To All,
My posting here is in general response to the one posted by ?ThatGuy? titled ?The truth about TALDREN and SFCIII?, but I think that I am going in a slightly different direction to warrant posting separately.
I started playing SFCII a couple of years ago. I had only ever seen Star Fleet Battles played at a local RPG gameroom that also included tactical games.
As I am going into a somewhat lengthy criticism of those things I don?t like about SFCIII I feel it is only appropriate to mention everything I like and or appreciate about SFCIII.
What I think is good about SFCIII:
#1.) STABILITY OF MULTIPLAYER GAMES! I can actually go out and duke it out with several other human beings (both on my side and the enemies) and not crash. Congratulations and kudos to Taldren for this!!!
#2.) Officers. I like the idea of officers quite a bit. While I believe that they were removed from SFCII compared to SFCI (again, the only other SFC game I am familiar with) I think they add a wonderful level to the game itself.
#3.) Fleeting! While this may be a little like #1, I believe it is different enough to warrant applause. Instead of hoping and praying that so-and-so gets drafted, now we can simply fleet up and go pound our enemies, or get pounded as fate decides. You guys really hit the nail on the head with this one!
#4.) Modifying our own ships. This is good. Facing a Galaxy class starship from one player doesn?t mean the next one will have the same number of quantum torpedoes or be as slow as the one before that. This ability gives greater control to each individual player and I like this.
#5.) Removing the cap on speed. I like the ability of each ships speed to be limited by its size, officers, and impulse engines. Not necessarily realistic for sublight maneuvers, but very cool nonetheless.
While I think these are great improvements, unfortunately I believe that the number (not necessarily weight) of negatives outweigh the positives.
What I don?t like about the current game design:
However you see things, most of my complaints have to do with the functionality of the game itself, and are thus were controllable by the programmers/developers. I must again state that my only comparison is with SFCII.
#1.) The radically decreased variety of races to play. I don?t see how this would have been too difficult or time consuming to keep some of the other races once the foundation of the program was set. I truly miss the Mirak, although I never played one. I also miss the Hydrans. One had to modify tactics when flying against each separate race. I found this added a great deal of colour and strategy when flying.
#2.) The replacement of ECMs/ECCMs with angular velocity. The loss of ECMs equals the loss of tactics in the game itself. Throughout a battle in SFCII you had to constantly observe what the enemy was doing with his/her ECMs and react accordingly. The nonsense (as I perceive it) with angular velocity is that it is not truly useful for any player. If I am flying quickly by an enemy I wish to hit and not be hit by, well, the angular velocity affects ME as much as it does him/her. It isn?t something I can truly control with the stroke of a key. While hypothetically a player COULD maneuver his/her ship ?just right? to take maximum advantage of angular velocity, the simplicity and CONTROL of ECMs and ECCMs is removed from the equation. A small loss, but a loss nonetheless. Don?t forget that angular velocity, in an attempt to add realism, could have simply been added to the game above and beyond ECMs/ECCMs.
#3.) The DAMN equality of standard weapons! This, in my mind, really does reduce the flavor of the game. Before, each race had it?s distinct advantages AND disadvantages with weapons ranges and damages. While I still fear getting too close to a Romulan, I don?t fear it nearly as much as I used to (sorry all you Roms out there). It is truly disappointing that ALL phasers, disrupters, and cutting beams have DAMN NEAR EXACTLY the same ?to hit? chances and same damages at EXACTLY the same ranges. The only difference is the Romulans and they get screwed. This reduces (again) the use of tactics by simply leveling the playing field and making all things equal. A loss, in my mind.
While the heavy weapons are different, and Taldren deserves credit for this, the standard feel of even the heavy weapons is somewhat similar. The two heaviest weapons seem to be plasma and ion cannons and ?Guess what folks?? Yes, both are only effective at very close range.
This idea is deserving of further clarification. During war, each side has its own unique advantages and disadvantages. For example, during WWII German tanks were more heavily armoured and carried greater firepower than their American opponents in Sherman tanks. This forces the American tank forces to develop their own tactics and find ways to defeat their German opponents. Similar points could be said of German airplanes versus Allied planes. Not everything is equal in war, nor should it be. I am not advocating creating one monster race, but for those of us who have played other tactical games such as Squad Leader, we understand that you try and exploit your own strengths and take advantage of your enemies weaknesses. It seemed to be this way in SFCII. This fun was greatly reduced in SFCIII in my opinion.
