That depends on the branch however for, say the US Army, the highest possible rank would be a gold four star general which is known as General of the Armies. It has only been given out twice in its existence and you could consider it to be in disuse (though it still officially exists) since the last time was 1918.
Outside of making miracles which would be required to obtain that rank there is the second highest rank for the US Army which is five silver stars and called General of the Army. This rank can only be earned in war time and very few ever achieve it.
Outside of war time the normally highest possible rank you can achieve is four silver stars. This would simply be General. It takes no special feats to reach this rank, however you'd usually be lucky to do so as the higher in rank you go the less people there are in your grade. The few people that share your rank, and thus compete with you for the next rank, are generally career officers and will only leave once they die or retire.
But that rank shouldn't much be considered as it is in extreme disuse. Even five stars was much more commonly obtained. And again, it does in fact depend on the branch. Not all branches have grade equivalents. To say nothing of the possible different naming scheme. Only two branches hold that special rank, whereas only three hold the special five star rank.
General of the Armies. It's only been awarded to two people in U.S. military history and it was specified to have authority over all services and forces.
I should have guessed you were using a European rank lol.
You said you had never heard of Field Marshal and I have never heard of General of the Armies unitll now, thanks for sharing man. LoL
Also I have something interesting to share with you and everyone else, that is quite cool and backs up my Rank Structure for the Klingons.
In the Klingon Article on Wikipedia, it states "As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were darkly colored humanoids with little honor, intended as an allegory to the then-current Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not aspire to any political parallels".
Which basically means that the Klingons were based on the Russians, I've always kind of known this, but I have never bothered to look into it.
It's also quite easy to see that most alien races in Star Trek are based on a human culture, there are also many aspects of human nature that have been singled out and used to create a new alien species.
Take the Ferengi for example, appart from their looks, all of their traits can be found within human nature, greed being the obvious choice.
Anyway back on topic, I did a little further research and it turns out that the Russians used the Rank of Marshal and the Wikipedia Article states that "both Marshal of the Soviet Union and General of the Army ranks can be considered equal to the foreign rank of Field Marshal or the U.S. rank of General of the Army, leaving a Soviet Marshal as a largely honorary rank".
Intriguing, even though the Russian Rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union slightly differs from the Rank of Field Marshal, in principle, they are the equivilent of each other.
You said you had never heard of Field Marshal and I have never heard of General of the Armies unitll now, thanks for sharing man. LoL
Also I have something interesting to share with you and everyone else, that is quite cool and backs up my Rank Structure for the Klingons.
In the Klingon Article on Wikipedia, it states "As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were darkly colored humanoids with little honor, intended as an allegory to the then-current Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not aspire to any political parallels".
Which basically means that the Klingons were based on the Russians, I've always kind of known this, but I have never bothered to look into it.
It's also quite easy to see that most alien races in Star Trek are based on a human culture, there are also many aspects of human nature that have been singled out and used to create a new alien species.
Take the Ferengi for example, appart from their looks, all of their traits can be found within human nature, greed being the obvious choice.
Anyway back on topic, I did a little further research and it turns out that the Russians used the Rank of Marshal and the Wikipedia Article states that "both Marshal of the Soviet Union and General of the Army ranks can be considered equal to the foreign rank of Field Marshal or the U.S. rank of General of the Army, leaving a Soviet Marshal as a largely honorary rank".
Intriguing, even though the Russian Rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union slightly differs from the Rank of Field Marshal, in principle, they are the equivilent of each other.
Interesting, I didn't know they had a Soviet relation to them. When I first saw the Romulans in TNG however my first thoughts were of the USSR...a race that lurked in the shadows for decades with cloaks, maintaining an uneasy peace.
I suppose I'll let the Europeans have their Marshal rank, unless there's interest in calling it Field Marshal or something. The U.S. equivalent seems too grandiose of a title for gameplay.
I, personally don't want more ranks (just yet). But rather, I'd like to see LTJG returned to its spot and for the current cap to level out at Captain. Then I want the ranks to be much harder to get to. As it is there are more Admirals flying around then anything else.
Gaining Rank (no just level) should be an accomplishment and should require doing certain missions, gaining a certain amount of medals/awards, and should consist of a lot more levels than it currently does.
In essence, what you're saying is what a lot of people have already said. While we do want there to be more ranks, right now we just want the current ranks re-geared or 'moved down the ladder' a bit. For example, in the place of Admiral would Captain; in the place of Ensign could still be Ensign (with updated ranks as per canon inbetween). As it stands a few inbetween ranks are left out, LT JG, RDML, RADM to say nothing of ranks below Ensign (that's a whole different issue I think). In short I think we'd like to see the same amount of ranks available as right now with the current limit at Captain, basically.
And I do agree that flag officer ranks should be an achievement. While I do appreciate the idea of removing grinding, sometimes it is needed, else you end up with everyone at the end game (and they camp low level areas like Starbase 24 ). While in a lot of games that do have grind, you can still reach end game in a number of days, most people don't. I certainly don't like the idea of 'ok you're an admiral now, that's it' the journey is far too fast and too short. I've gone out of my way to slow leveling down so that I could enjoy it longer but it still seems to be much too fast to me.
