[*] Six star crew. Not that I would endorse that in any shape or form, I’m just surprised they haven’t done that one yet.
Yeah, many other games have gone that route over the years. On the other hand: For what would you really need them the way STT is? Over time the crew we get is fine for everything. That would have to go hand in hand with at least one new feature where those cards would have a point...
Sure, but what kind of mechanism is there to add? Presently, each Crew Member has A skills (each with X base and Y proficiency) and B traits. I get that you're proposing either a C new attribute and/or Z new stat, but I'm unable to imagine what either could be. Voyages are pretty much the pinnacle of using all of those things.
I’m not exactly a creative game developer, but the possibilities might literally be endless.
Easy/straightforward: Introduce “Proficiency 2”. Another number, whether with RNG or not, that only gets used for a certain mechanic. Say, expand the “musician” trait to a spectrum. Then introduce a Guitar-Hero-esque mechanic / event format. Will breathe new life into players turning on their game sounds. Can be repeated indefinitely for further stats.
Slightly less easy: Wild card equipment slots. Create items you can switch between cards. Cards may have different amounts or types of slots. My Admiral Cartwright, holding the Gimmick of Command will be my new highest base CMD. Minuet can’t hold that item, so I’ll give her the Gizmo of Healing, giving her an additional MED slot. Items could be distributed via event fleet rewards, significantly increasing competitiveness / engagement.
More sophisticated: Real XP / fatigue. XP is so mind-numbingly underused in this game, people have probably forgotten that you actually receive it by completing missions, not only throwing trainers at a card. Cards could obtain permanently increased stats the more often you use them, or in the other direction, temporarily fatigue globally every time you put them on a shuttle / voyage / mission. Not sure how to event this, but it would make faction events a lot more strategic, and lead to players using a larger share of their crew rosters (or strategically supercharge otherwise useless cards).
Needs elbow grease: A graphical stat such as “Influence” that works like a radius on the world map. Could be used to defend or occupy planets or star systems. Could be advanced into a domination type event or fleet vs fleet PvP.
Might need a new game engine: Similar to a trading card game, use decks of cards for a turn-based PvP or PvC. Cards could receive new abilities, analogous or derived from ship abilities. Enterprise-E Picard uses “Nooooooooo!”, dealing [SEC base] damage to all other cards, stunning all “Borg” types for 1-2 rounds. Or create a turn-based ship battle system. Chess in space, only with better graphics, and a wider variety of pieces.
Other ideas/straight out rip offs of other games:
Six star crew. Not that I would endorse that in any shape or form, I’m just surprised they haven’t done that one yet.
SIM-City your own Starbase section / homeworld. A lot of the art is already there to decorate a generic backdrop. Might even come with stat bonuses or daily resource drops. If you have four Data-specific items as decorations in your crew quarters, your Cyberneticists will get a 2% SCI-boost and you can collect 100 Honor each day
These are just crude, uncreative examples. I’m sure someone who gets paid to think of these can do even better.
Hmmm...an idea is brewing for Starbases 2.0. Like how ship abilities are separate from traits and away team skills, perhaps there could be a new Starbase Ability for each crew member. Entertainment, Administration, and Systems could be the major three facets that cover starbase operations. Each room in a starbase can have up to, say, five crew assigned to it to either boost the bonus provided by that room or add new bonuses (like a voyage recall time reduction, gauntlet refresh time reduction, or something else that isn’t skill-based). Crew assigned to starbases would be unavailable for voyages, non-Skirmish events, and shuttle missions, so there would need to be some careful planning when it comes to maximizing the starbase bonus versus supporting your own needs - perhaps starbase assignments could be of a set length (24 hours, one week, or something) rather than being able to swap them out at will, to provide incentive for planning ahead.
Better yet: crew that are already pretty OP could potentially be made somewhat poor for starbases while underpowered crew (with only two skills or who are just plain weak) could be buffed with excellent starbase skills to make them more desirable.
