In the recent Ask Cryptic (posted June 8th), the Devs stated that they are definitely looking into adding the ability to either gain a 'special' BO as your First Officer or to 'nominate' one of your existing BO's as your First Officer!... ...My thanks and congratulations to all who have contributed to this thread!
Thats great news for our XOs, but now we need to hear something about our Senior Staff Officers...when will we see them?
From the June 8th Ask Cryptic
Q: Lorre_the_Loremaster: What happened to the idea of the "1st Officer" and if this does happen, how are they going to be unique compared to other BOs??
A: Assigning a First Officer is something that we still plan on letting players do. We are discussing exactly how they will come into play in the STO universe so I cant give specifics at the moment but rest assured that we will definitely provide more details when we get closer to releasing the feature.
From this, it sounds to me like First Officer will be just one of several, potential 'assignment' options available to customize your Bridge Crew. (At least, here's hoping!)
I was actually thinking that the First Officer might also be able to be switched to by the player if they wanted to.....
Nothing against always playing a captain.....but like Riker and Chakoteh had said on many occasions...the captain shouldnt always leave the ship.
I've often thought this too. Especially those scan 5 items on the surface and beam back ones. You should be able to send one, or for "protocol" sake, two BOs to do this grunt work.
To be given the choice would be fantastic.
On the subject of First and maybe Second officers, I was thinking along the lines of something simply cosmetic until now. Something like a rank in the costume dropdown of "First Officer" etc but an actual role for the XO with characteristics and professions that can be different to your own - that sounds like a great idea.
Oh, and ship interior access/missions wouldnt go amiss either while I'm here
From this, it sounds to me like First Officer will be just one of several, potential 'assignment' options available to customize your Bridge Crew. (At least, here's hoping!)
-Big Red
I think the assignments option would be the most viable and immersive. Another option would be to add to what I think many of us do anyway and give BO titles such as 1st officer, security chief or medical assistant. Titles cooped with uniform insignia would be a simplistic way to present this in game.
I have heard they plan to introduce BO report and personal logs that you as captain will have access to reading that your BO will address how they are being utilized on the ship and on the ground. I'm hoping they do away with the current everyones a commander promotion system and make you manage your BOs more effectively to suit your purposes.
I think there should only be one first officer post. To have titles for all of the department heads... Isn't that what you BOffs represent? Officers above and beyond all the others wandering the other decks? I just kind of assumed they were the department heads.
I think when you hit a certain rank (Commander or Captain), your experience and scope of responsibility has become deemed important enough to get you an executive assista-- er officer. You now either choose a new BOff (Starfleet assigns the officer) or promote one of your existing BOffs, who will now serve as FO.
The FO would be like a BOff, but get an added passive bonus that would demonstrate that he/she is better than the other BOffs. What that bonus should be, I will leave to others or Cryptic to decide. But in addition to the passive bonus, the FO is now a playable officer for ground missions.
By doing this, Players can take a FO of a different career path than their captain, and therefore get a taste of playing another career without having to start from scratch. They could then decide if they want to start a new char of that career, try the third one, or stick with the captain they have.
This should not affect BOff slots. If you're in a science vessel, you're inherently less disposed to combat. A Security FO would still have his BOff skills limited to the security console available, but would still provide his passive bonus.
As the FO is now playable, he would have to use the player experience to improve his skills instead of the BOff skill points. This would slow down the rapid level progression some complain of. Also, "Starfleet protocol" would prevent both high ranking officers from both leaving the ship, and therefore forcing the player to decide whether they want to send the cap, or the FO on the away mission. Additionally, as the Cap outranks the FO, there would be a limit to the FO's progression. If you want an awesome FO, you still need to level your captain.
I think there should only be one first officer post. To have titles for all of the department heads... Isn't that what you BOffs represent? Officers above and beyond all the others wandering the other decks? I just kind of assumed they were the department heads.
I think when you hit a certain rank (Commander or Captain), your experience and scope of responsibility has become deemed important enough to get you an executive assista-- er officer. You now either choose a new BOff (Starfleet assigns the officer) or promote one of your existing BOffs, who will now serve as FO.
The FO would be like a BOff, but get an added passive bonus that would demonstrate that he/she is better than the other BOffs. What that bonus should be, I will leave to others or Cryptic to decide. But in addition to the passive bonus, the FO is now a playable officer for ground missions.
By doing this, Players can take a FO of a different career path than their captain, and therefore get a taste of playing another career without having to start from scratch. They could then decide if they want to start a new char of that career, try the third one, or stick with the captain they have.
This should not affect BOff slots. If you're in a science vessel, you're inherently less disposed to combat. A Security FO would still have his BOff skills limited to the security console available, but would still provide his passive bonus.
As the FO is now playable, he would have to use the player experience to improve his skills instead of the BOff skill points. This would slow down the rapid level progression some complain of. Also, "Starfleet protocol" would prevent both high ranking officers from both leaving the ship, and therefore forcing the player to decide whether they want to send the cap, or the FO on the away mission. Additionally, as the Cap outranks the FO, there would be a limit to the FO's progression. If you want an awesome FO, you still need to level your captain.
Just my ideas...
I can tell you've never been around any real military. First Officer is never, ever called FO.
XO = Executive Officer
The XO billet is not a command; rather it is considered staff. The XO is typically responsible for the management of day-to-day activities, such as maintenance and logistics, freeing the unit commander to concentrate on tactical planning and execution. The XO also takes charge in the absence of the CO. While the experience gained as an XO is highly beneficial for an officer's professional development, never serving in the position will not preclude an officer from commanding later.