I might not try to slow it down so much but the few character slots is all the more reason I feel like it is much too fast. When you have only two slots and thus two characters then what? You get two admirals and then what do you do? I understand the game is still new and all but sometimes I really think there should be something like four slots as default. Even though I have four slots from lifetime I keep putting off playing because I don't know what I'll do once I fill all four with admirals...
Adding more ranks would somewhat alleviate this but overall I do agree that they should be much more difficult to obtain. If there's one thing I want above all else it'd be to slow the leveling process down. I could go on about this for a while but I think I've been pretty clear about how I feel personally.
Generally i am already annoyed that everyone is an admiral , its dumb with the game mechanics . Sure you are an admiral but you only have 1 shipin your armarda . Why they didnt put LT junior grade in and leave everyone as captain is beyond me .
Interesting, I didn't know they had a Soviet relation to them. When I first saw the Romulans in TNG however my first thoughts were of the USSR...a race that lurked in the shadows for decades with cloaks, maintaining an uneasy peace.
I suppose I'll let the Europeans have their Marshal rank, unless there's interest in calling it Field Marshal or something. The U.S. equivalent seems too grandiose of a title for gameplay.
Thanks ZS,
I was thinking, Cryptic could go with Fleet Marshal, rather than Field Marshal or perhaps Star Marshal, they both have a nice sounding ring to them, all three are more Klingon than Fleet Admiral.
Although I do think Star Marshal would really suit the Romulans, even though Shaddam continues to make little sence, he has finally offered up some good feedback, thank you Shaddam!
Also, there has never been a canon equivilent to Fleet Admiral for the Klingons or the Romulans, so it can be whatever sounds like it should be, what do you think?
As for it being possible, all Cryptic has to do is rename the first 6 Ranks.
Ensign Stays Ensign.
Lieutenant changed to Lieutenant Junior Grade.
Lieutenant Commander changed to Lieutenant.
Commander changed to Lieutenant Commander.
Captain changed to Commander.
Rear Admiral changed to Captain.
Sure, I'd love to be demoted through no fault of my own :rolleyes:
I'm against this idea; Cryptic should instead devote their efforts toward fixing bugs and making endgame content that I can actually beat (read: not infected/cure)
Sure, I'd love to be demoted through no fault of my own :rolleyes:
I'm against this idea; Cryptic should instead devote their efforts toward fixing bugs and making endgame content that I can actually beat (read: not infected/cure)
Hello there, AzureAlliance you did not mention why you oppose the suggestions within this thread, and are nothing but negligent and sarcastic.
I find your post insulting as well as rude to say the least and Cryptic have already devoted there efforts to finding bugs, fixing bugs and creating more content for those who seek the "endgame" when really in Star Trek, there is no "endgame", but you seem to have missed the principle in this thread, it is all about the future and this means that Cryptic can do both, short-term, Mid-term and Long-term!
Without the suggestions within this thread as well as threads that discuss Diplomacy and mini games etc, you're going to be stuck repeating the same STF missions and repeating dailies, Fleet Actions etc, with nothing else to do, no variation in Gameplay. You'll have no advancement, no expansions, limited content and no future!
The "Demotion Feature" suggested within this thread is also a work in progress and in the end, it would be the players choice to initiate an action that causes the effect of a demotion in rank, so the player has a choice.
Hello there, AzureAlliance you did not mention why you oppose the suggestions within this thread, and are nothing but negligent and sarcastic.
I find your post insulting as well as rude to say the least and Cryptic have already devoted there efforts to finding bugs, fixing bugs and creating more content for those who seek the "endgame" when really in Star Trek, there is no "endgame", but you seem to have missed the principle in this thread, it is all about the future and this means that Cryptic can do both, short-term, Mid-term and Long-term!
Without the suggestions within this thread as well as threads that discuss Diplomacy and mini games etc, you're going to be stuck repeating the same STF missions and repeating dailies, Fleet Actions etc, with nothing else to do, no variation in Gameplay. You'll have no advancement, no expansions, limited content and no future!
The "Demotion Feature" suggested within this thread is also a work in progress and in the end, it would be the players choice to initiate an action that causes the effect of a demotion in rank, so the player has a choice.
Rude? Welcome to the Internet. Get used to it.
You come up with ideas, and someone is bound to want to see to those ideas to never be implemented. For now, that someone is me.
As for our squabble, the underlying gist of what I'm saying is that this isn't worth Cryptic's time and resources imo. I don't feel that Cryptic should 'do both', as you put it. I thought that would be apparent without me explicitly saying so, but apparently not.
All Cryptic has to do to provide advancement is just raise the level cap without having to implement your ideas- new content can fit at RA10. New content can even fit in now; Cryptic just comes up with a new mission with a unique set of marks, or just come up with a new mission with the current set of marks- oh wait. They did. The Cure is out. Advancement is available! And even better, this fits within the existing framework, saving Cryptic a lot of time and effort compared to this frivoulous and wasteful idea.