Having just passed my 3-year anniversary of playing, I can agree that there are aspects that feel stale. A lot of good console games have maybe 70-100 hours of primary game-play, with only side missions and online play left once the main story has been completed, so feeling this way after 3 years of obsessive playing shouldn't come as a surprise.
The frustrating thing for me is that a lot of the stale features should - and easily could - be updated regularly (even having a published schedule):
featured gauntlet crew
featured honor hall crew
portal updates (crew and ships, in all the various portal iterations)
collection additions/expansions
personal achievement expansions
fleet star base expansions
The lack of communication and forward-looking road-mapping of new/expanded/improved/enhanced features from DB's end (let alone terrible executions of QoL improvements) only adds to the frustration.
For those of us who have played a long time it is stale. But We love it and we keep logging in. Lol.
Many ideas in many threads for updated collections, changes to gauntlet, voyages, dabo, daily rewards, portal, honor hall and citation cost, dismissal honor earned, crew quarters and cryovault sorting, inventory, events, star-base, even crew card names. Basically every aspect of the game has had discussion in many threads with lots of input and ideas for upgrades or changes. The players have many excellent suggestions. IMHO they should finish fixing what is broken and upgrade existing gaming experiences that we have asked for before creating more aspects.
I may be naive, but for some reason i still have hope that DB has listened to our ideas and they are working on it. 🖖🏻
[*] Six star crew. Not that I would endorse that in any shape or form, I’m just surprised they haven’t done that one yet.
Yeah, many other games have gone that route over the years. On the other hand: For what would you really need them the way STT is? Over time the crew we get is fine for everything. That would have to go hand in hand with at least one new feature where those cards would have a point...
Excellent point my friend. The whole game dynamic would have to change
I've been saying that this point would come for everyone eventually for a long time now. It hasn't yet for me, but I was raising warnings about the lack of developer interest in their own game about a year after voyages. I want to be able to deploy more of my crew. I gather from others that they would prefer that this happens in a way that doesn't eat up a lot more of their time.
I like the idea of deep space voyages, Voyages that generate one dilemma a day and take a lot longer to return. I also like the idea that they generate a currency for buying older legendaries that have otherwise been retired from the game, except that they are in some sort of store.
I've been saying that this point would come for everyone eventually for a long time now. It hasn't yet for me, but I was raising warnings about the lack of developer interest in their own game about a year after voyages. I want to be able to deploy more of my crew. I gather from others that they would prefer that this happens in a way that doesn't eat up a lot more of their time.
I too have been concerned for the longevity of the game for about a year. I would hate to see it disappear. I Agree that things need to move forward as well as changes and additions players have asked for. We do need new things, but the old things need upgraded too. And that programming already exists. So in the scheme of things to come it should make more sense to fix/upgrade existing areas at the players requests, while another team is working on new things to implement that the players have suggested.
Again, lots of great player input for changes, fixing, or new things. It all needs to be taken seriously. But obviously incrementally not all at once. Thats when we get huge bunches of malfunctions, crashes, glitches. Then ppl cant log in and or CS is overwhelmed with tickets.
Everybody who takes the additional time to go to the forums and create, list or contribute to ideas in a positive manner to improve gameplay in any form should be considered. Our voices should be heard.
We are the players (clientele). Our ideas, suggestions, opinions should matter. In the forums alot more that the “rate the game” pop up. The majority of forum ideas have been reliving the same suggestions and conversations over and over for a year.
I would love some community challenge type of situation or fleet based at the very least. Some sort of mission where your fleet or everyone works to finish a goal/battle whatever. A lot of games have global boss fights or guild ones, could be interesting here as well if done correctly.
I would like another event style and being able to raid another Star Base for holoemitters.
“A committee is a cul-de-sac, down which good ideas are lured and quietly strangled.” —Mark TwainMEMBER: [BoB] Barrel of Bloodwine... We are recruiting and putting the “curv” in scurvy! Best Event Finish: #3 Honor Debt: Inconceivable...Honor Bank Account: Slowly building...