#4.) The loss of Drones. (For those who don?t know: Drones = Limited # of Self guided missiles) While I am not a fanatical proponent of drones, I do believe they were different enough and significant enough to add yet another tactical layer to the game. When I faced a Mirak or Romulan in battle the first thing I did (Hell, the first thing EVERYONE did) was start converting shuttles to Wild Weasels. This kept me from using those shuttles for other uses, while overall the Mirak weren?t boxed in to the degree that I was.
#5.) The loss of the ability to capture an enemy by boarding action. Perhaps this could cause too much of an instability issue of the game now, balanced with the greater ability to stably fleet up. However, I do believe that, yet again, the flavor of the game is diminished with this loss. When your marines were killed in combat and your population low, by golly you sure didn?t expose lowered shields to an enemy! They could board you and take over pretty quick.
#6.) Officers! Yep, a positive and a negative all in one. First, the problem with officers occurs ONLY if you have to build them up. The problem here is one of balance, and one I don?t mind as I am overall for them, but if I am going to try and be fair I must attempt to look at both sides.
With the use of officers they MULTIPLY the imbalance between ships. If a smaller ship (i.e. Greener ship and crew) attacks a larger ship, the larger ship has (with probably higher ranking officers) an exponential advantage over the smaller ship! Not only is the bigger ship better by its design alone, but with higher skilled officers that advantage is increased all over again!
While I don?t believe this radically impacts the game ands still do appreciate the inclusion of officers, I didn?t feel it would be appropriate to NOT bring up this imbalance issue.
#7.) Lack of Character in the Screen Display. While this is a little point about which to have a snit, it is also a point that could have taken little effort by the programmers/developers to include in the game. I fly Klingon. I have flown Klingon since I bought SFCII. I will fly Klingon for quite some time. But??.My display LOOKS human
! In SFCII as a player I had the FEEL of Klingon when I looked at the screen. It felt Like I was in an alien ship (at least little bit). I presume it was the same for those who flew Gorn, Hydran, Mirak, ISC, Romulan, and Lyran.
If we were playing an American Civil War tactical combat game, you certainly wouldn?t put both sides in the same uniform color!!! Most likely it would be the Blue Versus the Grey. Why on earth wasn?t a LITTLE extra time and effort taken to add the same flavor to this game?
#8.) The loss of fighters. I liked fighters! I didn?t like having to PAY for them, but I did like their idea. Yes, shuttles ?kind of? (not really) replace fighters. Fighters had class! Most importantly, you could purchase a variety of light or heavy fighters to suit your tastes, and most importantly, affect the ebb and flow of combat strategy.
#9.) The loss of TBombs. These were Great! Again, a level of tactical surprise and complexity was removed from the game.
If you were to characterize my criticisms of the game it would generally fall into two categories:
A.) The reduction of difficulty and tactics in the games itself. It has been RADICALLY ?dumbed down?, and;
B.) The loss of flavor and character of the game.
Now I have to cover the issue of bugs.
Bugs are a separate issue. I acknowledge that bugs are going to come up as the game is programmed. Some bugs will only occur in very unique circumstances and I concede that these bugs are NOT correctable nor possibly even noticeable until many people begin playing the game due to their rarity.
On the other hand, during play testing many bugs are found. They are found and duly noted by the play testers. My issue is with these bugs that are not eliminated before the game is released. I do NOT blame the programmers for these bugs!! I am presuming honesty and integrity here. I DO blame those higher in the chain of command. These are the folks that have the final say on whether to release the game ?as advertised? or to delay release and iron out the known problems. I differentiate between these two sets of folks, the ones just doing their jobs (the programmers) and those in management or marketing who have the power and don?t choose the honorable course of action.
First, I must say I don?t give a DAMN about what other gaming companies have or have not done! Anyone who is going to attempt to be an apologist for Taldren here by telling me what ?so and so? did is wasting their breath on me. Just because some other buffoon wants to release an inferior product doesn?t mean Taldren is thus compelled to do so!
I will totally and completely agree with those who will say that ?you can?t fix all the bugs all the time?. I agree with this ONLY TO THE EXTENT THAT bugs will crop up AFTER release that were unforeseen! (I will also give some leeway to those bugs that are truly insignificant and don?t greatly impact the play of the game, but this standard is very subjective and I would prefer to avoid it. The fact is that we all have different tolerances here.)
What really gripes me is that the Taldren/Activision knew about certain bugs that were in the game AND RELEASED IT THAT WAY ANYWAY!!! This is dishonorable! In no other industry is it even CONCEIVABLE to release a product with a known defect. No one makes a TV that won?t knowingly pick up a certain channel, or a VCR that won?t record on Tuesdays, or a car that stalls if the speed falls below a certain number!