There's also the problem of coming up with new ships for all your extra ranks, as well as additional BO powers (gotta have your BOs keep up with you, yes?). Not to mention the extra headache that goes along with having to slog thru all those extra levels to clear. And Cryptic would need to come up with more missions to fill those levels, further wasting Cryptic's time and resources! But there's another problem with leveling missions- you're interested in them once, to get the skill points, and then you don't go back. Endgame is different- and make no mistake, this is a mainstream MMO, there is an endgame (albeit small). I want to go back to B'Tran/Infected/Cure each day and fill out my ships and crew with the greatest purples there are. But I am not interested in going back and completing the (still-bugged) Patrol the Vulcan Sector mission from Sulu- there's no point. Content like B'Tran (and Infected/Cure) makes me keep coming back for more. Leveling content doesn't do that.
Maybe you've come up with countermeasures to these problems, and maybe you haven't; this thread is well within TLDR range. It's not worth my time to read it all, even if it is 3AM as I type this and the thread is mostly quotes.
I didn't come to STO to have my nose dragged thru the muck of leveling. I came to STO to blow things up in whatever ship I happen to favor at the moment and enjoy myself. Leveling isn't fun. Endgame content is what I'm here for. You are proposing more leveling- even a demotion, for the Prophets' sake! This is why I'm ardently against you.
I'm not going to play STO, the endless, grindy leveling struggle, as you would have it. I'm playing STO, the Borg-killing game of phat lewt and epic battles, as STO currently stands.
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TLDR/@Cryptic: Don't implement this thread, because leveling isn't fun. Just fix the bugs and expand the end game like you've been planning this whole time.
You come up with ideas, and someone is bound to want to see to those ideas to never be implemented. For now, that someone is me.
As for our squabble, the underlying gist of what I'm saying is that this isn't worth Cryptic's time and resources imo. I don't feel that Cryptic should 'do both', as you put it. I thought that would be apparent without me explicitly saying so, but apparently not.
All Cryptic has to do to provide advancement is just raise the level cap without having to implement your ideas- new content can fit at RA10. New content can even fit in now; Cryptic just comes up with a new mission with a unique set of marks, or just come up with a new mission with the current set of marks- oh wait. They did. The Cure is out. Advancement is available! And even better, this fits within the existing framework, saving Cryptic a lot of time and effort compared to this frivoulous and wasteful idea.
Your OP did not state any reason why you opposed these suggestions, it is worth Cryptics time IMO and at least in another 80 other players opinions, you are however entitled to your opinion. So you only "feel" that Cryptic should implement the current style of "endgame" content missions and fix bugs, nothing else? Well they should be finished with that in about 2 months time, there will however always be bugs with each new update, but where does Cryptic take the game once all of the bugs have been fixed and you find your self bored of just blowing things up, repeating the same missions daily?
There's also the problem of coming up with new ships for all your extra ranks, as well as additional BO powers (gotta have your BOs keep up with you, yes?).
Problem of coming up with new ships, Cryptic are a digital computer games developer, it's what they do, and no, Bridge Officers will not necessarily have to rank up as the player does, they could quite easily be locked in rank at Commander or even Captain, some players like the idea of having BOffs command their own ships with AI.
Not to mention the extra headache that goes along with having to slog thru all those extra levels to clear. And Cryptic would need to come up with more missions to fill those levels, further wasting Cryptic's time and resources! But there's another problem with leveling missions- you're interested in them once, to get the skill points, and then you don't go back. Endgame is different- and make no mistake, this is a mainstream MMO, there is an endgame (albeit small). I want to go back to B'Tran/Infected/Cure each day and fill out my ships and crew with the greatest purples there are. But I am not interested in going back and completing the (still-bugged) Patrol the Vulcan Sector mission from Sulu- there's no point. Content like B'Tran (and Infected/Cure) makes me keep coming back for more. Leveling content doesn't do that.
Well you've obviously survived the "headache" you received from progressing from Ensign to Rear Admiral, there are only 5 more ranks I am suggesting they add sometime in the future, and the benefits of progressing up the ladder, would be more content basically, unlimited content when compared to the current restraints of the game. The ranks don't even need to be patched in all at the same time; they could get patched in once every 6 months or once a year, who knows.
It's also not true that players are only interested in "endgame" content and are not interested in returning to previous missions or interested in exploring or doing anything other than "endgame" content.
Many players enjoy the levelling system, and anything that should be earned in life or in game, has to be worked towards, so it seems to me that you simply do not wish to put any work into the game, to get what you want out of it.
Also, if the other 5 grades for the current Rear Admiral rank were in place, they could then raise the skill cap, and you would then be earning XP and levelling from completing STF "endgame" missions, so you have no relevant point here. Either way, by which ever means you choose to go about it, once the Grades and / or ranks are implemented, you will be earning XP for your completion of whatever part of the game you choose to take part in.
I didn't come to STO to have my nose dragged thru the muck of leveling. I came to STO to blow things up in whatever ship I happen to favor at the moment and enjoy myself. Leveling isn't fun. Endgame content is what I'm here for. You are proposing more leveling- even a demotion, for the Prophets' sake! This is why I'm ardently against you.
I'm not going to play STO, the endless, grindy leveling struggle, as you would have it. I'm playing STO, the Borg-killing game of phat lewt and epic battles, as STO currently stands.
