Voyages - "working as intended"?
·§ë· For the Many
✭✭✭✭✭
in The Bridge
From the original blog post at the release of Voyages from September 15, 2017:
Nowhere in the blog advertisement does it indicate we'll be babysitting the final minutes-hour, or held hostage for dilithium if the game signs us out at the end of a voyage, or for any other reason - even forgetfulness. Why can't my team of professionals who I equipped and trained, figure on their own to pause before running out of antimatter, for the option of either recalling or extending?
I was under the impression that this would be some nice relaxed thing for us to assign our crew - a puzzle which I've come to enjoy - and then gather loot for us, not requiring us to be actively engaged once we've sent them out to do their thing.
Certainly not stressful, like long voyages abandoned in frustration, even after babysitting but for whatever reason unable to get back into the game in time to recall before running out of antimatter. Which by now we've observed enough in our own and each others' experiences to know is a common issue.
I know the suggestions to avoid this - I usually I set a few timers for the ends of voyages. To me, this is already not chill, and already makes it the most stressful part of the game. According to the tone of the blog post, that's not at all what was intended. But then, even that does not always succeed depending on circumstance, and I'm left to abandon a day and 700 chronitons and a string of crew and other loot, because my people don't know how to simply pause before running out of fuel.
Where is it reasonable to draw the line - Does profit excuse everything, even in a Trek game? Would the company make less without the ransom dilithium from these voyages - if it just asked us if we'd like to recall or refill when running out of antimatter, not abandon - and how much less? Or perhaps players would spend more elsewhere, or remain in the game and paying longer if they aren't discouraged and frustrated from this.
"Do you wish your crew was was able to explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy even when you can’t actively be playing STAR TREK TIMELINES?"
"as a player you will be able to sit back and read all new fiction in the Trek Universe in-between dilemmas, or you can go back to playing the rest of the game while the Voyages run in the background, alerting the Captain when your attention is required."
Nowhere in the blog advertisement does it indicate we'll be babysitting the final minutes-hour, or held hostage for dilithium if the game signs us out at the end of a voyage, or for any other reason - even forgetfulness. Why can't my team of professionals who I equipped and trained, figure on their own to pause before running out of antimatter, for the option of either recalling or extending?
I was under the impression that this would be some nice relaxed thing for us to assign our crew - a puzzle which I've come to enjoy - and then gather loot for us, not requiring us to be actively engaged once we've sent them out to do their thing.
Certainly not stressful, like long voyages abandoned in frustration, even after babysitting but for whatever reason unable to get back into the game in time to recall before running out of antimatter. Which by now we've observed enough in our own and each others' experiences to know is a common issue.
I know the suggestions to avoid this - I usually I set a few timers for the ends of voyages. To me, this is already not chill, and already makes it the most stressful part of the game. According to the tone of the blog post, that's not at all what was intended. But then, even that does not always succeed depending on circumstance, and I'm left to abandon a day and 700 chronitons and a string of crew and other loot, because my people don't know how to simply pause before running out of fuel.
Where is it reasonable to draw the line - Does profit excuse everything, even in a Trek game? Would the company make less without the ransom dilithium from these voyages - if it just asked us if we'd like to recall or refill when running out of antimatter, not abandon - and how much less? Or perhaps players would spend more elsewhere, or remain in the game and paying longer if they aren't discouraged and frustrated from this.
5
Comments
I don't extend them anymore, it's not worth it. My DIL mostly goes toward extra rounds of the Saturday cadet challenge lately.
That’s very organized... I like to fly my voyagers like TOS Kirk... by the seat of my pants with a hint of imminent death to get the heart pumping.
Short answer - yes.
Ha! Yes I like the little taste of death while I’m still alive. Great way to put it.
Exactly the same method I use.
Additionally, there is a [TOOL] Voyage Estimator, which has a web version and discord bot, to help estimate out the length of the Voyage. That said, knowing when the voyage is likely to end, is exactly not the point of the thread.
