Star Trek Online....

Keeping up with both Xbox and PC versions of the game has continued to be fun.

Not that I do a lot on Xbox. Daily or almost daily I login and: 

Check inventory assets tab(sort inventory) and convert the daily amount of  dilithium ore.

Check (complete and setup more) duty officer assignments.

Check (complete and setup more) admiralty missions(dilithium farming).

Do whatever current event needs a daily done; Such as the current Red Alert.

Check on the daily endevours and complete any that I know are quick and easy(or moderately doable).

And if I'm in the mood for more do or finish off some episode missions or TFO's.

All that daily logging in helps to gain empowerment via items, buff, bonus's or currency to make the life of that character(or account) better. I do the same thing for my top 4 characters on PC almost daily with some others just for dilithium farming... Not every day but a lot.

As a game that's a platform changed version, a game 'on the side', the Xbox version has kept my interest because it's quick and fun. The same but simplified. Some may say the same but limited due to the platform controls. I tend to think of it more as a 'leveling' of the playing field. High end Xbox super meta players have to do the same in game menu actions as everyone else. That takes time. Not that menu navigation can't be done quickly but my thinking is that it levels the bulk of the actions of players..... 

For Xbox I've been taking my PC version knowledge and applying it to the Xbox version; But it was only today that I realised where the xbox has the PC beat.... Not beat by much but definitely handier.  Doing duty officer assignments it's 'handier' to see which are available to be done by pressing a controller button to filter the available missions. Almost an automatic muscle memory thing. Doing the same thing on PC needs a conscious change of a drop down menu that isn't part of the usual flow of doing Doff assignment. It's just automatic to scroll the mouse wheel down the list and click on what you need. So taking that moment to access the filter on PC could made all the difference. Sorting the chaff from the wheat as it were. It's the little things that help.

I may ease off on the Xbox side till the new content hits on March 2nd and I create a KDF recruit there.

Besides I've hit another bump in the mission road. Trying to finish off the first part of  the 'The Measure of Morality (Part1)' mission; The two part end to the J'Ula's Discovery episode. The mission has the same crash to Xbox dashboard issue/problem that the Temporal Ambassador mission had. Which is a pity. Lets hope it won't take as long to 'fix'.

 

On the PC side I've been giving the latest event ship another try. I was messing about with an exchange bought T5 and felt I was putting more thought into it's mashup fit than my last attempt at the event T6, which in retrospect was half-hearted. So the mess about fit got moved. Last time I played by the event  raiders fitting rules. It's grey-item-pre fit theme. Cannons and Torps. This time I went with what I 'felt' was better(meta moguls cry in the distance). 

The Martok 3 piece, Nanopulse torp from the latest 'missions' and some spare if upgraded phaser dual beams. To my surprise, but not really, fitting it in a more comfortable way (to me) gave better results. Do I have ships that are more survivable, yes. Do I have ships that do more DPS, yes. I'm not saying it's a bad ship.... If like my wife it's the only T6 you have then it's a great ship. Just not for me, main or alts. On my main, this ship and this fit are fun to blast about with; But for right now I'm having way more fun and doing way more DPS in my T5-X.... More on that below.

As for the Alliance Raider, I thought it looked cool in the Terran vanity shield.

It's still in the roster and I've not stripped the fit off it so there's something there that must be keeping my interest this time round. More work needed.

On a side note a long time gaming friend, the same one I started Star Trek Online with, returned to the game..... He's been looking to get back into another MMO. He joined us for a few TFO's and some game chatter.... But he wasn't 'feeling it' and wont' be back... Which was a bit of a downer. 

Anyway.

So yea, the Andorian Escort. I bit the bullet and used an experimental upgrade token that's been burning a hole in my inventory for a while. I've been messing about with the ship and the console from the above Alliance Raider. So with the extra -X console slot I got to add back the console I'd removed to make space for the event console. I do like the defense satellite(meta moguls cry in the distance). 

It's also inherited the M6 computer console and for the -X trait I slotted honored dead.

Scooting fast around a TFO, blasting everything with beams and torpedoes. Melting faces... Or seeming to do so... It's fun... 

Somewhere in the distance a meta mogul weeps.

It's not a tanky ship, the ships shield is it's DPS. So no surprise I've been overwhelmed by NPC's on occasion. Yet it's not a glass cannon either.... It's versatile.

Still, in it it's nice to feel like a 'real' participant in the harder 'advanced' TFO's. Enough to make me question if it's really an advanced TFO and not a normal(with the missus).

