They've swapped equipment that I'll never use for ISM that I'll never need. 18K per month (36K with the premium track) is more than anyone will ever need, unless you're spending 1000s of dilithium on extra quantum.
While definitely not a fan of the crates, I do hope they pair all this extra ISM with a way to more directly get Constellations. Scanning alone won't be enough.
Now, this is likely another test of their's to see how players respond to a change. So I would not be surprised if they change things in the campaign after this one.
Interesting difference of opinion. One of you seems to be saying that constellations drop too frequently given recharge rates on quantum, the other that they don’t do frequently enough. I don’t have a great feel for it yet, but it does seem to me that to get what you want, you’ll need to get a lot of polestars, most of which will go unused. And that seems fine.
I guess roughly 50% of polestars will be useless. I already have multiple Federation, Starfleet and Human polestars, which hardly narrow down the crew. If all three are selected then I get 293 crew.
8 Scans a day will give a constellation every two days, a useful polestar every four days, and a set of four useful ones every 16 days, nearly the time it takes for Quantum to recharge.
8 Scans a day I believe will cost 1200 ISM with adverts, so the Quantum/ISM seems about right. (Another 1000 ISM every other day to open the constellation).
I agree with this evaluation. Right now we have lots of polestars from the free stuff they gave us but once they are used we will need a lot more to have enough variety to make useful refinements to our selection of crew.
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There are 4 days I don't get anything on the campaign track. Should have just added to not taken anything away. There are better things that could have been added like quantum, the paid currency the dragon balls since rarity polesters are hard to get, ism was honestly probably the worst choice to add. But equipment crates saved me alot of chronotons and credits for gear. If you wanted to take something out the 5 gold rations would be a start since it's a slap in the face anyway
Why is anything being replaced? @Shan
Why can't ISM be added as others have suggested? Im level 65 and the crates have actually been useful to me. The replacement won't be nearly as impactful.
I've been buying the campaign basically since I started playing, but I may have to reevaluate that decision. Quantum would be a good replacement, not ISM. Late game players won't be impacted by this, so you're really just alienating newer players...
Many changes could have been made to the campaign, and very much needed. This wasn't one of them.
I pretty consistently keep my crew equipment slots strategically full or empty to steer the dabo wheel's hand and double-dipped with the equipment crates. Because of that, I really like the one person's suggestion of having some of ISM reward tiers and some equipment tiers. I will miss getting happy surprise equipment.
I'd rather have random constellations over ISM. ISM is only good for opening constellations or throwing at scans to get constellations to then open with more ISM.
That's just not worth the $10. Not when we get 1,000 ISM a day from fleet and the daily. 30,000 a month average + another 18,000? MEH! But toss me 8-10 guaranteed constellations I can use that base 30,000 ISM on? Shut up and take my money!
They've swapped equipment that I'll never use for ISM that I'll never need. 18K per month (36K with the premium track) is more than anyone will ever need, unless you're spending 1000s of dilithium on extra quantum.
While definitely not a fan of the crates, I do hope they pair all this extra ISM with a way to more directly get Constellations. Scanning alone won't be enough.
Now, this is likely another test of their's to see how players respond to a change. So I would not be surprised if they change things in the campaign after this one.
Interesting difference of opinion. One of you seems to be saying that constellations drop too frequently given recharge rates on quantum, the other that they don’t do frequently enough. I don’t have a great feel for it yet, but it does seem to me that to get what you want, you’ll need to get a lot of polestars, most of which will go unused. And that seems fine.
It's almost like there are...two ways...to play this game. Will need to investigate further. Maybe make a new spreadsheet...YAY NEW SPREADSHEET!
There is definitely a balancing act.
On one hand, it makes sense to retrieve a semi-useful crew to make use of the quantum, then let it refill as you wait for the specific polestars you need for the more useful crew you need or want.
On the other hand, especially at the start when we don't have a lot of polestars and very few duplicates, we don't want to waste the precious polestars to potentially miss out on a more useful crew and/or have to wait a long time for your quantum to fill after unexpectedly getting the polestar you were waiting for.
As we build our polestar inventory, I think I'll be leaning a lot more towards the first option. It makes sense to me to add as many useful crew (adding stars or useful new crew) as possible, to maximize the high-value quantum. Having to wait for it to refill seems like the lesser of two evils, as long as you aren't throwing away polestars for less valuable crew, just for the sake of using the retrieval function.
Undecided, but...
Pro: stop worrying about fleet sizes. 18K ISM on the free track? Even the solo/family-fleet players should be ok with this.
