You have to try it yourself, it seems to be a Love or Hate game. I love it! Finally, Solo player equality!
Not enough content? I suspect this comment is coming from those who grind a game to get to the level max as quickly as possible. While I've been reading the mission story lines and enjoying the plot, I have not encountered any shortage of content. If you click, click click until you start fighting without any care for the story behind the conflict, you're missing a big part of the StarTrek experience. STORY! Now I haven't gotten to endgame content yet, but I've already seen PvP and Fleet actions that would keep me busy after I max level. As well as the fact that I can alt up 3 character classes if I get bored as an Admiral. (A lot more endgame content is on the way)
Boring gameplay? I'll admit that before I got to lvl 11 I was beginning to feel like things were a bit repetitive. After a couple levels beyond 11, I found that the depth of combat strategy just keeps on getting better and better. More abilities and more bridge officers and more customization all lead to a great variety of possibilities during both space and ground combat. It wasn't until I started participating in some of the fleet actions and the PvP that I really started feeling like I was in an MMO with distinct character roles and strategies. The further into the game I get, the more fun I'm having.
Not true to Trek? I'm sad to say I own the complete collection of every Trek series and movie ever made, and I've watched them multiple times.... That said, I know Trek cannon, and Cryptic has not strayed from it in this game that I've seen so far. At first I felt there was too much combat, but then I realized this is like the time of the Dominion war, where you don't get a lot of opportunity to avoid conflict. On top of that, I found later that there is a good amount of non-combat content that I'm sure is going to be expanded on. The atmosphere is a good Trek feel, meaning it could be better but it in no way feels less Trek than ANY other Trek game out there.
Solo players will be happy to know that you will NOT feel like you are at a disadvantage! I've played for the majority of my time Solo (With auto grouping in some instances) and have had a great time achieving everything anyone in a "FLEET" also enjoys. The only possible exception will be the fleet actions where some co-operation and planning is needed. PUG groups going up against the Crystaline Entity are annoyingly pointless since some people seem to enjoy being counter productive or just don't know what they are doing and ruin the efforts of others. An organized group will get more out of these challenging Fleet Actions.
Each and every complaint I hear about the game has some validity but after playing the game (Rather than grinding the game) I've found far more fun and variety in STO than any other MMO released in a good long time.
I think you will get more out of the game if you don't treat it like a WoW grind to max lvl. You have to realize that the fun in the game and the meat of the game is during the levelling and by rushing through it as fast as you can to get to Admiral you're cheating yourself out of the enjoyment of the game. I think it's a refreshing change of pace from typical MMO grind racing.
As all the fanboys will say, the game DOES have great potential and I feel it will get better and better over time.
There are a lot of people who hate the whole game because they didn't get exactly what they wanted... Remember SWG before the devs gave a pile of morons "exactly what they want"? I hope Cryptic does NOT follow that example. I would give the game a 7 / 10 with easy potential for a 9 after a year of growth, but I have to give it a 9 now to balance the moronic 1s and 2s being put up... A large number of those people I see signing back up a few months down the road.
I for one will be playing it for a long time!