(Sarcasmdetector in a happy, motivated mood? The end is nigh.)
Maria aka zeroniusrex: lead producer
- lots of stuff hasn't been released on Tribble yet
- they have plans for the game till 2018.
- what expansion would you like to see next?
Carassians are a possibility. She would like to see an expansion that is completely our own (not relying on any ST series) but doesn't think such an expansion is likely to come. - Which one of the Star Trek series is your favorite?
TOS. Star Trek is an action show. Explore, seduce or kill. - Are there more people doing voice over for STO?
She's not saying. - Event rewards and unlocks soon to be account wide?
They have been talking about it but they don't want to devalue the effort people put into getting them when the original event took place. Discussions are still going on. - What you think about moving cannon abilities down a rank?
She thinks that's a good point but doesn't want to answer. - Any carriers coming up for Romulan and Klingon players?
They are too busy right now to do somthing simular to the Jupiter project for Klingons and Romulans. Maybe later this year. - Additional functionality for BOFFS planned (temporal BOFF)?
Who knows, maybe?
Revamps: - Are there any plans to revamp any social zones?
They want to revamp DS9, they even started on it but there wasn't enough time to complete it. Their plan is to revamp all social zones in time.
KDF/Rom: - How many of the Devs play Fed/Rom/Klingon
Most of them are playing Fed. - What would you do to improve the Klingon experience, to motivate more players into making a Klingon char?
Episode parity, but it would take too long and use up too many ressources (half a year that would have to be spend on making Klingon content exclusively). It's not a realistic path.
If they went solely by the numbers they would probably never release any Klingon (or Romulan) specific content/ships. But they are trying to give those factions something from time to time anyway.
Agents of Yesterday: - Is the TOS faction gonna be seperate from the Fed faction? Are the ships from the TOS ship pack exclusive to that faction?
TOS ships are exclusive to the TOS faction and cannot be used by Feds. Eternal and Outoboros class are for everyone. - Are console players getting the same game as PC players?
Yes. But the UI and controls will be different.
- they are concentrating on TOS content, not TAS content
- she doesn't think Caitans from TAS would work well in STO (from an artstyle perspective), and they don't want to give TAS Caitians a visual upgrade
- the TOS faction is like the Romulan faction except you cannot chose the Klingon side
Foundry: - Of all of the additions which one is your favorite? (proudest to have worked on)
The foundry. - Are there plans to add Unimatrixes, dreadnoughts, gateways, bosses and other stationary objects to the foundry?
Those assets are ignoring the standard AI and working according to a scripted routine. Therefore it is difficult to bring them into the foundry. She would love to do it but its gonna be a lot of work. - any official content planed to help people learning how to do things in the foundry?
No. They are relying on playergroups to teach new players. - Is it possible to add a little window to the foundry with links to people or groups that can help you taking the first steps?
No direct in-game link possible. But they could create a help page with references and links to the specific groups. - Could the people in charge of the foundry do some tutorial videos?
No. People who were in charge moved on. - Will console players have access to the foundry?
No, but some foundry missions might be brought to consoles. - What's the future of the foundry?
Foundry support is scheduled but has a low priority compared to all the other content that is coming. Na'kuhl, Krenim and TOS assets are coming to the foundry but if something comes up it has to be delayed. - Is the foundry ever gonna come out of Beta?
Yes.
Lag: - Is there anything that is being done that you can communicate to the playerbase? What are the causes?
FPS and lag are often mixed up by players and therefore tracking down the problem becomes difficult since different systems are concerned.
They have to update their engine for time to time which is gonna impact performance on older PCs.
They are still identifying powers that cause performance issues.
They are actively working at it all the time. - Is there anything the playerbase can do?
Be very precise in your reports. Tell them the symptoms, not what you think is the cause. - After a very active phase communication in this matter has stopped almost entirely, why?
They were very busy with the expansion and the console release and just couldn't find the time. She admits that this was a mistake and should not have happened.
Console port: - Is the community management gonna be expanded?
It's PWE's responsibility. She doesn't know. - Will console players be able to PvP?
Most likely yes.
- No foundry on console.
- Console and PC are not gonna be able to play together. It is set in stone at least for launch. Cross platform play is difficult to achieve and would require lots of ressources dedicated to it. Global chat would be another issue since it runs on a seperate server.
Queues: -Why can't we have Elite queues?