There are those at Taldren and other computer companies that will respond by saying ?Programs are much more complicated than what I have mentioned.? True, but so what? If you can?t handle the burden, honor and honesty of releasing a good, bug free product in the computer industry, then get the hell out of programming computer games! Obviously, by the successful eradication of bugs by later released patches it is POSSIBLE to get it right in the first place!
If you can?t handle the sight of blood, don?t become a medical Doctor. If you can?t handle heights, don?t become a high-rise construction worker. And if you can?t handle the burden of releasing a game that doesn?t have bugs, get out of the game programming business!
Having brought up honesty as an issue there are those who may ask, ?how is releasing a game with bugs dishonest?? I?ll tell you. It is dishonest because they didn?t tell us about the problems when WE PAID MONEY FOR THE GAME! Had they warned us of the problems ahead of time, they could at least have stood on ?Honesty Island? of claiming that they didn?t lie to us, but they didn?t warn us. They lied by omission.
In real estate a real estate broker is REQUIRED to tell you (the buyer) all of the problems a home has had. It is called disclosure. If the home had problems with termites, they have to tell you; if the home had problems flooding, they have to tell you; if the home had a fire, they have to tell you. With drugs commercials they tell you about known side effects. They downplay them, but at least they warn you ahead of time. This is the way it should be not just with computer games, but with everything we buy. I know it is not this way in all industries but at least the real estate agent and drug companies can claim to be honest?.Taldren, Activision, and the other gaming companies can?t do that.
In fairness to Taldren they are not alone here. They are one of almost ALL (if not all) game producers that are dishonest, but they are ALSO dishonest nonetheless. It is unfortunate that the gaming industry is promoting a standard of dishonesty. I am certain that someday a company will, by having strong moral values or simply by seeing a competitor sued out of business, rise above the industry standard and release games that are known to be bug free upon release, or baring that disclose what problems are known to exist with the game (even if they are downplayed).
So far though, Taldren has not risen above this industry wide cesspool of inadequacy.
In Taldrens credit, they have worked on patching their games. But I believe they are simply doing what they are morally and ethically bound to do. One doesn?t give credit to a company for fixing its mistakes, one EXPECTS them to fix their mistakes. And they ARE doing that.
I must also lay blame on myself and those of us who are the consumers. We sit idly by, whine, gripe, and moan without ever DOING one damn thing about it. I suppose it is due to the mentality that ?it?s just a game, it doesn?t really matter, I haven?t lost my house over it.? If a car has a defect and people die, well then OF COURSE there are lawsuits, media coverage, possibly government hearings. These things occur because we the consumers raise a HUGE stink over these problems. The same occurs in other industries where either life is lost or large sums of money is lost. With games this just isn?t the case. None of us gets up in arms over bad games. We just eat the crap sandwich and gripe about the flavor.
Let me say that for all of my lambasting and ranting here that I ENJOY the game SFCIII!! I really do! I have waited and thought long and hard about my compliments and criticisms. I may have spent more space on the criticisms, but it is in the hope of being constructive. The positives are truly enjoyed and I appreciate all of the excellent work that did go into a fun product! While I have a tendency to ?fly off the handle?, I have tried to wait and be give myself time to acclimate to the new game before rendering a final opinion.
In my mind SFCIII screams for SFCIV! Now that we have a stable platform, now that we are able to fleet, now that the servers seem to be more stable, now that the game has been simplified?.. Now is the time to BUILD upon this VERY solid foundation and create a truly great multiplayer combat game based upon Star Trek!
A final thought to all the Taldren employees who take offense at my posting. IF you are upset, IF you are unhappy, IF I have caused you some discomfort at my assault, then??GOOD! It gives me hope that if you are truly wounded by my words here today it is because deep down there is in you some conscience and moral compass that is indicating to you the truth of my words, and this will cause you to strive harder in future endeavors to never again undergo the negative aspects of my letter, and thus hope for greater standards to be held by you in the future.
For those simply mad and upset who don?t want to reflect on the issues I have brought up, a word of advice? ?Take your name off of the product the next time.? You will gain no credit for its creation, but neither will you suffer the sting of honest criticism.
Sincerely,
DrSchreber
PS ? If any of the employees would like for me to call and discuss anything I have brought up here, feel free to send me a private Email with your work number and I WILL call you on my dime and speak to you in person. You made the game, you have EARNED the respect to be faced personally on these issues. (At least, as personally as a couple thousand miles allows
).
Topic: Yin and Yang and Long awaited Patches, Oh MY! (Read 5895 times)