Even if my suggestions were to be implemented, you could simply choose to stay at your current level in game and rerun the same STF missions over and over again, blow as much up as you want. So that's your issue solved easily, while everyone else who wants my suggestions in, can progress and enjoy the future potential content that comes with it.
The "Demotion Feature" would be optional, potentially and it wouldn't be a bad thing, it would be a progressive demotion, rather than regressive, but you obviously don't care to hear any details.
So I'll just say thank you for your feedback and good bye.
As for it being possible, all Cryptic has to do is rename the first 6 Ranks.
Ensign Stays Ensign.
Lieutenant changed to Lieutenant Junior Grade.
Lieutenant Commander changed to Lieutenant.
Commander changed to Lieutenant Commander.
Captain changed to Commander.
Rear Admiral changed to Captain.
Then all they have to do is rename all that is associated with the ranks that have had name changes. So nothing would actually be changed in the game other than the Rank names and what Abilities and Items were associated with those Ranks, so lets say for example... Abilities associated with the Rank of Rear Admiral, that Rank would be changed to Captain, so then those abilities would be associated with the Rank of Captain.
Mate, that would be just awesome! I'd go with that at any given time!
The Rank of Commodore is in the OP, the rank is the equivilent to teh rank of Rear Admiral Lower Half, and was phased out of Star Trek after TOS, no Flag Officer was ever refered to as a Commodore in TNG, DS9, Voy or any of the post 23rd Century films.
Add in the ability to refuse missions for one reason or another. Or do them a different way and depending on how successful things are you could get demoted rofl. Kirk did it, I know I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as it was possible to say no and succeed like he did many times rofl.
i have noticed in games the way to "expand" is to add content
(expansion packs)
however, they could move inward as oppossed to outward with more bang for the buck-
(one reviewer made the comment that view screens, voice chat and bridgecrew stories would go long and far- these are not new classes or items or even ships)
I read that they are working on populating planets- good idea- the seach and click missions could be amped up simply- search robot part- find another another- sometimes you get a friend robot others it unleashed an enemy or plague or something
the reviewer stated that the mmo crowd will be dissapointed, - but the trekkie casual gamer will have fun.
*^%^*&* the mmo crowd and more items-create new mechanics- not follow the 800 year old world of warcraft TRIBBLE
That is simply adding more content attacko, if you are implying that it is moving inward by attempting to state terms for content that can be added to the currently existing content, then no it is not moving "inward" or "subtracting", it is just simply adding more content.
Whatever the content is, even if it is a bug fix or a new piece of Off-Duty clothing added, or perhaps the Voice Chat you mention, it is all content expanding and additionally benefiting the player base.
Eventually, and hopefully, we'll get what I have suggested in this thread, which is as hard canon as possible with a mix of soft canon, and we'll also get everything else, such as the suggestions you mention. I'm all for it tbh, but I'm not one to limit choices, you throw ideas at me and I'm gonna say if it is a good idea or not, if it is, can it be done, if yes, when can we do it and then slap it on the to do list!
Nice discussion guys. And yet, sadly, still no dev feedback....
IF this were a short term issue I think they would have dropped us something, but this would be a long term implementation which they currently would have no content to fill the ranks with. Because of this I can only imagine feeding our speculation would be dangerous to them.
Regardless, you'd think they would at least tell us that they aren't going to get into this kind of discussion openly yet.
lol, no sorry, 50 levels are enough ... cryptic can increase the items in the further time so no need 100 levels xD
Sure Cryptic could implement new items Kritze, but you'll never get items over Mk X without these suggestions being implemented and there are Weapons classed higher than Mk X in the Star Trek IP, I believe the Sovereigns Phaser Arrays are Mk XII or type 12, same difference.
Also, if 50 levels are enough for you, the extra levels can be patched in for people who want them and you can stay Captain, you will be happy at that level repeating dailies and not having to level any further yes?
Wait a minute, what happes when they add the extra 5 Grades to the current Rear Admiral Rank, will you be happy leveling those 5 Grades that are definately comming?
This is, of course, promoting the growth of Admiralty, which I do not favor. But it avoids the chaos of demoting everyone to make space for the Lt JG rank. That is the real argument against this idea. Even if it is only nominal, demoting everyone and creating a whole new tier of skills and ships just to fill the gap (so Cmdrs aren't in Captain-ships (read: Galaxy class)) is more work and grief than it is worth, in my opinion and I would guess that the DEVs would agree. I believe that they plan to move the levels up over the years and I trust that they will make wise choices. My personal opinion still stands that ranks higher than Captain have only a few roles in this game right now (ex: Fleet Leaders at level 41+). Levels should continue to go up, but I would prefer that ranks stopped at Captain and all of the current Rear Admirals get "Fleet Captain" as a consolation gift.
This is, of course, promoting the growth of Admiralty, which I do not favor. But it avoids the chaos of demoting everyone to make space for the Lt JG rank. That is the real argument against this idea. Even if it is only nominal, demoting everyone and creating a whole new tier of skills and ships just to fill the gap (so Cmdrs aren't in Captain-ships (read: Galaxy class)) is more work and grief than it is worth, in my opinion and I would guess that the DEVs would agree.