I've not done any DPS charts with it and I don't want to. I know that if I did and checked and saw that the DPS was a middling number I'd both be disappointed and confused. I'd then start off on a non fun deep dive into how that was possible, when the visual evidence shows me melting everything before anyone else gets near.... So fun is fun and I'm going to keep having it. Ignorance is bliss.

The builds on my ships are something that evolve 'naturally'(except that one time). My ships are very much 'of it's day'. It's my own way of doing things. I build up the fit over time but it all starts out the same. Usually an event ship, it gets rewarded in game. There's a new episode at the same time so it's rewards naturally get put on it. Some old faithful consoles get reclaimed and fitted along with the best in the inventory for weapons.... Which are 90% arbitrary. A few weeks later and it's a ship with a fit, that's 'it'. 

How long that stays and gets used is all in the moment. If it lasts it gets upgraded and tweaked over more time. Depending on DPS it gets graded against the other ships in the roster and then taken out for a spin every once in a while.

Yet more fun and progress is being had on my new KDF recruit. Fun in what it is, a leveling character; Gearing and upgrading as I go. There's not much I can say other than that. I've been playing the game and enjoying it. My Gorn is however a tab bit tall for some of the cut-scenes.

As for the rest, a picture speaks a thousand words......

hexceed...

Free and fun. hexceed is a cross between minesweeper and a padded bomb disposal member with the ability to rewind time. So it's no pressure.

ToastieLabs

I've only scratched the surface but if your into puzzles it's a must... 

Plus the base game (huge amount of levels) is free(DLC is cheap if you want it!). This game is one I'll be keeping alongside Mini Metro and Islanders.

P.S. Update -  

         A mail from a reader suggested a great site with a massive amount of free browser based card/puzzle games(inc. Tetris, Solitaire and Minesweeper). Well worth a look!  https://www.solitaireparadise.com

Thanks for that J.Brooks  :)

Games with Gold....

The March lineup has one title that interests me, Port Royale 3.

While the game always interested me I just always thought the trade and management side was over the time. For a Pirate game.... In the back of my mind thinking that I already had Sid Meier's Pirates(I've not been devoid of pirates....yarr, yarr and yarr with this more recent yarr which disproved my point on not being a trader and a pirate). Free is free and so I'll be trying Port Royale 3.

The other three are not of interest in even a 'just to try' kind of way. As always I'll claim them for the library but they won't see the light of day on my console. Never say never....but.....

Genesis Alpha One Deluxe Edition....

So back at it again.... A final, final throw of the dice.

After going through the tutorial(again), re-rolling a new ship/corp(again); I can say I have a lot more appreciation for the game. I also have a lot more loathing for it. So overall not much has changed since my last post in how I regard the game. It's still compelling and it's still frustrating for me. From what I've seen of other players setups... Which are phenomenal. Those players really have the time and patience for the efforts needed.

My last play-through was via the reliable clunky tech of the General Ballistics corporation(shotguns!). I gained resources, killed aliens, did planetary landings and ship assaults. I had a respectable ship and crew going on. Some nice research on clones and tech. Yes the daily running of the ship is a loading bar to speed up another loading bar to process a loading bar... But the 'doing' of it all was progress and that was compelling. It almost changed my mind. Like No Mans Sky I've landed on planets with great visuals(small areas to explore but good nonetheless). The game is uniquely beautiful in it's own way. Some fancy looking corp/ship theme aesthetics are nice but I really like the rugged industrial look more. 

Anyway, I killed more aliens, salvaged wrecks and tech. Killed even more aliens.... 

However my demise was due to an ill crew-member. Who going from one end of the ship to the other sneezed all over the place leaving behind a trail of genetic material, as well as a fast growing infestation(one héll of a cold!) as he went(All that despite being under the ships crew quaters 'limit'). One that spread so fast in the underfloor crawlspace areas that within a few minutes the entire ship was wrecked and blew up. Crisis management is harsh. So much hard work for such a quick end. That happens a lot in this game. All I'm left with now is the memory of the sick dude passing by me in the greenhouse, with me looking puzzled at the mess he trailed being him(then the fires, the aliens etc etc death). I was really surprised at how quickly things went south(this time).

w

You can preempt some things like sticking turrets in your tractor room to kill any alien bugs boarding. 

                                                                                                          

I like the game. It's a great one to 'potter' about with but I can't take it long term or in a serious way. I've tried and tried again. It clicks with me but it really is a love/hate relationship. When so much hard 'work' can be taken away so quickly. Time spent elsewhere is more precious to me. At least I tried....

Bomber Crew: USAAF....

A new crew, a new area of operations. The USAAF DLC brings the Mediterranean theater of the war and an increase in difficulty with it. I'd read it would be more difficult but seeing it for myself...... Yea it's an increase. War is hell. 