It's a lot of work but it's something they want to tackle. They want them to be challenging, not just a DPS race. - No Win Scenario, any updates?
It was removed because it no longer was a no-win-scenario. They want to bring it back but are not going to until they have turned it into a no-win-scenario once again. No concrete plans as of yet.
Armada system:
- Any plans on improving the system (XP bonus applying to critter kills only, donations from players to other fleets not trackable)?
If she knew she wouldn't be able to tell. Nothing in the near term.
PvP:
- Any sorts of improvements planed?
Something they are always discussing. They know it's important and they want to work on it. There are tentative plans but nothing concrete.
(Sorry if I missed a few points but I kind of had to do several things at the same time.)
THANKS szim!!!
Next time please DO NOT post a PODCAST without the written consent of szim....official transcriber
Good podcast, if a bit long - but it was fairly informative as well, so it's a trade off.
I will say that it was really hard to understand the more soft spoken guy asking the majority of the questions without turning the audio way up, but when she talked it nearly blew out my speakers. A bit of equalization might be nice next time is all I'm saying.
Otherwise, good show. Thanks for putting it out there.
I don't think I can listen to 3hrs of 'CUDDLY EPOHHS!' girl... I want to hear the info but 15min in and my ears are beginning to bleed....
it's your loss. there is a lot of info
Im an hour and a half in now and I think my ears may never stop bleeding.... and Maria has gone on my poodoo list for her opinion that TOS was about 'seeking out new life and seducing or killing it' explains so much about STO's direction... -.-
So, exactly how many episodes weren't resolved by Kirk snogging, punching or shooting something again ?
many, but one must also remember NBC basically required a fistfight per episode, they wanted the 'Wagon Train to the Stars' Gene sold em on... Remember how the first pilot failed because it was not violent enough? :P
Everyone takes something different away from a series. For me TOS was about showing us metaphors for the world they had in the 60s and how to do better, how Humans in general, could be better. IMO Gene was far too optimistic about our race's ability to move above our nature, but that's a separate issue. For another person I know TOS was all about "possibilities". That miss Rosseu saw it as pew pew snog, is disappointing to me but also helps illuminate many things about STO.
Regardless of what the intention was, or of the outside factors, her assessment of what the show was is correct.
Let's not forget that Gene tried to do his utopia for TNG and it wasn't really that great. The writers couldn't write without some conflict, and Gene didn't want anyone even raising their voices. So that's why he was basically removed from things.
Of course, Star Trek is many things to many people, but I think even regardless of the fight scenes and Kirk's inability to keep it in his pants, the show left us with a sense that "this is a better world to strive for", so Gene got his wish ultimately.
As for how much violence and destruction there is in STO...of course there is. It's a game. Aside from maybe Minecraft, there's not been a hugely successful game that hasn't had action and blowing stuff up in it. Could STO do with a bit more choice and some diplomatic options, absolutely. But really I don't think this game would still be around (and expanding, and converting to consoles) if it wasn't mostly the game that it is.
(...)
- she doesn't think Caitans from TAS would work well in STO (from an artstyle perspective), and they don't want to give TAS Caitians a visual upgrade(...)
That simply doesn't make the least bit of sense...
But thanks @szim for taking notes, and I have to say from what I read the quality of the interview is way above P1 even finding time to ask some "difficult" questions. Well done.
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
@angrytarg Maria said they wanted to make AoY characters too look like the old TOS show. A cartoony looking Catian from TAS wouldn't make sense.
Why does it have to look "cartoony"? What's wrong with the one currently in the game, that doesn't look too cartoony but more like the ones in the movies. And that's perfectly okay. I don't understand how they can believe putting something from TAS in the game means it has to be in bright colours and appearantly two dimensional...
But I might follow a misconception. I assume we are supposed to play "Star Trek" in the fictional Star Trek universe. But if Cryptic wants us to play actors in a TV show they should also act a door we pass to find caterers and stage hands on break...
^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
"No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
"A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
"That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
@angrytarg Maria said they wanted to make AoY characters too look like the old TOS show. A cartoony looking Catian from TAS wouldn't make sense.
Why does it have to look "cartoony"? What's wrong with the one currently in the game, that doesn't look too cartoony but more like the ones in the movies. And that's perfectly okay. I don't understand how they can believe putting something from TAS in the game means it has to be in bright colours and appearantly two dimensional...