There is no need to "avoid any chaos of demoting everyone" Kier-X, as no one single player would be "demoted", absolutely nothing other than the name of the rank would change, EVERYTHING would stay exactly the same other than the name of the rank.
So there is no NEED to add additional skills and additional tiers of ships to fill the gap, because there would be no gap.
It's not even a real argument, explain to people that their maximum current rank name will be changed to Captain to allow for a much bigger and better future improvement, explain that nothing else changes, some people will QQ, but they'll get over it and eventually theyll have the option to be promoted up to Rear Admiral again in future or straight away if the Devs patch in Rank 7 at the same time as implementing operation "Insert Junior" which kills two birds with one stone, lot of work but possible.
Also, if you are attempting to state that ONLY Captains can command the Galaxy Class or Tier 4 variants, you got to be joking man?
CommanderWilliam T. Riker took Command of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D / NCC-1701-E on many, many occasions and if other lower ranked officers can command the other variants of ships in game, then a Commander can COMMAND a Galaxy Class.
Again, if they implement the Rank Structure that is simplified as you suggest, then once they have done that, they have completely and totally cut themselves off from any room to improve, any room to add further levelling expansions, it's a simple matter of what is in the OP is what they have available as the maximum amount of potential for the game leveling / ranks, so take advantage of it, don't tip toe around it to save the effort, do these things now and the future of STO will be better off.
I'm not going to bother to say a whole lot since it's most all been said but I too would like to see a system much like what is laid out in the threads opening post.
As far as it goes though, it has been said a number of times that the level limit will be increased in the future. They've continually said they're working on balance now to get it as tight and proper as they can before they give us more skill points to spend (which would be the result of more levels). Not to mention, I'm pretty sure that the level cap used to be five levels higher than what it is now, so we'll get at least that much again eventually.
Although I do want to see more ranks and see the overall officer rank structure refined as per actual Star Trek canon, I don't see a need for any kind of rushing to do this. I like balance, that's the main issue right now. I can wait.
In essence, what you're saying is what a lot of people have already said. While we do want there to be more ranks, right now we just want the current ranks re-geared or 'moved down the ladder' a bit. For example, in the place of Admiral would Captain; in the place of Ensign could still be Ensign (with updated ranks as per canon inbetween). As it stands a few inbetween ranks are left out, LT JG, RDML, RADM to say nothing of ranks below Ensign (that's a whole different issue I think). In short I think we'd like to see the same amount of ranks available as right now with the current limit at Captain, basically.
And I do agree that flag officer ranks should be an achievement. While I do appreciate the idea of removing grinding, sometimes it is needed, else you end up with everyone at the end game (and they camp low level areas like Starbase 24 ). While in a lot of games that do have grind, you can still reach end game in a number of days, most people don't. I certainly don't like the idea of 'ok you're an admiral now, that's it' the journey is far too fast and too short. I've gone out of my way to slow leveling down so that I could enjoy it longer but it still seems to be much too fast to me.
I might not try to slow it down so much but the few character slots is all the more reason I feel like it is much too fast. When you have only two slots and thus two characters then what? You get two admirals and then what do you do? I understand the game is still new and all but sometimes I really think there should be something like four slots as default. Even though I have four slots from lifetime I keep putting off playing because I don't know what I'll do once I fill all four with admirals...
Adding more ranks would somewhat alleviate this but overall I do agree that they should be much more difficult to obtain. If there's one thing I want above all else it'd be to slow the leveling process down. I could go on about this for a while but I think I've been pretty clear about how I feel personally.
Thank you for all of your feedback Ezhno, all for of your posts have been read and acknowledged, you have made some good points, and yes you were right that the subject of ranks below Ensign is a "whole different issue", those ranks you are refering to are for Enlisted Officers. If they were used, players would need to start the game at Starfleet Academy. LoL
I, personally don't want more ranks (just yet). But rather, I'd like to see LTJG returned to its spot and for the current cap to level out at Captain. Then I want the ranks to be much harder to get to. As it is there are more Admirals flying around then anything else.
Gaining Rank (no just level) should be an accomplishment and should require doing certain missions, gaining a certain amount of medals/awards, and should consist of a lot more levels than it currently does.
That's just my two cents.
I completely agree, thanks you for your two cents.
Generally i am already annoyed that everyone is an admiral , its dumb with the game mechanics . Sure you are an admiral but you only have 1 shipin your armarda . Why they didnt put LT junior grade in and leave everyone as captain is beyond me.
Exactly and then anything to do with the Admirality can be delt with in a fututre expantion, thanks for the feedback.
Mate, that would be just awesome! I'd go with that at any given time!
Thank you all for your support, Cryptic, I hope you remember that Spock said in Star Trek II, "logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".
Add in the ability to refuse missions for one reason or another. Or do them a different way and depending on how successful things are you could get demoted rofl. Kirk did it, I know I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as it was possible to say no and succeed like he did many times rofl.
A "Demotion Feature", it needs a lot of work but in priciple it is a brilliant idea and I think CaptainJames T. Kirk would approve. Lol
Comments
Outside of making miracles which would be required to obtain that rank there is the second highest rank for the US Army which is five silver stars and called General of the Army. This rank can only be earned in war time and very few ever achieve it.