The increased amount of fighter waves per mission and the numbers of fighters in those waves can be hectic. The further you go in the the DLC campaign the more you get swarmed. The new bomber does have a lot more guns and crew so the in game version lives up to it's real world Flying Fortress. Still the DLC feels borderline unfair, I'll get back to that in a sec. The real injustice isn't the increased enemy numbers it's the moving bomb targets....  Boats. So hard to hit them,such as the second mission with only one spare bomb for mistakes(4 bombs, 3 targets). So needless to say I had been stuck on it for a while. Thankfully I gained an experienced navigator for a later boat mission; Which let me set my own way-points. Was the best way I could align the plane for better approaches. 

Progress overall was slow. So back to the borderline unfair point. It's a grind. It's a harsh environment to do a grind.

Having increased difficulty means losses. As short as the campaign is I've lost more planes and crew than in the original base game! So when (not if) a plane and crew are lost its harsher to be running missions to gain the cash you need to make things better. Never mind try and keep what you have. Loosing crew is a real hurt when your further into the campaign and your stuck with a new crew member(i.e. radio operator) with no upgrades. The grind get more real. The campaign pushes a very 'make do' way with situation when push comes to shove. A stretch beyond 'just' being a game mechanic. That's the unfair borderline. Not because of the harshness but because a lot of it boils down to luck. A whole lot of luck. 

The B-17 also has a tendency to have the undercarriage shot out; Leaving you with situations where you can do everything perfect but have to ditch in the sea. I lost maybe half of my planes that way. Again all down to luck on who survives the crash.... Which depends per crew member on who has the gear and in turn the stats to survive.... But loosing the plane is the big hit.... Loosing it, it's gear and upgrades can be 'the' massive pain in the butt to replace. Compounded with any KIA crew. 

On top of that, my own need to have a specific plane/crew setup was a motivational grind to do the main grind(odd I know, but it's what I needed to do). Thankfully I was more lucky than not.

On a side note I chose the 2 slot equipment racks in plane rather than the 3, for weight reasons. Both slots on the racks were first aid and a fire extinguisher(cash allowing startling with 2 aid packs and a fire extinguisher mid plane). Survival in the air was my main aim. Put out fires and save/revive shot crew members. Having nothing but parachutes in the slots would have made the bailout of a crew better (if there are even enough for all the crew)but it's a situation that's very.... situational. Not one I came across often at all. Better to ditch and take chances on the crew member stat, pigeon and dingy. 

For the campaign's first half, my main motivation was clearing the enemy aces. 

The second half motivation was that the end of the campaign was so near....

The grind is real but the (relativity)short journey of the campaign makes it 'feel' more doable. Even with all the losses. If your into the main game you need to be really into it to get the most out of the DLC. Otherwise frustration can halt your enjoyment. It's harsh but I'm glad I got it and got through it.

It's a campaign that can be run with the bare basics and luck. It'll be hard, but if you don't care about options for getting the job done better and consider each crew and plane expendable per mission..... Did I mention luck....

Star Trek Online....

Progress, progress, progress, in one form or another. At least in my view. 

I've been doing some more leveling on my KDF Gorn, a generic D7 being a very apt current ship.

However most of my time has been on my other new KDF recruit. 

Leveling up a science character is 100% the same as any other at any other time. Even considering talents I was still all in on tactical mode. But as science it's nice to have more survivability with healing and buffs. I'll have to wait for end game and max level with a proper setup and T6 ship for it to really count as a 'proper' build. Still it's been fun to level a new character with someone else. 

The recruit transponder rewards and the way you get them are very aptly KDF and fun in that way. I just need to get used to trying to melee kill npc's. 

 

Today Yesterday was the last day of dailies needed to claim the anniversary event ship. Another event done and dusted. Time flies.

Flying the new ship was a let down, at least for me. It's a good ship; It's a ship that has all the middle ground covered. It does it all well. Even with an ad-hoc best in inventory fit it let me do some TFO and patrol testing without any thought or care for survival(or DPS). Maybe a 'first world problem' but it is what it is, it's just not fun to fly for me. I have other ships that do the same thing better and with more fun. I completed the mastery took the console for another ship and removed it from the roster.

I'm no meta head. Stat junkie or say I 'know what I'm doing'. I also don't spend cash on the game. Not regularly(one lifetime account buy and 2 charity buys). I fly and fit by the results I see. So super casual and amateur. I try to listen and learn.....Mainly CounterYolo Gaming as well as Timber Wolf, but whats practical for one person is way meta to another. I'm lucky if I pick up one or two snippets of information that click with how I play.

