I think they mean it's a mirror link if you have trouble opening the first one. Same content, different way to access it.

There's certainly a lot of dumb to go around in the whole 9.5 update. This table is specifically about the patch that prevents multiple instances of the same research project, though. The reason that specific thing bugs me so much is that out of all the broken crap in the new crafting system, the one thing that merited an emergency, "gotta fix it immediately" day 2 patch was the one thing that already kinda did what it was supposed to - the reward schedule. And it was replaced with something woefully broken. That is indicative of the complete lack of thought that seems to have gone into the whole mess that is R&D.

And to clarify, the problem with the patch is not that the whole shebang takes about a year to complete. (220 days only gets you level 15s.) The overall time sink was unchanged by the patch. The problem is that the system as it was launched gave you regular rewards spaced about a month apart, and that had to be "fixed" to a total content desert with one oasis of actual progression bizarrely stuck smack in the middle.

They already did in the 9.5 patch.

Wait...they're resetting our current crafting levels?

My essential point is that for all the things that are not well-designed for R&D, the projected timescales are one of my least concerns.

Taking three months actually seems awfully skimpy in my eyes - especially for a content-lite game as STO.

I'd much rather address issues I see as more fundamental - non-transparency, disparity in material and leveling. But the system taking a few months?

I think it's actually easier, given that the core of the system is basically set-and-forget auto-levelling.

That chart and the fact that they reset all of the work we already out into crafting is pretty demoralizing.

Quote by Kasandaro

In case y'all missed it, Thomasthecat, who is cryptic staff, put a Dropbox link up to a PDF with all sorts of uniform codes: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ji0l9nt7q43r2bx/Starfleet_Uniform_Code_2410_web.pdf (and a mirror at http://secondstartotheleft.com/images/STO/Starfleet_Uniform_Code_2410_web.pdf).

The second link will not work is that one for Mirror uniforms?

You can use that technique to pile-on a couple of slots to one branch, but only for as long as you play every day. The affordable projects take seconds, meaning you can't do ANYTHING but R&D, and the longer ones have steep costs. Assuming 3 hours of play, doing nothing but R&D, and never running out of resources? You get a piddling 1800 extra XP daily per slot. That's less than a third of what you're gaining through the affordable research projects. There's no angle from which that's an effective strategy. With three slots, you're still talking ~70 days to reach level 15, and the problem with the reward schedule has barely changed.

I attended all but the last 2 events that Voleron was doing due to my inexcusable inability to stay awake...

This I should point out is entirely Dave's fault!

xx

I was there - for the Trivia, pride auction, bingo and the closing ceremony.

In fairness, this amortization assumes only applying the R&D research projects, which are material-efficient, but not time-efficient.

Using the crafting projects for leveling apply a standard rate of 10 XP/min, whereas the research projects apply 5 XP/min.

Granted, one can't be camping the R&D interface for 24 hours a day, but the balance of additional R&D slots should help with that, especially if one is concentrating on only one or two schools on a character at a time.

As for materials efficiency, the research projects only require a single Common (white) material to operate, whereas the crafting projects clearly consume substantially greater.

Add to that the XP-rich, long-term upper-tier crafting projects (Mk8 and up) require Rare (blue) or better mats, so that balance of resource availability is going to need to be factored in, especially at higher levels.

Obviously, spending dil or Zen is incentivized throughout the system.

That's...wow.

First, a basic fact about MMO design: the "reward schedule" -- the timeline of when advancing characters acquire new toys -- is one of the most critical factors in a game's addictiveness and its players' perception of fun. You want to spread out your rewards so that a new one is always perceived to be right around the corner. Generally, you want there to be a steady stream of new stuff early on, slowing to a trickle later on as the player becomes comfortable with the system and willing to sink more time and thought into it.

So, let's look at the reward schedule for R&D, now that you can't queue a single discipline's research projects in multiple slots to advance it more quickly:


DaySlot 1Slot 2Slot 3Slot 4Slot 5Rewards1621263181242418530246363067423612848421895448241060543011666036127266421378724814847854159084601696906617102967218108102786191141088412201201149018211261209624221321261023023138132108362414413811442251501441204826156150126542716215613260281681621386629174168144723018017415078311861801568432192186162903319819216896342041981741023521020418010836216210186114372222161921203822822219812639234228204132402402342101384124624021614442252246222150432582522281564426425823416245270264240168462762702461744728227625218048288282258186492942882641925030029427019851306300276204523123062822105331831228821654324318294222553303243002285633633030623457342336312240583483423182465935434832425260360354330258613663603362646237236634227063378372348276643843783542826539038436028866396390366294674023963723006840840237830669414408384312704204143903187142642039632472432426402330734384324083367444443841434275450444420348764564504263547746245643236078468462438366794744684443728048047445037881486480456384824924864623908349849246839684504498474402855105044804088651651048641487522516492420885285224984268953452850443290540534510438915465405164449255254652245093558552528456945645585344629557056454046896576570546474975825765524809858858255848699594588564492100600594570498101606600576504102612606582510103618612588516104624618594522

I feel your pain Siran ;)

My highest toon right now is only 13, I think. But I'm an alt-oholic.

Quote by Keioel

I do however, need to level to max level as my highest is only 26 lol

How in the hell do you expect to save the universe from the evil Republic, with only a level 26, those jedi will mind enslave you in a heartbeat. :P

I too like this idea.

Totally on board with this...also are we recruiting? Cause I'd love to recruit some dedicated subscribers, cause I would like to try everything. I'm not talking like 40 hour a week raids, ala WoW, but I'm feeling the raiding bug but don't want to go all insane hardcore.

Plus it's easier to commit to play time if I know I'll have others to at least chat with. :) I do however, need to level to max level as my highest is only 26 lol

As usual, I only managed to make it along to the ball :D it was a lot of fun

Me too, I've never done the fleet datacrons -- always wanted to do those! The extra +10 stats would be great, too.

add me x SKEL 360 x