Outside of war time the normally highest possible rank you can achieve is four silver stars. This would simply be General. It takes no special feats to reach this rank, however you'd usually be lucky to do so as the higher in rank you go the less people there are in your grade. The few people that share your rank, and thus compete with you for the next rank, are generally career officers and will only leave once they die or retire.
um nope...general of the armies (notice the plural) is the highest rank for ALL u.s. military positions.
But that rank shouldn't much be considered as it is in extreme disuse. Even five stars was much more commonly obtained. And again, it does in fact depend on the branch. Not all branches have grade equivalents. To say nothing of the possible different naming scheme. Only two branches hold that special rank, whereas only three hold the special five star rank.
You said you had never heard of Field Marshal and I have never heard of General of the Armies unitll now, thanks for sharing man. LoL
Also I have something interesting to share with you and everyone else, that is quite cool and backs up my Rank Structure for the Klingons.
In the Klingon Article on Wikipedia, it states "As originally developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon, Klingons were darkly colored humanoids with little honor, intended as an allegory to the then-current Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry did not aspire to any political parallels".
Which basically means that the Klingons were based on the Russians, I've always kind of known this, but I have never bothered to look into it.
It's also quite easy to see that most alien races in Star Trek are based on a human culture, there are also many aspects of human nature that have been singled out and used to create a new alien species.
Take the Ferengi for example, appart from their looks, all of their traits can be found within human nature, greed being the obvious choice.
Anyway back on topic, I did a little further research and it turns out that the Russians used the Rank of Marshal and the Wikipedia Article states that "both Marshal of the Soviet Union and General of the Army ranks can be considered equal to the foreign rank of Field Marshal or the U.S. rank of General of the Army, leaving a Soviet Marshal as a largely honorary rank".
Intriguing, even though the Russian Rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union slightly differs from the Rank of Field Marshal, in principle, they are the equivilent of each other.
Interesting, I didn't know they had a Soviet relation to them. When I first saw the Romulans in TNG however my first thoughts were of the USSR...a race that lurked in the shadows for decades with cloaks, maintaining an uneasy peace.
I suppose I'll let the Europeans have their Marshal rank, unless there's interest in calling it Field Marshal or something. The U.S. equivalent seems too grandiose of a title for gameplay.
Gaining Rank (no just level) should be an accomplishment and should require doing certain missions, gaining a certain amount of medals/awards, and should consist of a lot more levels than it currently does.
That's just my two cents.
And I do agree that flag officer ranks should be an achievement. While I do appreciate the idea of removing grinding, sometimes it is needed, else you end up with everyone at the end game (and they camp low level areas like Starbase 24
I might not try to slow it down so much but the few character slots is all the more reason I feel like it is much too fast. When you have only two slots and thus two characters then what? You get two admirals and then what do you do? I understand the game is still new and all but sometimes I really think there should be something like four slots as default. Even though I have four slots from lifetime I keep putting off playing because I don't know what I'll do once I fill all four with admirals...
Adding more ranks would somewhat alleviate this but overall I do agree that they should be much more difficult to obtain. If there's one thing I want above all else it'd be to slow the leveling process down. I could go on about this for a while but I think I've been pretty clear about how I feel personally.
Thanks ZS,
I was thinking, Cryptic could go with Fleet Marshal, rather than Field Marshal or perhaps Star Marshal, they both have a nice sounding ring to them, all three are more Klingon than Fleet Admiral.
Although I do think Star Marshal would really suit the Romulans, even though Shaddam continues to make little sence, he has finally offered up some good feedback, thank you Shaddam!
Also, there has never been a canon equivilent to Fleet Admiral for the Klingons or the Romulans, so it can be whatever sounds like it should be, what do you think?
I like this idea.
I'm against this idea; Cryptic should instead devote their efforts toward fixing bugs and making endgame content that I can actually beat (read: not infected/cure)
@OP: -1
Hello there, AzureAlliance you did not mention why you oppose the suggestions within this thread, and are nothing but negligent and sarcastic.
I find your post insulting as well as rude to say the least and Cryptic have already devoted there efforts to finding bugs, fixing bugs and creating more content for those who seek the "endgame" when really in Star Trek, there is no "endgame", but you seem to have missed the principle in this thread, it is all about the future and this means that Cryptic can do both, short-term, Mid-term and Long-term!
Without the suggestions within this thread as well as threads that discuss Diplomacy and mini games etc, you're going to be stuck repeating the same STF missions and repeating dailies, Fleet Actions etc, with nothing else to do, no variation in Gameplay. You'll have no advancement, no expansions, limited content and no future!
The "Demotion Feature" suggested within this thread is also a work in progress and in the end, it would be the players choice to initiate an action that causes the effect of a demotion in rank, so the player has a choice.
Rude? Welcome to the Internet. Get used to it.
You come up with ideas, and someone is bound to want to see to those ideas to never be implemented. For now, that someone is me.