But I might follow a misconception. I assume we are supposed to play "Star Trek" in the fictional Star Trek universe. But if Cryptic wants us to play actors in a TV show they should also act a door we pass to find caterers and stage hands on break...
@angrytarg It's probably best if you listen to the podcast. Maria explains it best and it's probably better if you get the info from the source rather than a few paraphrased excerpts. I know 3 hours may be long but it's actually a good show.
KDF/Rom: 1- How many of the Devs play Fed/Rom/Klingon
Most of them are playing Fed. 2- What would you do to improve the Klingon experience, to motivate more players into making a Klingon char?
Episode parity, but it would take too long and use up too many resources (half a year that would have to be spend on making Klingon content exclusively). It's not a realistic path.
If they went solely by the numbers they would probably never release any Klingon (or Romulan) specific content/ships. But they are trying to give those factions something from time to time anyway.
1) I think that is very, very painfully obvious at this point...thanks for asking it anyway.
2) Would that be taking into account the whole cross-faction console thing?
Episode parity was needed but not at the cost of distinction.
I think Feds migrating over to Redside was going to be eventual, now what's the incentive to do so if there isn't a real distinction?
My .02EC anyway.
I am saddened that the geko-ism doesn't seem to have a foil.
NO to ARC RIP KDF and PvP 2014-07-17 Season 9.5 - Death by Dev
Comments
THANKS szim!!!
Next time please DO NOT post a PODCAST without the written consent of szim....official transcriber
Good podcast, if a bit long - but it was fairly informative as well, so it's a trade off.
I will say that it was really hard to understand the more soft spoken guy asking the majority of the questions without turning the audio way up, but when she talked it nearly blew out my speakers. A bit of equalization might be nice next time is all I'm saying.
Otherwise, good show. Thanks for putting it out there.
Regardless of what the intention was, or of the outside factors, her assessment of what the show was is correct.
Let's not forget that Gene tried to do his utopia for TNG and it wasn't really that great. The writers couldn't write without some conflict, and Gene didn't want anyone even raising their voices. So that's why he was basically removed from things.
Of course, Star Trek is many things to many people, but I think even regardless of the fight scenes and Kirk's inability to keep it in his pants, the show left us with a sense that "this is a better world to strive for", so Gene got his wish ultimately.
As for how much violence and destruction there is in STO...of course there is. It's a game. Aside from maybe Minecraft, there's not been a hugely successful game that hasn't had action and blowing stuff up in it. Could STO do with a bit more choice and some diplomatic options, absolutely. But really I don't think this game would still be around (and expanding, and converting to consoles) if it wasn't mostly the game that it is.
That simply doesn't make the least bit of sense...
But thanks @szim for taking notes, and I have to say from what I read the quality of the interview is way above P1 even finding time to ask some "difficult" questions. Well done.
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Why does it have to look "cartoony"? What's wrong with the one currently in the game, that doesn't look too cartoony but more like the ones in the movies. And that's perfectly okay. I don't understand how they can believe putting something from TAS in the game means it has to be in bright colours and appearantly two dimensional...
But I might follow a misconception. I assume we are supposed to play "Star Trek" in the fictional Star Trek universe. But if Cryptic wants us to play actors in a TV show they should also act a door we pass to find caterers and stage hands on break...
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
@angrytarg It's probably best if you listen to the podcast. Maria explains it best and it's probably better if you get the info from the source rather than a few paraphrased excerpts. I know 3 hours may be long but it's actually a good show.
My character Tsin'xing
1) I think that is very, very painfully obvious at this point...thanks for asking it anyway.
2) Would that be taking into account the whole cross-faction console thing?
Episode parity was needed but not at the cost of distinction.
I think Feds migrating over to Redside was going to be eventual, now what's the incentive to do so if there isn't a real distinction?
My .02EC anyway.
I am saddened that the geko-ism doesn't seem to have a foil.
RIP KDF and PvP 2014-07-17 Season 9.5 - Death by Dev
This just gave me the idea for for my AoY character, Jay of Jay and Silent Bob fame...
"I could be an astronaut... I'd like to meet new species, and (edited) People would see me and say, "See that guy over there? He (edited)... Martian"
Other guy: "So what did you get pulled over for?"
Jay: "Suspicion of mischief" (Orions lifeless arm dangling out of the trunk of the car)