Con: the choke point is quantum, not ISM, constellations, or polestars. Many players will soon face the dilemma of whether to retrieve someone on their “meh” list versus missing out on quantum drip while waiting for the crucial polestar needed to get someone on their “omg yes!” list. I fully expect several posts about that topic in roughly 1.5 weeks from now.
From the dev side, I understand it. They recently created 1) an inventory overflow warning flag, 2) a way to turn items into rations, and 3) a way to simply chuck items into space for zero return - all because players have griped about inventory issues for years. This reduces one of the sources of unwanted inventory, so it makes sense.
I'm routinely 25-90 items over the cap, but, because I play regularly, I use up or just use items from the 1000 and the oldest of the overflow drops in or I finish what I'm working on, equip it, and it's gone. I'd like to be able to see what my overflow is at a glance (have it all at the end or a filter) so I could remind myself who I'm working on if I've had a busy day, but I don't pay much attention to the cap.
W.W. CarlislePlayed since January 20, 2019Captain Level- 99 (May 9, 2022)VIP 14Crew Quarters: 485/485Most recent/Lowest- Anbo-jyutsu Kyle Riker (1/5* Lvl 30) 5/29/23Immortalized x-866 5* x184, 4* x 490, 3* x91, 2* x62, and 1* x27Most recent Immortal - Tearful Janeway 4* 5/25/23Current non-event project- Improving my Science base skill. Retrieval Project- Mestral 1/5*
Yes
As a F2P player, common crates sucked, and I never got anything from the premium track anyway. The ISM will definitely be helpful for increasing scans to maybe 3-4 times a day. But as someone else pointed out, the real cap is the quantum, which takes over a week to fully recharge. However, having more ISM is nice because it means I may find more polestars for crew I want/need, and even though the quantum recharge rate is slow, it means I'm guaranteed a 5* crew I like every 10-12 days or so.
I would argue that the results of this poll merely demonstrate that more end game players come to this forum than not.
I just checked the Reddit page and of the 21 comments on this campaign, all but two or three are opposed to this change and prefer the equipment crates.
I would argue that the results of this poll merely demonstrate that more end game players come to this forum than not.
I just checked the Reddit page and of the 21 comments on this campaign, all but two or three are opposed to this change and prefer the equipment crates.
Keep in mind that those opposed to something are usually going to be more vocal about it. It is true though that diff lvls need different things. What if campaigns had an option to use what u wanted with two or three diff options? Maybe that is too tough. I know there are many gauntlets though where I get nothing but equipment.
I would argue that the results of this poll merely demonstrate that more end game players come to this forum than not.
I just checked the Reddit page and of the 21 comments on this campaign, all but two or three are opposed to this change and prefer the equipment crates.
I'd argue the reddit is a better representation of the playerbase as well since its a more easily accessible platform that people use because they likely already have Reddit accounts for the social media aspect. I only have an account here because I started using the Star Trek Timelines subreddit for game help, then came here following directions from over there for support reasons.
The previous posts are > I don't like the opinions of people here so let me head into the Reddit echo chamber so I can find opinions that align with mine. The crates were junk for anyone in the mid-late game. It's questionable they were useful at all to anyone as when I had to build equipment I got random junk for cards I don't even own and never for the card I'm actually building. And if they're replacing it with 18-36k ISM, yes please!
The previous posts are > I don't like the opinions of people here so let me head into the Reddit echo chamber so I can find opinions that align with mine. The crates were junk for anyone in the mid-late game. It's questionable they were useful at all to anyone as when I had to build equipment I got random junk for cards I don't even own and never for the card I'm actually building. And if they're replacing it with 18-36k ISM, yes please!
Sounds to me like you're trying to discredit other people's opinions by saying Reddit is only an "echo chamber" where they can find like minded individuals. The far more likely scenario is that Reddit a more readily accessible mainstream site with far more users, which would attract more casual and newer players as a source for information or discussion.
The fact is this: the developer can find tons of ways to add ISM into the game without taking things away or replacing them. It's ridiculous that players have to waste time with polls or discussions regarding this issue.
Personally, as someone who rarely has many in-progress crew, the crates didn't add much. I ended up keeping half a dozen dummy crew with useful general items open to reduce the chance of junk - which has been generally successful. For the premium crates, I'd try and get a crew or two with open gold items . . . but this rarely worked.
For me, this is a positive move.
I 100% respect that for other players, this isn't the case. And replacing something like replicator rations would be better.
Six degrees in Inter-species Veterinary Medicine. Treating all manner of critters, from Tribbles to Humans.