As for our squabble, the underlying gist of what I'm saying is that this isn't worth Cryptic's time and resources imo. I don't feel that Cryptic should 'do both', as you put it. I thought that would be apparent without me explicitly saying so, but apparently not.
All Cryptic has to do to provide advancement is just raise the level cap without having to implement your ideas- new content can fit at RA10. New content can even fit in now; Cryptic just comes up with a new mission with a unique set of marks, or just come up with a new mission with the current set of marks- oh wait. They did. The Cure is out. Advancement is available! And even better, this fits within the existing framework, saving Cryptic a lot of time and effort compared to this frivoulous and wasteful idea.
There's also the problem of coming up with new ships for all your extra ranks, as well as additional BO powers (gotta have your BOs keep up with you, yes?). Not to mention the extra headache that goes along with having to slog thru all those extra levels to clear. And Cryptic would need to come up with more missions to fill those levels, further wasting Cryptic's time and resources! But there's another problem with leveling missions- you're interested in them once, to get the skill points, and then you don't go back. Endgame is different- and make no mistake, this is a mainstream MMO, there is an endgame (albeit small). I want to go back to B'Tran/Infected/Cure each day and fill out my ships and crew with the greatest purples there are. But I am not interested in going back and completing the (still-bugged) Patrol the Vulcan Sector mission from Sulu- there's no point. Content like B'Tran (and Infected/Cure) makes me keep coming back for more. Leveling content doesn't do that.
Maybe you've come up with countermeasures to these problems, and maybe you haven't; this thread is well within TLDR range. It's not worth my time to read it all, even if it is 3AM as I type this and the thread is mostly quotes.
I didn't come to STO to have my nose dragged thru the muck of leveling. I came to STO to blow things up in whatever ship I happen to favor at the moment and enjoy myself. Leveling isn't fun. Endgame content is what I'm here for. You are proposing more leveling- even a demotion, for the Prophets' sake! This is why I'm ardently against you.
I'm not going to play STO, the endless, grindy leveling struggle, as you would have it. I'm playing STO, the Borg-killing game of phat lewt and epic battles, as STO currently stands.
###
TLDR/@Cryptic: Don't implement this thread, because leveling isn't fun. Just fix the bugs and expand the end game like you've been planning this whole time.
No, learn to respect people, just because you can't see someone who you are talking to, does not give you the right to be rude and sarcastic.
Your OP did not state any reason why you opposed these suggestions, it is worth Cryptics time IMO and at least in another 80 other players opinions, you are however entitled to your opinion. So you only "feel" that Cryptic should implement the current style of "endgame" content missions and fix bugs, nothing else? Well they should be finished with that in about 2 months time, there will however always be bugs with each new update, but where does Cryptic take the game once all of the bugs have been fixed and you find your self bored of just blowing things up, repeating the same missions daily?
Problem of coming up with new ships, Cryptic are a digital computer games developer, it's what they do, and no, Bridge Officers will not necessarily have to rank up as the player does, they could quite easily be locked in rank at Commander or even Captain, some players like the idea of having BOffs command their own ships with AI.
Well you've obviously survived the "headache" you received from progressing from Ensign to Rear Admiral, there are only 5 more ranks I am suggesting they add sometime in the future, and the benefits of progressing up the ladder, would be more content basically, unlimited content when compared to the current restraints of the game. The ranks don't even need to be patched in all at the same time; they could get patched in once every 6 months or once a year, who knows.
It's also not true that players are only interested in "endgame" content and are not interested in returning to previous missions or interested in exploring or doing anything other than "endgame" content.
Many players enjoy the levelling system, and anything that should be earned in life or in game, has to be worked towards, so it seems to me that you simply do not wish to put any work into the game, to get what you want out of it.
Also, if the other 5 grades for the current Rear Admiral rank were in place, they could then raise the skill cap, and you would then be earning XP and levelling from completing STF "endgame" missions, so you have no relevant point here. Either way, by which ever means you choose to go about it, once the Grades and / or ranks are implemented, you will be earning XP for your completion of whatever part of the game you choose to take part in.
Even if my suggestions were to be implemented, you could simply choose to stay at your current level in game and rerun the same STF missions over and over again, blow as much up as you want. So that's your issue solved easily, while everyone else who wants my suggestions in, can progress and enjoy the future potential content that comes with it.
The "Demotion Feature" would be optional, potentially and it wouldn't be a bad thing, it would be a progressive demotion, rather than regressive, but you obviously don't care to hear any details.
So I'll just say thank you for your feedback and good bye.
Mate, that would be just awesome! I'd go with that at any given time!
you don't add add add - complicated mess
they need to subtract
demotions
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Ranks
I'm sorry, I do not understand your statement, could you please clarify that if it is relvent to this thread topic?
The Rank of Commodore is in the OP, the rank is the equivilent to teh rank of Rear Admiral Lower Half, and was phased out of Star Trek after TOS, no Flag Officer was ever refered to as a Commodore in TNG, DS9, Voy or any of the post 23rd Century films.
See now there's a sensible idea.
Add in the ability to refuse missions for one reason or another. Or do them a different way and depending on how successful things are you could get demoted rofl. Kirk did it, I know I wouldn't have a problem with it as long as it was possible to say no and succeed like he did many times rofl.
