Tarasa Update Analysis and Reaction
This expansion has been out for only a few hours and it's already started taking fire from the community. While I'm generally a supporter of STS, even I have to admit there are a few glaring problems. This post is based on preliminary information, and will be updated as I gather more info.
Equipment: The Tarasa equipment is similar to the Crusade items that came before it. The Scorn weapons have been replaced by UC colonial hardware, but the armor remains the same. There are also new implants, which are still inferior to the plat store implants from three expansions ago. I've yet to see any of the retro armor mentioned in the announcement, but I assume it is there somewhere. The plat store has received new items, specifically an updated version of the plat armor from Voleria, which while not the new design people were hoping for, is okay. However, the fact that its laughably underpowered (my purple crusade gear beats it by a substantial margin) is not. New shields are still MIA, and the Tarasa pistols are rifles lack the armor boost of class weapons, making pistol+shield or rifle loadouts dangerous at best and suicidal at worst (though I've seen people trying both, for some unfathomable reason). However, the weapon design contest gear has been added, which is a nice touch. All in all, Tarasa equipment is ok, but lacks the innovation that defined Crusade.
Mobs: This expansion ramps up the difficultly of mobs, perhaps too much so. The Vular drones aren't that bad, but the tanks are extremely hard to take out, as their self-healing rate exceeds the amount of damage the average party can dish out. Worst of all are the Biomech bosses, who are just as absurdly tough as their Crusade ancestor, Durrex. The balance seems to be favoring high level parties (much like Crusade), but the balance is off a little bit, and its very hard to fight them at low levels. And the Biomechs could stand to be dialed back a few notches.
Meta-game: Crusade changed the meta-game by bring class weapons back into use (aside from the occasional pistol+shield holdout and napalm users). Tarasa tried to force players to work together as a team, but fell short. The lack of stimpacks (not in itself a problem) means engineers are vital parts of a party, but the auto-healing tanks force a team to have a large number of commando and operatives in order to deal with the huge health regen of the tanks and fend off the crowds of vular drones that accompany the tanks. striking a balance between the two is something of challenge. Adding onto the difficulty, Tarasa is evidently designed to encourage players to cooperate and coordinate, something that the SL interface is not designed to allow. There's a line between "hardcore" and "masochistic", and Tarasa seems to be on the wrong side of it.
Level design: The new maps are pretty good, expanding upon the initial design of STS-25 as seen in Crusade. The health stations are a nice touch, but are positioned so far away from the main combat zones that they are only useful for post-battle recover, not the mid-fight pick-me-up that they were likely intended for. The inclusion of crates that drop leveled loot is a nice touch, since the STS-25 level from Crusade lacked them. The one problem I have is that the mob starting locations are often too close to the player spawn. almost every time I join a game, I get tossed into a seething mass of vular and players pounding on each other, and several times I've been killed before I can get my buffs cast and return fire.
Other: Crusade felt like remake expansion, going back to old stomping ground and revitalizing them with new content. It added new mechanics like the death tornadoes and drone followers (I never said they were universally beloved mechanics), and pushed the envelope for what could be done. It didn't push much, but it did push. Tarasa feels like a rush job. I don't mind the recycled mobs, maps, and gear (If I did, I would've quite playing STS games a long time ago). The problem is that there are so many little issues that come up. The number of available quests hasn't changed since Crusade, and the only new achievement that I can find is the one for reaching lvl 50, the others (for completing all maps, beating the boss, ect) are missing. The NPCs handing out vanities for reaching the level cap are gone, and the galaxy map hasn't been updated to include Tarasa (or Crusade, for that matter). None of the staple features from other games (daily rewards, allies, ect) were added. Tarasa seems more like a few levels and some new items to get people interested in the next expansion (like the UCS Savant), rather than being a full expansion in its own right. Cahaun and I made several comparisons to Alien Oasis in the "What would REALLY improve Star Legends?" thread, and to continue that analogy, Tarasa comes across as a weak version the first section of Alien Oasis. There are hints of larger things, but its hard to tell if there really is anything else planned.
Conclusion: I think very highly of STS, and try to think the best of them. That's why I hope Tarasa is the lead-up to something bigger and better, because right now it looks a lot like STS just threw something together to satisfy the people who have been whining about the lack of content. I don't want that to be the case, because it shows very little regard for STS's customers If it that is the case, I would have preferred it if STS had gone out and said "listen, we're really busy with AL right now. We haven't forgotten SL, and we've been working on a brand new update. However, its going to be while until we can release it, so we put something together to tide you over until then". People respect honest and forthrightness, but they hate feeling like someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
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