so.. what would change?

its not like leveling takes long....

Without one it will make thing worse. This is number one for UGC system . Could be as simple as adding 30 minute timer. Seem to work for the Nebla quest.

Thats how it was for me. Played CoX for 5 years, enjoyed every minute of it, but found that the AE just brought the zerg out in everyone and brought the game to a point where its was no longer interesting. I left and never looked back.
So if Cryptic does a UGC fro STO, it had better have some really good limitations on what a player can design. Possibly a Dev controlled acceptance process, so we don't end up seeing abunch of Kirk parody missions.

Dev control of user created content is a MUST!!!
Play all the UGC you want on holodeck for 0 XP/merit/stuff for fun if you want to. But the XP/Merit giving content must be manually tested and audited by a dev or a small group of trusted players before it goes live.

When I think of STO, I do not think of power leveling and farming as huge concerns. It is already easy for people to level and the best end game equipment is not hard to get. Is there some part of the game I am missing?

It was also suggested that UGC missions should give no rewards. If there is nothing to gain from the UGC missions, I do not see many players wasting time on them. I know they would need to be really well done for me to do them. What is the difference in turning a possibly abused system into a possibly unused system? There needs to be a balance between reward and effort in the missions.

Maybe add time limits and others requirements for the missions to meet in order for them to give specific types of rewards. Something like enemies need to be a certain difficulty and the missions need to be X amount of minutes. If the mission meets certain requirements, it can give type X whatever as a reward.

I can see some posters have already come up with some suggestions with how to limit UGC. Be it limiting tools, or just special restrictions like no cred for UGC missions(if missions are even on the docket), or just a peer review system.

I'm sure the Dev's would maintain some kind of control mechanism, they aren't going to let us tools, tool up their game.

I am completely for UGC, especially with the Star Trek Community at the proverbial corny helm.

Empowering the players to do work for the Devs to really flesh out the universe will go a long way toward immersion, the galaxy would suddenly become a very large place.

Though, personally, I would rather see other features make their way into the game first. To me UGC is just the frosting, lets get the cake out of the oven first.

I agree this is a tricky subject and something the devs need to put a lot of thought and planning toward.

There are those out there who feel the story itself is the reward. There are also those who won't use it unless there is some kind of in-game reward mechanism. There are those who simply won't use it at all no matter what. It will be quite a challenge for the devs to design a UGC system that provides something for everyone.

I am VERY leery of UGC of the type people are espousing here on the forums. I have never appreciated content developed by players.

The UGC I would like to see is the ability to add to the STO environment through being able to establish settlements on exploration planets, space stations, and via noncombat classes. Wandering through parts of the STO world where people make homes and do things other than the pew pew game play is far more entertaining. It is an infusion of life and living and not poorly crafted inane scenarios that end up being mined.

The only real way I could accept scenarios is if we cannot gain experience in them. They should survive on the merit of being well written and crafted and NOT their value as a method of earning xp.

I'll throw in an option that any UGC that gets popular enough could be turned into a regular mission with XP and all that. Be a great way of promoting the system, getting people interesting in making quality content, and still provide a barrier to prevent someone making an XP farm.

Good point, fair enough. Farming 'missions' are usually dull, easy and short. So, no point to play farming missions without reward. If a mission is popular and played even without reward, that mission is likely to be a really good one.