(expansion packs)
however, they could move inward as oppossed to outward with more bang for the buck-
(one reviewer made the comment that view screens, voice chat and bridgecrew stories would go long and far- these are not new classes or items or even ships)
I read that they are working on populating planets- good idea- the seach and click missions could be amped up simply- search robot part- find another another- sometimes you get a friend robot others it unleashed an enemy or plague or something
the reviewer stated that the mmo crowd will be dissapointed, - but the trekkie casual gamer will have fun.
*^%^*&* the mmo crowd and more items-create new mechanics- not follow the 800 year old world of warcraft TRIBBLE
Whatever the content is, even if it is a bug fix or a new piece of Off-Duty clothing added, or perhaps the Voice Chat you mention, it is all content expanding and additionally benefiting the player base.
Eventually, and hopefully, we'll get what I have suggested in this thread, which is as hard canon as possible with a mix of soft canon, and we'll also get everything else, such as the suggestions you mention. I'm all for it tbh, but I'm not one to limit choices, you throw ideas at me and I'm gonna say if it is a good idea or not, if it is, can it be done, if yes, when can we do it and then slap it on the to do list!
IF this were a short term issue I think they would have dropped us something, but this would be a long term implementation which they currently would have no content to fill the ranks with. Because of this I can only imagine feeding our speculation would be dangerous to them.
Regardless, you'd think they would at least tell us that they aren't going to get into this kind of discussion openly yet.
Sure Cryptic could implement new items Kritze, but you'll never get items over Mk X without these suggestions being implemented and there are Weapons classed higher than Mk X in the Star Trek IP, I believe the Sovereigns Phaser Arrays are Mk XII or type 12, same difference.
Also, if 50 levels are enough for you, the extra levels can be patched in for people who want them and you can stay Captain, you will be happy at that level repeating dailies and not having to level any further yes?
Wait a minute, what happes when they add the extra 5 Grades to the current Rear Admiral Rank, will you be happy leveling those 5 Grades that are definately comming?
Well, 50 out of 45 ain't bad...
Using alternative logic however... the current progression might look like this
(with a little sweet talking to the DEVs):
1 Ens
2-5 Lt JG
6-20 Lt
21-30 LtCmdr
31-40 Capt
41-45 RDML
46-50 RADM (or just Admiral?)
51-60 VADM (maybe Fleet Admiral?)
61-70 FADM
This is, of course, promoting the growth of Admiralty, which I do not favor. But it avoids the chaos of demoting everyone to make space for the Lt JG rank. That is the real argument against this idea. Even if it is only nominal, demoting everyone and creating a whole new tier of skills and ships just to fill the gap (so Cmdrs aren't in Captain-ships (read: Galaxy class)) is more work and grief than it is worth, in my opinion and I would guess that the DEVs would agree. I believe that they plan to move the levels up over the years and I trust that they will make wise choices. My personal opinion still stands that ranks higher than Captain have only a few roles in this game right now (ex: Fleet Leaders at level 41+). Levels should continue to go up, but I would prefer that ranks stopped at Captain and all of the current Rear Admirals get "Fleet Captain" as a consolation gift.
There is no need to "avoid any chaos of demoting everyone" Kier-X, as no one single player would be "demoted", absolutely nothing other than the name of the rank would change, EVERYTHING would stay exactly the same other than the name of the rank.
So there is no NEED to add additional skills and additional tiers of ships to fill the gap, because there would be no gap.
It's not even a real argument, explain to people that their maximum current rank name will be changed to Captain to allow for a much bigger and better future improvement, explain that nothing else changes, some people will QQ, but they'll get over it and eventually theyll have the option to be promoted up to Rear Admiral again in future or straight away if the Devs patch in Rank 7 at the same time as implementing operation "Insert Junior" which kills two birds with one stone, lot of work but possible.
Also, if you are attempting to state that ONLY Captains can command the Galaxy Class or Tier 4 variants, you got to be joking man?
Commander William T. Riker took Command of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D / NCC-1701-E on many, many occasions and if other lower ranked officers can command the other variants of ships in game, then a Commander can COMMAND a Galaxy Class.
Again, if they implement the Rank Structure that is simplified as you suggest, then once they have done that, they have completely and totally cut themselves off from any room to improve, any room to add further levelling expansions, it's a simple matter of what is in the OP is what they have available as the maximum amount of potential for the game leveling / ranks, so take advantage of it, don't tip toe around it to save the effort, do these things now and the future of STO will be better off.
Thank you for all of your feedback Ezhno, all for of your posts have been read and acknowledged, you have made some good points, and yes you were right that the subject of ranks below Ensign is a "whole different issue", those ranks you are refering to are for Enlisted Officers. If they were used, players would need to start the game at Starfleet Academy. LoL
I completely agree, thanks you for your two cents.
Exactly and then anything to do with the Admirality can be delt with in a fututre expantion, thanks for the feedback.
Thank you all for your support, Cryptic, I hope you remember that Spock said in Star Trek II, "logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".
A "Demotion Feature", it needs a lot of work but in priciple it is a brilliant idea and I think Captain James T. Kirk would approve. Lol