Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Show of hands: Who wants to be Assimilated?

I follow the official STO boards as often as I can, and one recurring theme that I see popping up from time to time is the suggestion from players that the Borg STF's should be available for solo players.

What part of "Task Force" is unclear here?  In every other MMO that uses the term, it means "Content intended for team play".  Cryptic continues to reiterate that STF's will never be revised for solo play.  And though I tend to play solo most of the time, I have no problem with this.

One of the main reasons for this pro-solo sentiment is the exclusive Borg set.  Can't get it any other way, and I fully agree that there should be an exclusive reward for the Borg STF's.  Cryptic has suggested that there will eventually be other sets, hopefully some obtainable outside of an STF, and I think this will satisfy many players who --
  • Can't or won't play an STF and, 
  • Can't or won't craft the Aegis set at Memory-Alpha.
Homogenizing all of the game content so that all missions and all rewards are easily available to any group of any size is a bad idea, and I'm glad to see Cryptic standing fast.  Hard core players need the kind of challenges offered by Endgame content like the Borg STF's, and they deserve the exclusive rewards they get (as long as I don't have to face them in PvP!  I don't thrive on humiliation).

The concern I have revolves around Endgame content.  There is a story that solo players are missing out on.  It would be nice if there were other, complimentary missions available at that level that helped to fill in some of the blanks and had different rewards.  Even at Vice Admiral, players want something to DO that isn't mindless grind.

Someday, I hope I can get together with members of my Fleet and we can tame the STF beasties at least once in our fictional careers.  Cryptic has promised a difficulty slider for the STF's and this should help ease the concerns that they are PUG team-wipe train wrecks; missions to be avoided as a waste of time for those who aren't experienced team players.

What do you think?  Will more sets fill in the demand?  Will more single-player Endgame content help?  Will the difficulty slider for STF's end the debate once and for all?

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