I voted No as useful drops were often enough to help levelling up , especially on the 4* & 5*. My ISM levels I'll look at in 10 more days when the Quantum level means I can use it. The Retrieval is a nice feature, but not one i see me using other than once a month.
Comments
1st one to 1 Billion ISM wins
You misspelt "is banned."
I agree with this evaluation. Right now we have lots of polestars from the free stuff they gave us but once they are used we will need a lot more to have enough variety to make useful refinements to our selection of crew.
I did get some good stuff when I purchased the premium campaign, so that is why I voted 'no'.
Why can't ISM be added as others have suggested? Im level 65 and the crates have actually been useful to me. The replacement won't be nearly as impactful.
I've been buying the campaign basically since I started playing, but I may have to reevaluate that decision. Quantum would be a good replacement, not ISM. Late game players won't be impacted by this, so you're really just alienating newer players...
Many changes could have been made to the campaign, and very much needed. This wasn't one of them.
That's just not worth the $10. Not when we get 1,000 ISM a day from fleet and the daily. 30,000 a month average + another 18,000? MEH! But toss me 8-10 guaranteed constellations I can use that base 30,000 ISM on? Shut up and take my money!
There is definitely a balancing act.
On one hand, it makes sense to retrieve a semi-useful crew to make use of the quantum, then let it refill as you wait for the specific polestars you need for the more useful crew you need or want.
On the other hand, especially at the start when we don't have a lot of polestars and very few duplicates, we don't want to waste the precious polestars to potentially miss out on a more useful crew and/or have to wait a long time for your quantum to fill after unexpectedly getting the polestar you were waiting for.
As we build our polestar inventory, I think I'll be leaning a lot more towards the first option. It makes sense to me to add as many useful crew (adding stars or useful new crew) as possible, to maximize the high-value quantum. Having to wait for it to refill seems like the lesser of two evils, as long as you aren't throwing away polestars for less valuable crew, just for the sake of using the retrieval function.
Pro: stop worrying about fleet sizes. 18K ISM on the free track? Even the solo/family-fleet players should be ok with this.
Con: the choke point is quantum, not ISM, constellations, or polestars. Many players will soon face the dilemma of whether to retrieve someone on their “meh” list versus missing out on quantum drip while waiting for the crucial polestar needed to get someone on their “omg yes!” list. I fully expect several posts about that topic in roughly 1.5 weeks from now.
From the dev side, I understand it. They recently created 1) an inventory overflow warning flag, 2) a way to turn items into rations, and 3) a way to simply chuck items into space for zero return - all because players have griped about inventory issues for years. This reduces one of the sources of unwanted inventory, so it makes sense.
As a F2P player, common crates sucked, and I never got anything from the premium track anyway. The ISM will definitely be helpful for increasing scans to maybe 3-4 times a day. But as someone else pointed out, the real cap is the quantum, which takes over a week to fully recharge. However, having more ISM is nice because it means I may find more polestars for crew I want/need, and even though the quantum recharge rate is slow, it means I'm guaranteed a 5* crew I like every 10-12 days or so.
I just checked the Reddit page and of the 21 comments on this campaign, all but two or three are opposed to this change and prefer the equipment crates.
Keep in mind that those opposed to something are usually going to be more vocal about it. It is true though that diff lvls need different things. What if campaigns had an option to use what u wanted with two or three diff options? Maybe that is too tough. I know there are many gauntlets though where I get nothing but equipment.
I'd argue the reddit is a better representation of the playerbase as well since its a more easily accessible platform that people use because they likely already have Reddit accounts for the social media aspect. I only have an account here because I started using the Star Trek Timelines subreddit for game help, then came here following directions from over there for support reasons.
Sounds to me like you're trying to discredit other people's opinions by saying Reddit is only an "echo chamber" where they can find like minded individuals. The far more likely scenario is that Reddit a more readily accessible mainstream site with far more users, which would attract more casual and newer players as a source for information or discussion.
The fact is this: the developer can find tons of ways to add ISM into the game without taking things away or replacing them. It's ridiculous that players have to waste time with polls or discussions regarding this issue.
For me, this is a positive move.
I 100% respect that for other players, this isn't the case. And replacing something like replicator rations would be better.
Starport
Won't have ISM until Fleet drops 400.
Haven't bought the last two campaigns. As long as the offered crew is just average, a few more ISM will not make any difference for me.
Lt. Uhura is the 35th best voyager and a bridge crew with event bonus. potential.She is in no way crappy.