Star Trek Timelines Appreciation Thread
Bylo Band
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I originally wrote this several weeks ago during my hiatus and saved it for later. I was honestly not sure I was ever going to come back to the forums, for a long time it felt like we were all losing this place to one very unhappy person who seemed determined to rain on all the parades and rather than devote time to arguing with this person I just stepped away. When I saw this person was finally banned I felt rejuvenated, so between that and the holiday season I feel the time is right to post this. Cheers everyone!
Recently the Offer Wall had a 3x rewards offer going so I decided it was finally time to try out that Evony: The King's Return that we've probably all seen ads for in game for years, since it was the one offer I was eligible for with a high enough payout to make it work for me.
I really went for it for 2 days. After struggling for about a day of constant effort I finally managed to find an alliance willing to take me in, and for about 2 days I actually found it kind of fun. I was helping alliance people, they were helping me, and I was doing what I thought I needed to do, ie building the things the NPCs were telling me to build, beefing up my army, raiding empty plots for resources, doing the puzzle things, all of it.
And then the 72 hour new player protection buff (I didn't know anything about) ended abruptly and without warning. Within 15 minutes I got scouted by a half-dozen high level players and within another 10 minutes I got attacked by all of them. Many times. I left a message for my alliance that I was leaving forever, thanked them for taking a chance on a new player, and left the alliance to not take up a spot they could use and as the city I spent several days caring for was literally on fire I logged out for the final time, leaving my citizens to their fate of being a permanent farm for all the established whales around me.
And as I logged out I wasn't upset for what had just happened, I was actually filled with satisfaction and joy because the game I actually care about, Star Trek Timelines, does not operate this way. STT is not setup for the whales to exploit new players, it is setup for whales to chase vanity projects, first to max races, and weekly bragging rights on event leaderboards. Nobody is harmed, and each player at every level is free to decide for themselves what it is they want to get out of the game, and they are able to pursue those goals with likeminded individuals.
STT also has a much stronger community. I searched high and low for ANYBODY who would help me with Evony and even people in my own alliance ignored my messages. The forums were just terrible, there were no guides that I could find (admittedly I did not try super hard on this search), and every attempt I made to reach out to the game runners was ignored (until I left a 1 star review in the Play Store then the developer was VERY keen to talk to me!).
Star Trek Timelines is the complete opposite. Fellow players maintain an entire wiki for this game, there is an active forum where people can ask questions, get updates from the team, even vent about the game if they want, it is a vibrant community. You can actually interact with the game's official twitter account. There are fleets you can find that will take you in, teach you what to do, and help you meet your goals.
Is STT perfect? No, but I think we can all agree it is compelling and I am very thankful for it. It has provided the framework for all of us to build this community and all it encompasses. I am thankful for my fleet and the people in there who take the time to connect, I am thankful to the people who maintain all the external resources, I am thankful to everyone who keeps this forum going , I am thankful to the new players who are still filtering in and asking for help, and I am thankful to the established players who take those new players in and show them what to do to keep them engaged.
My awful Evony experience really reinforced my strong positive feelings for STT, and I hope in some small way I can help other people find satisfaction and fulfillment within the framework of this community. And in closing I want to also say I am thankful for the WRG team, the road might not always be smooth but more than any other studio I have ever encountered you guys engage with the players and that counts for something.
Recently the Offer Wall had a 3x rewards offer going so I decided it was finally time to try out that Evony: The King's Return that we've probably all seen ads for in game for years, since it was the one offer I was eligible for with a high enough payout to make it work for me.
I really went for it for 2 days. After struggling for about a day of constant effort I finally managed to find an alliance willing to take me in, and for about 2 days I actually found it kind of fun. I was helping alliance people, they were helping me, and I was doing what I thought I needed to do, ie building the things the NPCs were telling me to build, beefing up my army, raiding empty plots for resources, doing the puzzle things, all of it.
And then the 72 hour new player protection buff (I didn't know anything about) ended abruptly and without warning. Within 15 minutes I got scouted by a half-dozen high level players and within another 10 minutes I got attacked by all of them. Many times. I left a message for my alliance that I was leaving forever, thanked them for taking a chance on a new player, and left the alliance to not take up a spot they could use and as the city I spent several days caring for was literally on fire I logged out for the final time, leaving my citizens to their fate of being a permanent farm for all the established whales around me.
