A few years ago, I played STFC for a short time. I quickly found that players with greater resources and time in game made it virtually impossible for a new player to progress unmolested.

Staring this past June 29th, I once again tried the game. The general formula of start from scratch, learn, build and progress has always appealed. I love the space and ship setting and the promise of research toward progress, greater ships, etc. I determined to advance much farther than I had perviously.

I joined an alliance looking for helpful comments and the ability to take on larger challenges. It quickly became apparent that STFC is geared toward Player Vs Player (PVP) with some accomodations to Player Vs Computer (PVE). The game is designed to inundate players with a pay to win agenda. There are constant advertisements to jump quickly through the ranks. It turns out that rules of engagement such as inability to attack players too high above or below you is a total sham as I was repeatedly destroyed by players at level 50s and 60s to my levels between 14 and 35 while I could not attack players with much smaller differences above or below my own. The whys and wherefores never added up.

Additionally, though a daily list delivered certain resource freebies, the glacially slow advancement was only improved by playing hours on end with constant promise of freebies that were marginal at best. In spite of all this, I persevered to level 35 and was close to level 36. I had succumbed to limited purchases. It seemed each level of progress became increasing hard to get and resources grudgingly given as smaller and smaller percentages specifically designed to push purchases.

At this point, I was accused of addiction to the game. I argued I decided how much time to spend and only purchase when sufficiently productive and not on a regular basis. I played the game because I loved certain aspects and was willing to do the day to day grind. There were players in the alliance whose daily chatter was bemoaning the constant grind. There were players who spent consistently and became bullies that attempted, and succeeded in many cases, to prevent lower players from progressing.

In the end, I decided to stop playing and delete my account which presented dire warnings as to no ability to revert that decision. PVP could only be avoided by constant play as shielding was only available if one earned certain resources. Any stop in playing would eventually result in loss of shielding and destruction via PVP players.

Partly due to accusations of addiction and partly due to being forced to play to avoid PVP, I decided to delete my account. I will go back to games that do not force such hours and conditions. I would only return to such a game if there were PVE only servers and rules of engagement that were properly followed. The only similar game I had tried was EVE but way back when I tried it I still encountered the bully players and would likely find it much the same as STFC. For now I have returned to Civilization VI which I can play whenever I feel like it with no penalties and Skyrim which is completely PVE.

Happy (or Not) Gaming !