I would like another event style and being able to raid another Star Base for holoemitters.
No!!!
The raiding is what turned me off from the other Star Trek game.
But I'd love another event type. Something based on Voyages or Gauntlet could be fun.
I wouldn’t mind a “modified” raid, where two fleets compete head to head for a resource. Whoever wins (obviously) gets the prize, but whoever loses should just get nothing, or perhaps a minimal runner-up prize, not actually lose their resources.
Something that has my attention right now regarding the state of activity of the game is that for more than twelve hours, we've had four vacancies in our fleet and not a single join request. There used to be a time I had requests within an hour. Have other fleets noticed this? It's certainly not a red flag, but feels like a yellow one to me.
Something that has my attention right now regarding the state of activity of the game is that for more than twelve hours, we've had four vacancies in our fleet and not a single join request. There used to be a time I had requests within an hour. Have other fleets noticed this? It's certainly not a red flag, but feels like a yellow one to me.
I had to set my fleet req to lvl30 and have had three long time players quit in the last couple months. Hope Picard brings in more people.
Something that has my attention right now regarding the state of activity of the game is that for more than twelve hours, we've had four vacancies in our fleet and not a single join request. There used to be a time I had requests within an hour. Have other fleets noticed this? It's certainly not a red flag, but feels like a yellow one to me.
I’ve noticed a related but fundamentally different problem - our fleet has languished for a while and we finally pulled the trigger on asking CS to replace our months-inactive Admiral with me. I have sent I don’t know how many invites and maybe two of them actually joined. Neither of those two said a word and one has since left...not having people join of their own volition is bad enough, but not having anyone who seems willing to participate even once you get them in the door is incredibly frustrating.
I think experienced players are getting better at finding fleets to move to in advance of leaving their previous fleet. You don't want to go without those starbase bonuses for long.
And if your fleet isn't what you'd hoped, you can always drop a line to those of us in the Starship Trista family of fleets. We're well-managed, our 2nd fleet is about to complete its starbase, and we have a lot of fun (which is the most important thing).
We've still only had one request to join so far, a level 9 captain who wasn't added when I approved their request, indicating they'd been accepted into another fleet in the hour or so before I saw it.
I had to set my fleet req to lvl30 and have had three long time players quit in the last couple months. Hope Picard brings in more people.
Our fleet's only requirement is that you not be a jerk. We've also recently had a couple long time players stop playing long enough we removed them. Discovery seemed to bring a boon of new players, but it seems a lot of them have already abandoned the game.
I think experienced players are getting better at finding fleets to move to in advance of leaving their previous fleet. You don't want to go without those starbase bonuses for long.
Our starbase has been maxed for quite awhile, so no one is getting any better bonuses by going somewhere else. In the cases of our aforementioned longer term players, we gave them each 21+ days of inactivity. They aren't switching fleets; they're just not playing anymore at all.
And if your fleet isn't what you'd hoped, you can always drop a line to those of us in the Starship Trista family of fleets. We're well-managed, our 2nd fleet is about to complete its starbase, and we have a lot of fun (which is the most important thing).
Oh, our fleet is exactly what I'd hoped when I founded it! We're totally chill. There's no policing of anyone's progress in the game or elaborate operations to make squadrons especially competitive, etc. We also managed to be, I think, #25 on that list of fleet ranks someone posted on here recently. I could understand more competitive minded players preferring another fleet, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening. (Side note: If you want to play casually and aren't a jerk, our fleet is Attack of the Crohn's.)
In the past, competition for recruiting to fleets was based on who had a higher level Starbase. Even as far back as a year ago, there were probably less than 50 fleets with 134 level bases. Today? I'd put that number between 80-100. Fleets you've never even heard of, and have level 95+ players.