And as I logged out I wasn't upset for what had just happened, I was actually filled with satisfaction and joy because the game I actually care about, Star Trek Timelines, does not operate this way. STT is not setup for the whales to exploit new players, it is setup for whales to chase vanity projects, first to max races, and weekly bragging rights on event leaderboards. Nobody is harmed, and each player at every level is free to decide for themselves what it is they want to get out of the game, and they are able to pursue those goals with likeminded individuals.
STT also has a much stronger community. I searched high and low for ANYBODY who would help me with Evony and even people in my own alliance ignored my messages. The forums were just terrible, there were no guides that I could find (admittedly I did not try super hard on this search), and every attempt I made to reach out to the game runners was ignored (until I left a 1 star review in the Play Store then the developer was VERY keen to talk to me!).
Star Trek Timelines is the complete opposite. Fellow players maintain an entire wiki for this game, there is an active forum where people can ask questions, get updates from the team, even vent about the game if they want, it is a vibrant community. You can actually interact with the game's official twitter account. There are fleets you can find that will take you in, teach you what to do, and help you meet your goals.
Is STT perfect? No, but I think we can all agree it is compelling and I am very thankful for it. It has provided the framework for all of us to build this community and all it encompasses. I am thankful for my fleet and the people in there who take the time to connect, I am thankful to the people who maintain all the external resources, I am thankful to everyone who keeps this forum going , I am thankful to the new players who are still filtering in and asking for help, and I am thankful to the established players who take those new players in and show them what to do to keep them engaged.
My awful Evony experience really reinforced my strong positive feelings for STT, and I hope in some small way I can help other people find satisfaction and fulfillment within the framework of this community. And in closing I want to also say I am thankful for the WRG team, the road might not always be smooth but more than any other studio I have ever encountered you guys engage with the players and that counts for something.
22
Comments
Although my alliance was friendly, the environment was just horrible.
STT is the only game I have stayed with and I am thankful for the experience.
I will just add, I always had a high regard for the customer support, compared to all the other games I have played.
Edit:
Sorry I forgot, also appreciate the people that have been the voice for STT here and the previous forum.👍
I think your title will do just fine, and your story is a great opener to a thank you, STT for the wonderful changes that have made the game grow and be better.
As you’ve mentioned “whales” it a relative term depending on everyones personal limit of spending on a game. For bragging rights as you suggested.
I wanted to address the many avenues currently in the game that reward free stuff. And point out that you do not have to spend a bunch if money to help yourself along in the process. The monthly dilithium card is $5.00 US. This is equivalent to a snack or coffee. Not too difficult to manage.
The campaign ultimate track is $24.99US. A few coffee and snacks in a month.
Since the inception DB,TP,WRG and various entities have kept a forward motion within the game. We have seen the introduction of voyages, achievements, campaign, more episodes, Star Base and fleets, FBB, retrieval system, cryo vault, and various objective events.
All of these give or reward something useful some even dilithium. When the game started there was none of this. Even the gauntlet rewards chronitons now when it did not in the beginning.
You can happily obtain your Month long objective crew, along with mega arc crew and build them with the proceeds from various portions of the game.
You can be patient enough for the campaign basic free track, combined with achievement and episode 5 dilithium to purchase 4 shuttles.
Thank you current and previous STT developers and all the forum voices adding thoughts and ideas regularly to improve the experience for everyone playing. And if course, for keeping the game running.
Also thank you to all those whales. Without them the game may not be profitable enough and we may not have it.
STT is like a warm welcoming hand that I can take a hold of and day to day, week to week I can just play when I have time and when I want to and all of my stuff is just there waiting for me. It's been a great return.
Happy New Year to all!
Sorry for allowing auto-correct to be in charge of my “thank you” stt entry.
Sorry, I've seen you around in here but don't recall doing anything that would cause you reason to publicly shame me for an auto-correct typo. No good dead goes unpunished. Much appreciate the “quote” and many “likes” on what was supposed to be a pleasant thread.
Sorry, Bylo Band, for messing up your thank you stt discussion.
The Trek and the Trek Timelines community remain the most classy ( and brightest) I've ever encountered in a game, mobile or otherwise.
As T'plana-hath postulated "Positive outcome is generated from positive outlook."
We move forward; we move on; the content train does not stop; in game or elsewhere; and always be thankful that it is so.
Because when the train stops you know you have a problem...................
"There is nothing to gain from haste but error." Surak Second Analects