As was articulated in the OP, DB could still make money by offering an option to extend the voyage. As has been proposed elsewhere, they could even offer an option to spend dilithium to begin the voyage with additional antimatter. We all understand that DB needs to make money.
It is at best an oversimplification, if not inadvertently condescending, to present the situation as only depending on a person "paying attention". It might be interesting and worthwhile to consider the plethora of other reasons someones attention, focus and time might be otherwise occupied at a given time. Additionally, there are other technical factors (internet connection, game server access and such) which can prevent people from recalling voyages in time, despite paying full attention and not having some unforeseen event derail them.
Voyages could also not be at all frustrating with a simple change as suggested by the post:
Consider participating in civil discourse, understanding the Tardigrade, and wandering with the Subspace Eddies.
I’m still waiting for the rewards to show up that the info button in the game says we can get from our voyages.
Omg! Voyages are almost five months old?
Read all new fiction in the Trek universe between dilemmas??? Bwahahahaha. Writing is NOT DB's forte.
Without making it all about me and my own unique experience of stress with voyage failures due to an apparent lack of patience and intelligence and all that, why not just avoid this altogether by having voyages ask to recall or extend when they run out of antimatter (instead of abandon or extend)?
I understand that: However that money doesn't need to come from such exploitative means. In fact, things like this turn me off from spending on packs and other things.
~· Fly with the Subspace Eddies! ·~
The only reason it's stressful is because you attempt to are trying to maximize your voyage to get 100% out of it instead of 98-99%. If missing out on those last 5 rewards or so would dramatically reduce your stress levels (the self-admitted "worst part" of it), why wouldn't you? Odds are good they're just credits and trainers anyways.
Only partially true. As I said before, if I had 200 AM after six hours it would be easy. Having 1900 AM means you miss a lot more than 2%. Then you go about life and do stuff then boom. I don’t stress because I just fill up and go for 10 hours. But it seems deliberately set up to be a dil black hole
I was referring to the OP who, literally, describes it as "the most stressful part of the game" (his words, not mine).
I would like to see an "auto-refill" option when this message should come up as well.
What device are your using? It might be worthwhile reporting that in the engineering forum, notifications have been working great for me for the last few months. You get one every dilemma and then as soon as it goes below 200 AM.
Not to derail but I would like to comment that you are assuming that you are not doing something else in the game. It would be nice if there were some in-game notification that a voyage was low on AM. Like, "I know you started playing Gauntlet because you were at like 330 AM and needed something to do but you forgot about your Voyage and it is down to 60AM. Hurry Up!"
I do agree though that if Voyages are stressing you out, you have the choice to end them at any point that is comfortable and non-stressful to you.
Agreed here...this has always made as much sense as the honor exchange rate does. Little...
There are many suggestions and assumptions which I attempted in the OP to preemptively answer.
I'm truly more interested in discussing solutions to an issue which many players experience which can be avoided entirely.
@Amphistaff
Sorry you've been missing out on loots for the bug. Notifications don't work for other players and I either, on different devices. It would be nice if they worked and consistently, and if the server never crashed or signed us out, and if life things didn't happen despite diligence, patience, alarms and things. I've never relied on the notifications as with many things in the game, I didn't expect them to work (not that they shouldn't).
If it paused (not failed) at the end of a voyage, with the option to recall or extend, as opposed to failing then abandon or extend, these inconsistent notifications wouldn't be a thing. It would help take the burden off the players for many situations both foreseen and unforeseen (and al$o, off Customer Service workload).
I can't see Lt Commander Dax being stuck out there in space because she needed to be told to pause before running out of antimatter.
~· Fly with the Subspace Eddies! ·~
Shall we make a list of all the things that are unrealistic, even in the context of Star Trek, or can we accept that this is a game, not a TV episode?
No, I cannot accept it, and for this I deeply apologize from the bottom of my heart.
~· Fly with the Subspace Eddies! ·~