Now when Spock says "I offer my services as First Officer." to Captain Kirk, you can understand exactly what he means. He's applying for a job. XO's are not promoted into their position, they are "hired" in to it by their Captain.
My purpose in using FO was to correlate with typing out First Officer for greater clarity. Had this been a military related forum as opposed to a game, I would have avoided using FO like the plague.
But I thank you for expanding on what an XO is for those who may not know.
And while the actual role of the XO is not reflected in my post, neither is it reflected in the rest of this thread, as adding a new "title" to a BOff will not result in the game doing your micromanaging for you. The computer is not going to reassign your BOffs for better performance, nor is it going to switch your power settings as you play. Those are the things we want control of for ourselves as players, hence the suggestion that the XO's effects be an added passive bonus -- it's in the changes "behind the scenes".
Nor did I state or imply that the XO would take over the command of the ship... Only that he would be available as an alternative to your captain for ground missions (which seems to be the flavour everyone is looking for).
Of course this does not truly capture the entirety of an XO, but neither can the game fully capture the entirety of Star Trek. We just suggest what we feel would enhance our time with a game we've invested in.
Comments
Thats great news for our XOs, but now we need to hear something about our Senior Staff Officers...when will we see them?
/support XOs!
From this, it sounds to me like First Officer will be just one of several, potential 'assignment' options available to customize your Bridge Crew. (At least, here's hoping!)
-Big Red
I've often thought this too. Especially those scan 5 items on the surface and beam back ones. You should be able to send one, or for "protocol" sake, two BOs to do this grunt work.
To be given the choice would be fantastic.
On the subject of First and maybe Second officers, I was thinking along the lines of something simply cosmetic until now. Something like a rank in the costume dropdown of "First Officer" etc but an actual role for the XO with characteristics and professions that can be different to your own - that sounds like a great idea.
Oh, and ship interior access/missions wouldnt go amiss either while I'm here
Only if you were a lousy, honorless dog of a captain!
Oh, and... BUMP! :eek:
I think the assignments option would be the most viable and immersive. Another option would be to add to what I think many of us do anyway and give BO titles such as 1st officer, security chief or medical assistant. Titles cooped with uniform insignia would be a simplistic way to present this in game.
I have heard they plan to introduce BO report and personal logs that you as captain will have access to reading that your BO will address how they are being utilized on the ship and on the ground. I'm hoping they do away with the current everyones a commander promotion system and make you manage your BOs more effectively to suit your purposes.
Can't wait to see the Captain's Ready Room... But we still need a Number One! :cool:
-Big Red
I think when you hit a certain rank (Commander or Captain), your experience and scope of responsibility has become deemed important enough to get you an executive assista-- er officer. You now either choose a new BOff (Starfleet assigns the officer) or promote one of your existing BOffs, who will now serve as FO.
The FO would be like a BOff, but get an added passive bonus that would demonstrate that he/she is better than the other BOffs. What that bonus should be, I will leave to others or Cryptic to decide. But in addition to the passive bonus, the FO is now a playable officer for ground missions.
By doing this, Players can take a FO of a different career path than their captain, and therefore get a taste of playing another career without having to start from scratch. They could then decide if they want to start a new char of that career, try the third one, or stick with the captain they have.
This should not affect BOff slots. If you're in a science vessel, you're inherently less disposed to combat. A Security FO would still have his BOff skills limited to the security console available, but would still provide his passive bonus.
As the FO is now playable, he would have to use the player experience to improve his skills instead of the BOff skill points. This would slow down the rapid level progression some complain of. Also, "Starfleet protocol" would prevent both high ranking officers from both leaving the ship, and therefore forcing the player to decide whether they want to send the cap, or the FO on the away mission. Additionally, as the Cap outranks the FO, there would be a limit to the FO's progression. If you want an awesome FO, you still need to level your captain.
Just my ideas...
I can tell you've never been around any real military. First Officer is never, ever called FO.
XO = Executive Officer
The XO billet is not a command; rather it is considered staff. The XO is typically responsible for the management of day-to-day activities, such as maintenance and logistics, freeing the unit commander to concentrate on tactical planning and execution. The XO also takes charge in the absence of the CO. While the experience gained as an XO is highly beneficial for an officer's professional development, never serving in the position will not preclude an officer from commanding later.
Now when Spock says "I offer my services as First Officer." to Captain Kirk, you can understand exactly what he means. He's applying for a job. XO's are not promoted into their position, they are "hired" in to it by their Captain.
But I thank you for expanding on what an XO is for those who may not know.
And while the actual role of the XO is not reflected in my post, neither is it reflected in the rest of this thread, as adding a new "title" to a BOff will not result in the game doing your micromanaging for you. The computer is not going to reassign your BOffs for better performance, nor is it going to switch your power settings as you play. Those are the things we want control of for ourselves as players, hence the suggestion that the XO's effects be an added passive bonus -- it's in the changes "behind the scenes".
Nor did I state or imply that the XO would take over the command of the ship... Only that he would be available as an alternative to your captain for ground missions (which seems to be the flavour everyone is looking for).
Of course this does not truly capture the entirety of an XO, but neither can the game fully capture the entirety of Star Trek. We just suggest what we feel would enhance our time with a game we've invested in.