Since starbase levels aren't going to be the carrot anymore, it has to be the community & culture around the fleet. Some people like the idea of a Discord server and a fun place to chat. Others are turned off and out by an external chat app.
What remains are casual people in the periphery that will eventually drift towards a bigger fleet, it just takes time for the currents to take them there.
In the past, competition for recruiting to fleets was based on who had a higher level Starbase. Even as far back as a year ago, there were probably less than 50 fleets with 134 level bases. Today? I'd put that number between 80-100. Fleets you've never even heard of, and have level 95+ players.
Since starbase levels aren't going to be the carrot anymore, it has to be the community & culture around the fleet. Some people like the idea of a Discord server and a fun place to chat. Others are turned off and out by an external chat app.
What remains are casual people in the periphery that will eventually drift towards a bigger fleet, it just takes time for the currents to take them there.
Our fleet has a level 134 Starbase and we are nobodies. It's gotta be in the 300-400 range, no?
Something that has my attention right now regarding the state of activity of the game is that for more than twelve hours, we've had four vacancies in our fleet and not a single join request. There used to be a time I had requests within an hour. Have other fleets noticed this? It's certainly not a red flag, but feels like a yellow one to me.
The fleet I'm in was one of four fleets. A few months ago, one of them was permanently closed off to consolidate rosters.
The top 1% arena division is tinier than ever. Not much is getting done on the development side. It's clear that DB and the parent company aren't really interested in STT anymore. Mobile games are usually short-lived products since they're very aggressively monetized and that's a problem for most people. Players leave in droves and usually don't come back, so you have to advertise constantly to reach out to newer audiences, get new payers in, spend and leave, and this gets increasingly expensive. At one point it becomes cheaper to do nothing and let your game slowly die. Are we there yet? I don't know, but to me it's clear that DB is done investing in this game for the most part as no new in-game activities have been added in the last two years.
i think adding levels and additions to levels would be good, but they have already done that in the last few years. If they did say 2 new episodes a year, maybe even tying in Mega Events that would draw a lot if interest. Even so there are times I take a break from it like any game.
I'm getting a little bored still do all the neccessary things every day but just going through the motions, frist time on a thuesday when i didn't space out the cadet to get double the shuttle tokens.
It's possible that a critical point will be reached (if I hasn't been reached already) where the remaining population, conscious that the developers are done with the game, stop spending and then it goes from scraping by to closed in a matter of months (or less). I don't believe that this has to happen of course. Ideally the game finds a point where it can hum along indefinitely. I think Campaigns pushed up revenue at the expense of rushing people to endgame faster. And the problem is that there seems to be no roadmap on what to do with players once they get there.
My spending has certainly dipped. Some of this is post holiday season hangover, but some of it is gone and is never coming back, that spending having been redirected to other things indefinitely. I'm down to Campaign and Monthly card now, but honestly I'm considering discontinuing one or both of them for a while until I get a sense that DB is excited about their product again. I've had a good time, I don't regret my spending, but I think I am emotionally letting go of Timelines because I think it's going to dump me before I dump it.
I'm wondering about the new bonus system that we were asked feedback for. That sounded like an interesting addition, unless it will turn out to be some new daily chore. Given how the game is structured, adding new features to it comes with the risk of making things more time-consuming and annoying, instead of more interesting.
That being said, I think that they should do the honor sale from Convergence Day (or something similar) about four times a year. It's not like we won't hoard our honor anyway while we're waiting for the next one and at least that would give players something to look forward too within a reasonable time frame.
I'm wondering about the new bonus system that we were asked feedback for. That sounded like an interesting addition, unless it will turn out to be some new daily chore. Given how the game is structured, adding new features to it comes with the risk of making things more time-consuming and annoying, instead of more interesting.
That being said, I think that they should do the honor sale from Convergence Day (or something similar) about four times a year. It's not like we won't hoard our honor anyway while we're waiting for the next one and at least that would give players something to look forward too within a reasonable time frame.
