They removed not only the ability to make new user made maps and scenarios but removed all content related to the function saying it would essentially require requiring the game from scratch because no one was left that knew how it worked.

Yeah, that part sucks. I miss it.

Many of the missions have been removed over the years, saying they no longer are good enough quality compared to new content, etc.

I can’t think of a single mission that was removed that I miss. There’s probably one or two, but the few removals there were have been largely beneficial. And the new missions are amazing by comparison.

Everything is a shadow of what it was.

I disagree. I started playing when STO went free to play back around when romulans became playable.

It’s only been in the last 2 years that I started really enjoying the game instead of forcing myself to try because I really wanted star trek SO BAD in an MMO.

The QoL improvements are good, the events are still fun and the rewards are actually worthwhile.

There are handfuls of people in the fleets I’m in that are playing completely f2p thanks to reward ships and event/reputation gear and holding their own, doing good damage in group content, so there ARE plenty of microtransaction options, but they’re not required – just super beneficial if you have the cash.