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AOY - Good for Klingons?
staq16
Member Posts: 1,181 Arc User
So, in all of the hullabaloo about AoY and the fact that it's Fed-centric, it seems to me that the KDF has actually done quite well, but with a big caveat that the faction feels almost premium-format.
The Good:
T6 Temporal D7: Kahless, what a beast! Matt Jefferies' iconic design finally incarnates as the alpha predator it was created as, outclassing the competition in the way that no Klingon cruiser has since the appearance of the Fleet Tor'kaht in 2012. The model's overhaul is not half bad either.
D4 Raider: The Raider we've wanted since 2013, and a canon design to boot.
TOS Costumes: A massive overhaul, plus the ability to give existing Klingons TOS-style heads, all free. Cryptic didn't have to do this and Fed / Rom alts have to pay for TOS uniforms, so a big win here. Klingon ladies have never looked so good.
Kelvin Costumes: Personally I'm a big fan of these. Perhaps Cryptic did need to implement them for the new missions, but the extra work to make them playable is very welcome.
The Battle of Caleb IV: A Fed mission, but one which paints the Klingon Empire well; able to defeat the Federation and outmanoeuvre the Na'kuhl.
The Meh:
Cross-faction ships: We kept asking for a T6 Sci ship, and we got one (and a very natty one at that). Shame it's not very Klingon looking - my Sci will stick with his Korath and Paradox, thanks very much.
TOS Klingon Weapons: We get Disruptor Rifles and starship weapons, but only as while loot drops!
The Bad:
- No C-store temporal Klingon ships. Unless you're willing to pay the big money (either real or in game) no temporal seating on a properly Klingon ship.
The Ironic:
- Fed players complaining they can't get the Intel Dread trait and console without having to buy the whole ship.
- Fed players ranting about the "need" for a no-frills, T5U version of their iconic 23C ship at a reasonable price. Fleet K't'inga, anyone?
So - I don't think it's actually possible to argue that the KDF has been neglected given the inevitable focus on TOS for the anniversary. We've had a lot of neat stuff over the past couple of months, with the major problem being it's largely lockbox / lobi / promo box released. Even then, I have to note that Cryptic didn't need to make those items available; in a truly "kill the KDF" setting, the D4 would have been left as an NPC-quality render, the new uniforms wouldn't have been adapted to player use, and we wouldn't get the new weapons as drops. Even with the AoY event being Fed-focussed, at endgame I don't think you could argue that a 23c Fed character is more themed than their Klingon equivalent. Roms suffer by lacking an affordable TOS ship and having to buy a C-store outfit.
What I will now be interested in seeing is where we go next - will Cryptic keep producing cross-faction ships, or will we see some other faction-specific ships? The D5 and Vor'Cha are both strong candidates to be T6 ships with Temporal seating. Plus, with the apparent end of the Temporal war, it will also be interesting to see how much the Galactic Alliance line gets pushed; immediately after the end of the Iconian War, this time last year, there were some welcome reminders that the Klingons were not yet fluffy bunnies. Hopefully that thread gets picked up on again.
To sum up, it feels to me as if there are still a number of Cryptic staff who *do* give a proverbial about Klingon content, it's just that they're having to sneak it in by the back door. To those unsung heroes of the Empire, my thanks!
The Good:
T6 Temporal D7: Kahless, what a beast! Matt Jefferies' iconic design finally incarnates as the alpha predator it was created as, outclassing the competition in the way that no Klingon cruiser has since the appearance of the Fleet Tor'kaht in 2012. The model's overhaul is not half bad either.
D4 Raider: The Raider we've wanted since 2013, and a canon design to boot.
TOS Costumes: A massive overhaul, plus the ability to give existing Klingons TOS-style heads, all free. Cryptic didn't have to do this and Fed / Rom alts have to pay for TOS uniforms, so a big win here. Klingon ladies have never looked so good.
Kelvin Costumes: Personally I'm a big fan of these. Perhaps Cryptic did need to implement them for the new missions, but the extra work to make them playable is very welcome.
