exploration-clusters
Latest
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's eternal crafting problem
I haven't had the chance to really dive into the new crafting system in Star Trek Online just yet, but I can tell it's certainly a valid effort to revitalize the crafting system for the third time in the game's lifespan, this time with an even more fundamental teardown. Memory Alpha is gone now, along with the exploration clusters that used to provide oh-so-many spots to analyze in the hopes of getting more materials. Back at the start of this year, the column took a look at the state of Star Trek Online's crafting and asked whether there really is a future left for it. After all, crafting as a source of items was up against the fleet stores and reputation items. Could you make something better than those systems without replacing those systems? Would it even be worth it? What could be done to clean up crafting? We've gotten our answer about what will be done, but is it a net benefit for the game as a whole?
Cryptic removes exploration clusters from Star Trek Online
If you were particularly attached to Star Trek Online's exploration clusters, you'll probably want a shoulder to cry on for the next sentence. Cryptic has decided to remove them from the game altogether with this month's Season 9.5. The team explained the rationale behind the decision, saying that while these clusters were created to fill an exploration niche, the end result was too limited and simple. "With the steadily improving quality of mission content available throughout STO as well as our recent efforts to explore more distant parts of the galaxy, exploration clusters have become something we're reluctant to steer new players towards because they are not up to our current standards," Cryptic posted. With the reworking of the crafting system, exploration clusters are no longer needed as crafting mat havens, and so they have reached the end of their usefulness in the game. However, the team said that Foundry users can still whip up player missions that use exploration cluster settings.
