Spreadsheets and planning - the Real STT

Thurthorad

I've been thinking about where the gap between DB and the players might be and why they don't seem to understand why we get annoyed with them at times.

And I think it's because they think that all of the game happens inside their application. And it doesn't. At least 50% of the time I am thinking about STT, I am looking at a spreadsheet. The game itself is mostly just an RNG engine with some pretty pictures (and that's what the pictures matter so much DB). I will say that for me at least, Voyages have elevated the game significantly, but aside from that it's all dice rolls.

So, what are we doing with all of our spreadsheets. I for one am planning, I am trying to plan my crew so that I can do well on any type of voyage, I am trying to analyse those marginal characters that have use in other minor areas such as shuttles or gauntlet. I am weighing up which crew to freeze, if bridge crew have more value etc. I have my crew ranked and rated along several dimensions.

I am also planning the order in which I do things, and this might be related to collections or the event schedule or when I get paid etc. Either way this planning is a huge part of the game for a lot of the playerbase. We use spreadsheets incessantly.

So when DB doesn't do what they say they are going to do or is incapable of giving us information early enough it upsets our wish to plan effectively.

The app is just a instrument to realise our plans. When I fully equip a character the real joy comes from updating my spreadsheet. The immortalisation and freezing of a character that will never have gone on a mission, or been through the gauntlet or even been sent on a voyage is just a line in a database and a line in my spreadsheet and for me I just care that my plan is executed efficiently and that that crew is finished. (this is particularly true lately with the collections encouraging me to backfill useless crew)

This isn't always the case, sometimes there is a beautiful piece of artwork, a cool character from the show or a crew who really makes a huge difference (Leonardo DaVinci was a game changer for my Voyages), but often it's just another guy that I want for my spreadsheet.

So the game to me is planning and execution and recording it, and very little of that happens in the app. And when DB can't deliver on basic communication so that we can sync our plans with theirs it annoys the hell out of us.

[10F] Belle'Anna

I agree with the vast majority of what you have said. I am also pleased to discover I am not the only one who loves lists and planning lol

I think this latest mistake is quite minor though, compared to Christmas. I'm obviously not pulling out the guns on this one, I think enough has been said but if you want to keep waxing lyrical about spreadsheets and planning I'll definitely keep listening. The way you said that gave me a great sense of satisfaction for reasons I can't quite explain.

Travis S McClain

Firstly, I want to acknowledge that it's entirely reasonable to ask that whatever is communicated be accurate and timely. But there are already a zillion threads about that, and I'm sick of elaborating on it, so instead I want to talk about something fun you bring up here: spreadsheets!

I learned after just a little while of playing that I needed my own spreadsheet if I was going to make any worthwhile progress in this game--and that was back in April of 2016. For perspective, here are things that did not exist when I started playing:

Achievements
Arena
Boosts
Cadet Challenges
Citations (we got XP instead of Honor)
Collections
Cryostasis Vault
Expeditions
Fleets & Squadrons
Galaxy Events
Gauntlet
Honor Hall
Mega-Events
Replicator
Starbases
Supply Kits
Voyages

A lot of these things put a new emphasis on crew that had previously been immediately 86'd. It was a big deal when we had to start carrying cadets, in large part because our crews were capped at much lower levels and there was no freezer to store anyone. We all sacrificed a whole lot of crew members in those days. Using the spreadsheet (and relying on helpful threads on the old forum started by other players using theirs) was mandatory for figuring out how to best manage our crews.

Because chronitons were in significantly shorter supply, managing the spreadsheet served two purposes. Firstly, it brought clarity to which crew needed to be emphasized at any given time so that when the chroniton bar refilled, I wasn't just meandering around the missions without purpose that directly advanced my progress. For instance, I was the one who coined the nickname "Riker's Angels" for the trio of Cadet Sito Jaxa, Ensign Pazlar, and Ensign Seska, because I was able to identify quite a few cadet challenges they could complete all five week days, including at least one on Epic.

The other value to maintaining my own spreadsheet was that, yeah, it gave me something to do related to the game that entertained me when there was nothing to do but wait for shuttles to return and my chronitons to replenish. I got a kick out of sorting each skill by descending stats and seeing that I had a new #1. In particular, I remember being thrilled when I finished Waitress Ezri and she cracked my top two DIP and MED. She doesn't get much use these days, except I have her assigned in the Arena because she has the same ship ability as Mirror Phlox. (I figure a lot of players have forgotten Ezri and may be willing to take their chances against my ship instead of one staffed with Phlox, who is more familiar to them.)

So, yeah, I definitely get the satisfaction and fun that goes with maintaining a spreadsheet and executing the strategies that analyzing it can bring to light. I also completely understand players for whom this constitutes doing homework in addition to playing the game.

I stop short of agreeing that DB should be more mindful of us doing this, though, whether when announcing event info or a new crew member's stats, etc. Simply put, it's outside the scope of what they should be expected to account for or for them to assume we're all doing.

Besides which, this specific incident comes down to "I have a lot of backlog and planned to double-dip working on them with participating in this week's event". I get it. I look forward to events where I can do that, too. But it's not on DB that any of us are buried under a backlog of crew we've chosen to keep. Just a few minutes before I saw this thread, I saw someone post a screen shot of a Behold. They could have taken a fourth star on someone they already had, and immortalized that crew member--which is exactly what following a well-managed spreadsheet would direct a player to do.

Instead, they chose someone they didn't yet have. Now, there's nothing inherently wrong with doing this; we all have, because we simply want that other crew member, and maybe this player just plain wanted that new crew member. But time and again, I've seen on this forum that players will grab and keep everyone they don't already have, in some kind of undisciplined collecting frenzy. The biggest mistake players keep making is that they continue to open pack after pack even when they're already aware they have an unwieldy backlog.

I'm entirely caught up on my crew right now, except I'm waiting to get Nurse Faith Garland's final 5* Outfit from the solo thresholds rather than craft it myself. Your first thought is probably, "Must be nice!" It is nice. But I didn't get to this point by being a so-called whale throwing resources at this game left and right. It's because my first entire year as a player was spent as strictly F2P/VIP 0 and I learned the importance of pruning my crew regularly and making ruthless choices about when to keep and when 86 someone--choices I made after consulting my spreadsheet, it's worth noting.

tl;dr Accurate communication is reasonable and fair to expect; spreadsheets are fun; discipline is important.

Pallidyne

Actually my rule of thumb these days is to take the new crew that I have no stars on. Why? The more you have FFed the more chances of an all FFed behold later. And I've hit that tipping point with SR's that it's happening more than I like.

And I am very spreadsheet laden. I also, however, have invested in more slots.

Ivanstone

I used to be very spreadsheet oriented in this game. There are a bunch of reasons I cut back.

I don't have as many crew to level anymore. DB instituted improved display options. Voyages require relatively little planning and playing than many other things in the game. Having massive reserves of equipment. Well developed Wiki and other player built resources.

Lastly after almost 23 months playing I can just let my memory do most of the work for me.