The problem with more rewards for less is that it does nothing to solve the actual problem, that after a point there is nothing to buy crew for.
I'm wondering about the new bonus system that we were asked feedback for. That sounded like an interesting addition, unless it will turn out to be some new daily chore. Given how the game is structured, adding new features to it comes with the risk of making things more time-consuming and annoying, instead of more interesting.
That being said, I think that they should do the honor sale from Convergence Day (or something similar) about four times a year. It's not like we won't hoard our honor anyway while we're waiting for the next one and at least that would give players something to look forward too within a reasonable time frame.
The problem with more rewards for less is that it does nothing to solve the actual problem, that after a point there is nothing to buy crew for.
I'm not necessarily hoping for more rewards for less (unless you meant the second part of the post), but I'm worried that additional features might make the game less rather than more enjoyable, especially if they are similar to some of those that we already have and if they require more time management and more juggling of crew and resources. Half of the complaints in my fleet and the reasons people mentioned when they decided to quit already reverted around the fact that playing STT often feels like a chore, so any new feature would be at risk of making things worse.
As a proud member of Travis' "jerk-free" Attack of the Crohn's fleet and a STT player for 3+ years, I probably would have stopped playing a while ago if not for the great people in that fleet. I do think DB has missed a lot of opportunities regarding fleets. Squadron rewards in events are insulting and could be beefed up, with presumably little effort on DB's part, to create some added incentive for participation. Also, considering how hard it is for a new player to gain traction in the game and how cruel the RNGs can be, some element of donations or item-/crew-sharing within fleets would be a big plus.
Lots of people have offered -- numerous times -- some really interesting QoL ideas as well as some seemingly simple fixes to long-time annoyances, with mixed evidence that those suggestions are being listened to. A few simple things like ramping up odds for good reward drops for longer gauntlet streaks, or implementing legendary drops for longer voyages, would probably generate some good will without requiring much work. A REAL fix to the inventory problem, and more frequent collection updates would be nice, too.
I keep trying to put my finger on why I stay in this game, and aside from the fact that it's Trek and I really like our awesome, low-intensity and supportive fleet, it's hard to articulate. For me, when it's done right, it's a combo of good characters, good story lines and gameplay that allows for some advancement/rewards without demanding that I break the bank or put my life on hold. Not terribly concrete, I know, but my 2 cents.
I'm wondering about the new bonus system that we were asked feedback for. That sounded like an interesting addition, unless it will turn out to be some new daily chore. Given how the game is structured, adding new features to it comes with the risk of making things more time-consuming and annoying, instead of more interesting.
That being said, I think that they should do the honor sale from Convergence Day (or something similar) about four times a year. It's not like we won't hoard our honor anyway while we're waiting for the next one and at least that would give players something to look forward too within a reasonable time frame.
The problem with more rewards for less is that it does nothing to solve the actual problem, that after a point there is nothing to buy crew for.
I'm not necessarily hoping for more rewards for less (unless you meant the second part of the post), but I'm worried that additional features might make the game less rather than more enjoyable, especially if they are similar to some of those that we already have and if they require more time management and more juggling of crew and resources. Half of the complaints in my fleet and the reasons people mentioned when they decided to quit already reverted around the fact that playing STT often feels like a chore, so any new feature would be at risk of making things worse.
My own feeling is that we need to be able to take that risk, because the alternative is continuing population churn and inevitable game closure. Those people who are bored and feel the game is a chore are probably already one foot out the door. What if the new system interested them and re-energised them like Voyages did for many people?
Comments
Yeah, many other games have gone that route over the years. On the other hand: For what would you really need them the way STT is? Over time the crew we get is fine for everything. That would have to go hand in hand with at least one new feature where those cards would have a point...