The Battle of Caleb IV: A Fed mission, but one which paints the Klingon Empire well; able to defeat the Federation and outmanoeuvre the Na'kuhl.
The Meh:
Cross-faction ships: We kept asking for a T6 Sci ship, and we got one (and a very natty one at that). Shame it's not very Klingon looking - my Sci will stick with his Korath and Paradox, thanks very much.
TOS Klingon Weapons: We get Disruptor Rifles and starship weapons, but only as while loot drops!
The Bad:
- No C-store temporal Klingon ships. Unless you're willing to pay the big money (either real or in game) no temporal seating on a properly Klingon ship.
The Ironic:
- Fed players complaining they can't get the Intel Dread trait and console without having to buy the whole ship.
- Fed players ranting about the "need" for a no-frills, T5U version of their iconic 23C ship at a reasonable price. Fleet K't'inga, anyone?
So - I don't think it's actually possible to argue that the KDF has been neglected given the inevitable focus on TOS for the anniversary. We've had a lot of neat stuff over the past couple of months, with the major problem being it's largely lockbox / lobi / promo box released. Even then, I have to note that Cryptic didn't need to make those items available; in a truly "kill the KDF" setting, the D4 would have been left as an NPC-quality render, the new uniforms wouldn't have been adapted to player use, and we wouldn't get the new weapons as drops. Even with the AoY event being Fed-focussed, at endgame I don't think you could argue that a 23c Fed character is more themed than their Klingon equivalent. Roms suffer by lacking an affordable TOS ship and having to buy a C-store outfit.
What I will now be interested in seeing is where we go next - will Cryptic keep producing cross-faction ships, or will we see some other faction-specific ships? The D5 and Vor'Cha are both strong candidates to be T6 ships with Temporal seating. Plus, with the apparent end of the Temporal war, it will also be interesting to see how much the Galactic Alliance line gets pushed; immediately after the end of the Iconian War, this time last year, there were some welcome reminders that the Klingons were not yet fluffy bunnies. Hopefully that thread gets picked up on again.
To sum up, it feels to me as if there are still a number of Cryptic staff who *do* give a proverbial about Klingon content, it's just that they're having to sneak it in by the back door. To those unsung heroes of the Empire, my thanks!
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Comments
The highlight for me were the 23rd c. costumes. I think they look fantastic and they were free! After getting my Fed temporal agents underway I decided to make a 23rd century Klingon captain. The adventure I had might not have changed but Volkra and her away team looked the part.
The Kelvin costumes and ship were another unexpected treat. The DX4 is a an industrial hummingbird of destruction and the costumes are almost as nice as the 23rd c. ones. The attention to detail on the ship including hull variations depending on space set are stellar and those pilot abilities are a comfort to my paper thin hull.
The temporal D7 feels like a bit of a white whale. On Fed side I have no interest in saving for a Constitution because there is a wide selection of thematically appropriate ships. My Feds got their TOS styled ships with ease. Because there are no KDF analogues it is the grand prize or go home. I chose to make the themed character so I brought it on myself should I bite the bullet and procure the ship. I have the plan and I'm nearly there but there is a voice in the back of my head telling me to keep the money and roll out a fleet or 5u D7/Ktinga as fun ship.
I'm not complaining though. I understand that this ultimately has to be a Starfleet game before it's a Klingon Empire game. We did get a lot. You're list is proof of that. I have been leveling my Federation human character. Got him up to level 32!
Its true no klingon, but it felt like a cattle prod more then anything else to me at-least. You start a fed character its a grind to get him from LT to LT commander. You run a fed Aoy character you quickly go from Lt to LT commander, and get your first new ship as soon as your done talking to Admiral quinn. It was very quick, the missions in the 23 century, I would say around two maybe three hours of content. This being said it was a good story line. They wrapped some lose ends from the tos series.
As for the KDF getting some nice things, I am not sure I can agree lockboxes/r&d packs are nice things, but I can not deny that it is something.