That other ship that inherited the console; Another Antiproton cannon build is another ship I don't use as it 'should be'. I 'just' use it as a cannon platform, no grappling chains, no fiery maw, no afterburner dps. Heresy I know. But it's fun as is. Play-styles eh.

With the new console the DPS output wasn't a noticeably improvement, whose extra console abilities are 'meh'. When I've tried to use it the npc's were already dead or fled and then dead before the #bolts' hit. The extra torp damage is not (for me on this fit) noticeable. Even at distance. I replaced the original console back on the ship. I may mess about with the console some more to see if I can 'get it right'.

Just unfortunate that I can't even use the new console given the antiproton/cannon crossover.

The current key/key-ring sale was tempting and I picked up 10 keys via a build up of my free monthly Zen.

Opening 10 of the newest lock boxes didn't give much of note overall but this happened...

A ship beyond my needs and one I'd not use well if I did. A ship that's the very definition of what's considered a 'pay to win' reward. Yet 'pay to win' in this game is not a silver bullet. Nor is it a one hit wonder(a lot like in Eve Online). You can get a or 'the' ship, but you also need the fit, if you get the fit then you need to ability to use it all properly, never mind the charecter traits or player savvy. You can't buy the understanding out of the blue. I've seen so many bought ships, 'pay to win' ships, in the recent Xbox event explode over and over because they can't even fly to avoid a shrinking area(even with a 2 minute countdown). All the tools and no idea how to use them. Gamers with a clue and the cash to spend are few enough. I wonder what the real stats for that are.

Anyway I sold it on the exchange for 714 million. An initial price of 800 was unsellable after a day as 6 more were listed at idiotically undercut prices(790, 760, 740, 730, 720, 715). This end of the market is unknown to me. So feeling I might miss out I bit the bullet, unlisted and redid it just under the latest entry; A few hours later and it sold. 7 times as much EC as I've ever had in game so I'm happy with that and the options it'll give in the future. 

Besides I was able to 'splash' out and buy a bunch of lower end exchange ships for my wife who was very happy(coincidence, not a valentines day thing). 

I also got to mess about with one. A ship I'd forgotten existed in game but one that's my new 'toy'. Just fooling around.

It occurs to me that I'm very much into taking cráp items in games and pushing it/them to exceed expectations. Be it an XCOM team, a lance of mechs in Battletech, a crew in Darkest Dungeon or a T5 exchange ship in STO that costs a million

In other news...... I came across a player setup as a good Saru looking character....

Star Trek Online....

The longer I leave doing this post the more I need to fill in.... No excuse other than enjoying gaming, it being more fun than waffling about gaming on the internet. Gaming in Star Trek Online with my wife even more so. Yet the need to waffle rises; I better get waffling.....

It's been a long two weeks or so.... Patches, episode release, recruitment event, another event ending, anniversary event starting. So yea my wife started playing the game, like properly playing the game..... I'm still kind of in shock at that; Along the lines of "I've created a monster". Good timing tho with the KDF recruit event as well. The phoenix prize packs are available again. For a short time. It's another lucky timing moment for 'herself'. A lot in STO is worth taking advantage of while you can.

Doing the old Wasteland story arc with an alt to progress my other half's main, which seemed easier to get into than last time I tried. Still good to see each extra ship/item make a difference for her. The Nimbus distress call is a nice addition.

I'd been leveling my older Discovery character with her as that character is the most in need of some sort of attention. Not to mention his mission journal being a clogged mess. Kind of didn't matter what state he's left in, he's always been a means to and end. Leveling in Star Trek Online is fast enough. He's now max level as well; But as a 'Discovery' character there's no benefits other than the specific UI and beam up animation(no transponder/rewards). He is 'just' an admiralty dilithium farmer now.

Yes he's wearing the Kelvin Admiral uniform.... Did I ever mention my dislike and aversion of STD/Picard. 

Each to their own.

Speaking of which....

Anyway.

Since my other half had reached the max(65) level I've been either using my own main to brute force stuff or another alt for grinding rep marks. That alt being my Andorian(Federation only ship, gear, uniform only retro Temporal recruit).... Alt of alts needs purpose to....#admiralty dilithium farmer.

 

My main problem with trying to help my better half is by giving to much information to quickly; Especially regarding things to do for gearing up(This mission, that mission, this rep item, that rep item). While she's into the game (R&D and the Exchange/market selling in particular), I need to temper my want for her to gear up quickly by not being overbearing or pushy. Fun needs to be fun. Something I need to remember be more mindful of myself as well. 

