Summary[]
This page is a place to collect commentary that would normally be placed onto each individual Event-page, but becomes repetitive if done so... Each event can thus contain links to this page for further commentary after a brief description...
Format Descriptions[]
Three Versions[]
As mentioned in {{EventText02}} the usual place to discuss the three versions, is when describing the difficulty-ratings. Easy, Normal, and eventually Legendary missions each have their own starting-screen from the Events Sequence for that-titled event.
Another set-of-three versions are the three types of Gameplay Styles. Crew battles [C], Ship battles [S], and Diplomacy battles [D] used throughout STWOG...
A third set-of-three versions are the prizes available for winning. First, there are the mission prizes awarded immediately after each win. Usually there are 3 or 4 of these prizes per mission. These prizes require replaying each mission four times. Second, there are the points prizes which are gained by accumulating points for completing the missions. These points-prizes are awarded (as points accumulate) alongside the mission-prizes immediately. To receive the highest-points prizes usually requires some strategy and replaying of some missions more than the typical four times. And lastly, there are the series prizes which are gained near or after the conclusion of the week-long (or 2-wk) event.
Storyline[]
The descriptions of the storyline (in the chart) are just the summary-comments for each mission. The bonus-missions do not advance the storyline, so do not have comments. Any regular missions, when played, will have cut-scenes that flesh out the details of the story. These cut-scenes will help to setup the type of Gameplay required for that mission. Also, the icons are informative and adjust (in realtime) as you play the missions to help you determine your progress.
- C/Character-silhouette = Crew combat (1/2/3 against 1/2/3 characters)
- D/Diplomacy dots+lines = Do-it-yourself (3 colors Green vs 3 colors Red)
- S/Starship icon = Space battle (ship against ship)
The types are represented by the icon beside/inside the glowing circle. If the mission is still locked, the icon is a padlock. The locks are removed and replaced with the C/D/S icons once the timer (to start) has expired and.or the previous missions (following the storyline) are complete. As each mission is completed, the dots (above that mission-icon) will brighten to represent having received that prize. Unfortunately, there are often bugs with the dots that require you to enter the mission-itself to confirm. Also, once a mission has been completed the requisite 4 times, its circle will change from dim-yellow to Full-Yellow (bonus) or from blue to Full-Green (storyline).
While it is usually helpful to just glance at the icons.and.dots to see if you have received all the prizes - a more accurate assessment is to look at the top for the summary. If you see a 20/20 (for missions completed at least once) and a 80/80 (for prizes received from the missions), then you can be fairly sure you have received all of the mission prizes for that event.
Enemies[]
Typically, the enemies you will face in each mission will stay the same. What will change is the evolution.level of the enemy, which will depend upon the difficulty of the series played. Easy and normal.medium enemies should never require the player to need anything higher than tier 1 max characters or starships to defeat them. Legendary.hard enemies stay below tier 2 max and can (thru persistence and luck) be beaten with an appropriate Level 50 character or starship.
For the missions that are character battles [C], each character.opponent is listed in its own sub-area within the mission (separated by a line). For the starship battles [S], the information includes any listed-crew or listed-weapons additions. And lastly for the diplomacy trials [D], the opponent color-strengths are listed which can be mapped against the color-hexagon.
Scoring[]
The scoring chart shows all of the individual mission prizes that you can win, along with the amount of points earned. The points are auto-calculated at +25 per-level for Easy, +50 per-level for Normal, and +75 per-level for Legendary.
As mentioned at Strategy, there is an important issue concerning points: the Level-points listed are the max-amount of points possible per-win. Each time you play a specific-level, the points you can earn to REplay that same-level drops by half - with a 1 hr timer attached. For fastest-play you can play the same level immediately 4 times in a row, but you would only earn 1.0 + 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.125 = 1.875 times the points for your overall score. For best-points, you can play the same-level those same four times but with at least 1-hour wall-time gaps, and you would earn 4 times the points for overall score. Thus, you can earn more-than-double (4 vs. 1.9) the points by delaying your replays of a level.
Using the example of 12 missions and 8 bonus-missions, we would have 20 total missions. The points for winning the first-mission would be 25 for Easy, 50 for Normal, and 75 for Legendary. The points for winning the last-mission would be 500 for Easy, 1000 for Normal, and 1500 for Legendary. For completing all of the missions once, the sum totals would be Easy = 5,250 points, Normal = 10,500 points, and Legendary = 15,750 points. Lastly, if each mission were completed all 4 times (with at least 1-hour delays between wins) the total points would be 21,000, 42,000, and 63,000.
Prizes[]
There are three sets of non-mission-specific prizes available:
- Rewards prizes
- Ranking prizes (actually two sets: individual and alliance)
- Common prizes (aka Mind-meld or 'Thermometer' prizes)
Rewards Prizes[]
These are the main type of points prizes. As you work your way through the missions, collecting the mission-prizes, you are also earning points. These points are SOLO efforts that award you prizes based upon how far you go on your own.
The calculations are fairly straightforward (esp with a spreadsheet), but seem a little obscure during gameplay. As mentioned above in Scoring, the number of points you can earn is consistent. If you can wait the required 1-hour between replaying an event, you will maximize your points-earned. The values below assume you play the missions, in order, as expected.
-- put in a bunch of stuff describing the points-to-earn so that on each mission-page the only item needed is the one prize left to earn... --
Ranking Prizes[]
These are actually series prizes. Even though they are also measured using points, these prizes are awarded at the conclusion of the event. After all of the other players and all of the other alliances have been tallied up, these prizes will be unlocked. During gameplay, you can see how your progress measures-up againt others. Also, you can see how your team/alliance is compared against other teams. However, I have found that there is little-chance to affect this ranking. Since there are so many other players and teams, the ranking you earn is fairly hard to change. Of course, you still will want to earn your points and encourage your team as well...
There are two-sets of ranking-prizes, the solo efforts (labelled Players) and the team efforts (labelled Alliances). At the top of the sub-screen, you will see a star-ranking of both YOU and your team... the subtitle for these prizes are Rewards by position:
These prizes show up within a day (or at most a week) after the event is concluded as a flashcard onscreen, announcing your rankings (and prizes awarded).
'Thermometer' Prizes[]
These are also a series type of prize. These prizes become a mini-game to play/watch during your progress in each event-level.
These prizes are available by clicking on the horizontal thermometer at the top of the Missions-screen for each sequence (easy/normal/legendary). Once you click into the area, you are presented with the opportunity to "mind meld" with all of the players to attain these prizes. Typically, it takes most of the week (or 2) for the thermometer to fill up enough to activate the bottom-button labelled COLLECT. Unless there is a compelling reason to choose a lower-level, it is usually best to wait until the Legendary prizes are available to be collected.
BEWARE: I have found that once the thermometer is active (ie: the prizes are available to be collected for any screen); then it becmones almost impossible to LEAVE the screen without hitting the collect button. So, if the thermometer is full - and you do not-yet want to collect them; then do not enter the area because there is no back-button afaict.
Trivia[]
- Fairly regularly, I have been able to click on COLLECT for the Legendary prizes; and then immediately go to the Normal-section and click again on COLLECT; and then immediately go to the Easy-section and click again on COLLECT. Thus, collecting all three sets of prizes at once. In fact, I think I might have even seen these secondary 'collections' actually doubling their prize outputs !!! OTOH, it is also fairly common to hit COLLECT on one screen and then be denied the ability to Mind-Meld with any of the other-screens. Hence, I always start with the Legendary section, first.
- If you are not going to be available to wait until the Legendary prizes are collectable; then it is still worthwhile to mind-meld with a lower-set of prizes, since they are effectively free to collect.