amount of the new free lockbox's and picked up 10 key's from the store with my free monthly Zen. Unlocking them didn't get me much. No ship.

I'd have liked the low low(really looooooooooow) chance of the Discovery Section 31 folding nacelles T6 ship(new name!). It's got a cool look and animation.

I also get some ship weapons and a console from the boxs:

I got a Mk XII version of that beam and a duel phaser array. All of which I don't have a use for.... not right now.

There were also some random holographic 'costumes'..........
As an random surprise, for fun(15 minutes).

I also got the discovery 'vanity' shield which wasn't up to much. A bit too plain of a change for me. I'll be sticking to my old Romulan and Reman shield looks.