Having a ship that can overpower all the content you come across in the game is great. For a long time I've been able to do that. I remember starting off(back in the day) being stuck on some missions with 'bigger' NPC's; Almost like mini boss for the mission arc and being slapped down hard. Not a bad thing as it made me hold off, gear up and try again at a later stage. Over time STO has changed and now has a tendency to give you better ships/gear in a more plentiful way. If you participate. So many events these days. Some of my best ships have been event rewards.

Having a good ship/fit and captain setup is great but it's not to say I don't miss-time, miss-click or be oblivious to the obvious. Right now I'm having a blast of a fun time in a 'lesser' ship, with 'lesser' items fitted. Fun is fun messing about. Sometimes it's good to be in a different ship, even it it's not outputting 'good' DPS or the best DPS my character could do. But fun to try and understand how the mismatched fit/ship and captain all work. Lot of fun faffing going on.

A Casual Carebear Gamer

There's still an urge to do more and better. See a YouTube video about a prominent STO player and the fit they've been doing with insane damage... Of course I can try and mimic some of the fit/traits etc and in a way gain some more advantage. Like purchasing a Tier 3 ships from the vendor for Dilithium on my PC and Xbox mains; Not for the ship but for the M6 Computer console. Maybe and perhaps better, I get to learn something about the game that lets me 'play' it better, or at the very least understand it more. Even if that's a build up of information understanding through osmosis. Something has to rub off at some stage........ 

With the recruitment event on I've finally got a real reason to make a retro(TOS) looking Gorn.

The newer updated graphics are really nice. I didn't expect to see as much 'changed' as I did but I guess it's been a while since I was last on a new KDF character.

I also got to  'slightly setup' my KDF Orion some more. She'll be the character I level up along side my wife's KDF recruit. The bonus pool tokens from the Phoenix prize store are very handy for new characters.

I've also been doing a lot on my Xbox main character since my last post. She'd been doing the temporal agent mission and came up against the bug where the map failed to load, so I left doing; It must have been synchronicity that a tweet came out saying the dev's had fixed that very problem! So I hopped back in and completed the mission. Great timing.

With that character also finishing off a good bit of content I'm again surprised(but kinda not) at the low % of achievement unlocks within the playerbase. The first five minute retention of STO on Xbox players must be really low.

The character is well capable in space combat but not shabby on ground either.

Her main weapon has since been replaced with my personal favorite, a Fluidic Antiproton Assault Dense Beam. I've always found it hits above it's on paper stats; I really like it's chain secondary fire. Plus it's cheap on the exchange. So no wonder I upgraded it to XV and equipped it. 

As for character progress; She's had a lot unlocked over time, especially from her temporal transponder. Plus all her reputations's are at 6 now.

Lots done, still lots to do but no rush.

While I'm more than happy with the current ship and it's fit/loadout. A few item reclaims later and I've changed and reworked/upgraded some of the ship fit. Like changing the 3 forward beam banks for dual beam banks(covert were cheap on the exchange); And look like they're better on paper.

Maybe it's the 'covert' in covert dual beam that's making me think they're not as heavy hitting in space. The numbers in space may be smaller values but there does seem to be double the amount with better accuracy and crits. So it all works out better. Better is better but just doesn't 'feel' better. When it comes to stats on the Xbox version I'm further down the blind faith rabbit hole. I've also added the free ship upgrade token so her Bajoran Interceptor is now a T6-X. For an added trait I picked up Honored Dead from the exchange.

For all the good that the ship can do it still takes a good team and prudence to get through some advanced TFO's. No point in charging in all weapons blazing only to get return volleyed off the field. It's good just not great(yet?). Being on Xbox the more options you have the better but there's still lots of abilities that need to be manually activated. As an in game system it's both a blessing and a curse to have auto activated settings. Staring at the popup menu can be an unavoidable mistake that can cost you a respawn or subsytem damage.

A Casual Carebear Gamer

The more reclaimable parts on the account the better. With the other event completed and the account unlocked space set available for my alts or alternative ships. It's good to have options. 

After two events in the Synth Wave TFO across two platforms including the added dilithium runs on PC, I cannot face doing the same on Xbox. I truly dislike the TFO, it's a time filler for the sake of it. One that goes on for too long. Not even the extra Dil reward can make me face it.

To finish up and just as an aside, on Drozana Station.....

I caught a glimpse of a doppelganger of my main character..... 

No screenshot tho.... But, faction, race, gender all the same, including down to the same uniform, shoulder pads, colours and sub colours of each and all! 

Same hair colour and cut.... 

It was all a bit too much of a coincidence..... 

Time to let the paranoia kick in....

Bumped into Thanos tho, he's a lot shorter in person.....