That caveat probably the oddest part, as faction ships were released as lockbox/"Promotion!" and non-faction as C-Store this round. I wonder if that was incidental, or if it's a deliberate move to focus more on whales for the lower population factions.
Um, I think they released a D7 or something, but no one really noticed.
Oh trust me...I noticed! It dropped from the R&D pack for me very early in the slot machine process and I've been thrilled ever since. Glad to hear that the D4X is very good too, even though I have no desire to get that particular ship.
Though those are two very nice looking ships.
Not feeling anything toward the cross faction ships at all.
I see those as being designed with Feds in mind.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
It's not without precedent but you had to go back to the temporal ships in 2012. And I do wonder if that's the scenario - it remains to be seen if we'll go back to faction-specific Z-store ships. We shall see, I guess...
Amen!
That's what I thought, too, until the other night. I was rerunning "The Core of the Matter" on my TOS Klingon (well, Aliengen TOS Klingon from WAY before AoY), and during the space battle picked up a TOS Disruptor Dual Beam Bank - GREEN - Uncommon - with the DMG mod. I checked the icon against the one in the How to Make a TOS Klingon thread, and tested it as the only weapon on a fighter, so I could hear the sound effect - and it was the FED TOS phaser sound effect, exactly as the aforementioned thread predicted. I got two more White quality weapons in a couple of runs (a TOS-Photon-sounding Plasma Torpedo, and a Disruptor Dual Heavy Cannon), but no more Green quality ones. But I am happy to see that Green ones ARE out there as loot drops. I just wish they were actually not quite so rare.
Too true!
My main is a KDF-allied Rom. If they released the Khenn warbirds (TOS Rom D-7) as a reasonably priced T-5U or T6, I'd be happy. Or that weird 23rd century proto-D'deridex you can see at the start of "The Core of the Matter", that might be cool, too. Best would be a T-5U or regular (non-Temporal) T6 T'Liss in the C-Store. Hell, if they'd just let us costume the T'Varo/Malem as a T'Liss, that would be plenty. Ah, well.
I agree with you - overall, my Klingon is very happy with AoY! And my Gorn was delighted to get a facelift, so he actually looks like a GORN now, instead of a D&D Lizardman. Now if he can just get the TOS Gorn uniform, he'd be set. Oh, and the Gorn ship in the "Shadow of Cestus" mission might make a nice endgame Gorn ship.
Ooh! Thanks for the tip. Since that mission also rewards a TOS Disruptor ground weapon, it would be a good replay one. Actually it's just nice there is at least one cross-faction mission where they drop...
I've come to the conclusion that the best way to get these is to monitor the exchange - I've got a good range of them now, the main problem is (relatively) poor combinations of mods, like Acc x 3 because they're random when upgraded. Ah well, it's still infinitely better than not having the option.
And yes, I agree it would make sense if at least the T5U Fleet K't'inga (or a singularity-powered version) was available to Roms. Seems a shame to leave those glorious graphics stuck as NPC only.
Probably won't see a Blue quality drop until someone actually invents Warp Drive for real, and won't see a Purple before the Dilithium Exchange drops back below 250, but there's always the chance!
The pictured 23C disruptor minigun certainly looks the part...
The mission is called "A Radio Blast From The Past", and is a FED mission set (mostly) aboard a Connie in the TOS era. I played this mission before AoY came out, with ordinary loot results. Now, however, while aboard the Connie repelling boarders, I just got a White Federation Type I Phaser [Wide] Mk XII.
I CERTAINLY didn't expect to find TOS gear dropping in a Foundry mission, even in one set in the 23rd century!
Interesting! Maybe a map tag set by Cryptic? If there's a space map that gives 23C weapons that'd make a great grinder to get the weapons before K-13 goes live and/or is leveled by your Fleet.
I noticed I got TOS drops from 'City on the Edge of Never' today when in the 23C portion, but only ever got TOS drops in the new TOS missions until today. Though, this is the first time doing that mission post-AoY, but missions like 'Everything Old is New' only gave 25C stuff when I ran them on my AoY char weeks ago.