Hmmm...an idea is brewing for Starbases 2.0. Like how ship abilities are separate from traits and away team skills, perhaps there could be a new Starbase Ability for each crew member. Entertainment, Administration, and Systems could be the major three facets that cover starbase operations. Each room in a starbase can have up to, say, five crew assigned to it to either boost the bonus provided by that room or add new bonuses (like a voyage recall time reduction, gauntlet refresh time reduction, or something else that isn’t skill-based). Crew assigned to starbases would be unavailable for voyages, non-Skirmish events, and shuttle missions, so there would need to be some careful planning when it comes to maximizing the starbase bonus versus supporting your own needs - perhaps starbase assignments could be of a set length (24 hours, one week, or something) rather than being able to swap them out at will, to provide incentive for planning ahead.
Better yet: crew that are already pretty OP could potentially be made somewhat poor for starbases while underpowered crew (with only two skills or who are just plain weak) could be buffed with excellent starbase skills to make them more desirable.
The frustrating thing for me is that a lot of the stale features should - and easily could - be updated regularly (even having a published schedule):
The lack of communication and forward-looking road-mapping of new/expanded/improved/enhanced features from DB's end (let alone terrible executions of QoL improvements) only adds to the frustration.
Many ideas in many threads for updated collections, changes to gauntlet, voyages, dabo, daily rewards, portal, honor hall and citation cost, dismissal honor earned, crew quarters and cryovault sorting, inventory, events, star-base, even crew card names. Basically every aspect of the game has had discussion in many threads with lots of input and ideas for upgrades or changes. The players have many excellent suggestions. IMHO they should finish fixing what is broken and upgrade existing gaming experiences that we have asked for before creating more aspects.
I may be naive, but for some reason i still have hope that DB has listened to our ideas and they are working on it. 🖖🏻
Excellent point my friend. The whole game dynamic would have to change
I like the idea of deep space voyages, Voyages that generate one dilemma a day and take a lot longer to return. I also like the idea that they generate a currency for buying older legendaries that have otherwise been retired from the game, except that they are in some sort of store.
No!!!
The raiding is what turned me off from the other Star Trek game.
But I'd love another event type. Something based on Voyages or Gauntlet could be fun.
I wouldn’t mind a “modified” raid, where two fleets compete head to head for a resource. Whoever wins (obviously) gets the prize, but whoever loses should just get nothing, or perhaps a minimal runner-up prize, not actually lose their resources.
I had to set my fleet req to lvl30 and have had three long time players quit in the last couple months. Hope Picard brings in more people.
I’ve noticed a related but fundamentally different problem - our fleet has languished for a while and we finally pulled the trigger on asking CS to replace our months-inactive Admiral with me. I have sent I don’t know how many invites and maybe two of them actually joined. Neither of those two said a word and one has since left...not having people join of their own volition is bad enough, but not having anyone who seems willing to participate even once you get them in the door is incredibly frustrating.
And if your fleet isn't what you'd hoped, you can always drop a line to those of us in the Starship Trista family of fleets. We're well-managed, our 2nd fleet is about to complete its starbase, and we have a lot of fun (which is the most important thing).
Captain Level: 95
VIP Level: 12
Unique Crew Immortalized: 525
Collections Completed: Vulcan, Ferengi, Borg, Romulan, Cardassian, Uncommon, Rare, Veteran, Common, Engineered, Physician, Innovator, Inspiring, Diplomat, Jury Rigger, Gauntlet Legends
Our fleet's only requirement is that you not be a jerk. We've also recently had a couple long time players stop playing long enough we removed them. Discovery seemed to bring a boon of new players, but it seems a lot of them have already abandoned the game.
Our starbase has been maxed for quite awhile, so no one is getting any better bonuses by going somewhere else. In the cases of our aforementioned longer term players, we gave them each 21+ days of inactivity. They aren't switching fleets; they're just not playing anymore at all.
Oh, our fleet is exactly what I'd hoped when I founded it! We're totally chill. There's no policing of anyone's progress in the game or elaborate operations to make squadrons especially competitive, etc. We also managed to be, I think, #25 on that list of fleet ranks someone posted on here recently. I could understand more competitive minded players preferring another fleet, but that doesn't seem to be what's happening. (Side note: If you want to play casually and aren't a jerk, our fleet is Attack of the Crohn's.)
I love it. Good for you.
Captain Level: 95
VIP Level: 12
Unique Crew Immortalized: 525
Collections Completed: Vulcan, Ferengi, Borg, Romulan, Cardassian, Uncommon, Rare, Veteran, Common, Engineered, Physician, Innovator, Inspiring, Diplomat, Jury Rigger, Gauntlet Legends
Life's too short and this is just a game.
Since starbase levels aren't going to be the carrot anymore, it has to be the community & culture around the fleet. Some people like the idea of a Discord server and a fun place to chat. Others are turned off and out by an external chat app.
What remains are casual people in the periphery that will eventually drift towards a bigger fleet, it just takes time for the currents to take them there.
Our fleet has a level 134 Starbase and we are nobodies. It's gotta be in the 300-400 range, no?
The fleet I'm in was one of four fleets. A few months ago, one of them was permanently closed off to consolidate rosters.
The top 1% arena division is tinier than ever. Not much is getting done on the development side. It's clear that DB and the parent company aren't really interested in STT anymore. Mobile games are usually short-lived products since they're very aggressively monetized and that's a problem for most people. Players leave in droves and usually don't come back, so you have to advertise constantly to reach out to newer audiences, get new payers in, spend and leave, and this gets increasingly expensive. At one point it becomes cheaper to do nothing and let your game slowly die. Are we there yet? I don't know, but to me it's clear that DB is done investing in this game for the most part as no new in-game activities have been added in the last two years.
My spending has certainly dipped. Some of this is post holiday season hangover, but some of it is gone and is never coming back, that spending having been redirected to other things indefinitely. I'm down to Campaign and Monthly card now, but honestly I'm considering discontinuing one or both of them for a while until I get a sense that DB is excited about their product again. I've had a good time, I don't regret my spending, but I think I am emotionally letting go of Timelines because I think it's going to dump me before I dump it.
That being said, I think that they should do the honor sale from Convergence Day (or something similar) about four times a year. It's not like we won't hoard our honor anyway while we're waiting for the next one and at least that would give players something to look forward too within a reasonable time frame.
The problem with more rewards for less is that it does nothing to solve the actual problem, that after a point there is nothing to buy crew for.
I'm not necessarily hoping for more rewards for less (unless you meant the second part of the post), but I'm worried that additional features might make the game less rather than more enjoyable, especially if they are similar to some of those that we already have and if they require more time management and more juggling of crew and resources. Half of the complaints in my fleet and the reasons people mentioned when they decided to quit already reverted around the fact that playing STT often feels like a chore, so any new feature would be at risk of making things worse.
Lots of people have offered -- numerous times -- some really interesting QoL ideas as well as some seemingly simple fixes to long-time annoyances, with mixed evidence that those suggestions are being listened to. A few simple things like ramping up odds for good reward drops for longer gauntlet streaks, or implementing legendary drops for longer voyages, would probably generate some good will without requiring much work. A REAL fix to the inventory problem, and more frequent collection updates would be nice, too.
I keep trying to put my finger on why I stay in this game, and aside from the fact that it's Trek and I really like our awesome, low-intensity and supportive fleet, it's hard to articulate. For me, when it's done right, it's a combo of good characters, good story lines and gameplay that allows for some advancement/rewards without demanding that I break the bank or put my life on hold. Not terribly concrete, I know, but my 2 cents.
https://forum.disruptorbeam.com/stt/discussion/12388/klytus-im-booooooored/p1
I just got a kind of decent Crewmember.......
https://stt.wiki/wiki/Captain_Killy
My own feeling is that we need to be able to take that risk, because the alternative is continuing population churn and inevitable game closure. Those people who are bored and feel the game is a chore are probably already one foot out the door. What if the new system interested them and re-energised them like Voyages did for many people?