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Hi everyone I thought I'd post my story line idea and see if anyone was interested. If there's sufficient interest, I'll work out publishing the main arc and play it by ear on the side missions. If not, well I can work on other ideas floating around instead of burning time making missions that no one wants to play. 
Purpose:
Theres an old post by Andreia somewhere in the hidey holes of Starbase UGC (its actually in the collaboration tab for those brave enough to look) that talks about adding to the game story itself. As I read through the post, I found myself starting to get a little excited about UGC in general and how I could add to the game story. I sort of imagined some UGC authors playing off each others mission building bigger and better campaign arcs and awesome little references to past missions (part of the reason I do reviews is to find missions I want to reference for my own missions). I also wanted to push some elements in-game I found lacking. One element of the game I feel neglected is the lack of interaction between the player and his or her own faction and to a certain extent the enemy faction. Another note I wanted to make is: as the game is now, I believe the game treats players too much like theyre the only ship of destiny whos coming to save the day. But Ill address this topic further in the design philosophy.
Though possibly the biggest element is the fact the Cryptic generated missions really dont talk about the ongoing war. The toll it takes on the individual soldiers, movement along the lines, tactics, etc. As such, I really wanted to put the focus of my stories on the war and the no-name ships and NPCs that we miss in the Cryptic missions. Hopefully, I can hit on a few of these things in the story if people wanted to see this published.
Design Philosophy:
Combat:
I originally planned my mission and story arc to be as combat light as possible. Theres already enough shooting in game and I think players need a more compelling reason to shoot and fight X than what the Cryptic generated missions offer. Its a bit of a hard debate but I decided eventually that the combat really drives the story along too well and decided to reinsert it at various points of the proposed arc.
To make it Trek-like, I figured I needed to change the feel of combat entirely in my missions. Without setting new health bars, it took a little creativity to push it across. Theres a few things here and there I added or changed that I thought would bring out and at least change the feel of how combat is. I wanted to recreate those one on one ship battles that we saw on the shows or make the player feel part of a larger operation on the ground, instead of the grim reaper slaying the opposing forces with ease.
Two campaigns and time:
It may sound right about now like I only had a Federation story arc planned out but I like to unveil that there is/was a Klingon story arc. I was hoping that I could make the missions seem to reflect the state of the opposite factions missions. Like the Federation captured a space station and the next Klingon mission would be to retake it or otherwise reflect the changed state of the war. As I came up with the missions, I wanted a sense of chronology to be an element in the story, but at the same time, allow players to jump in at any time. (Im kinda hoping that people would want to play these things in order! Or at least eventually I could restrict those kinds of things.)
Optional missions:
I was hoping to have a little more freedom in this respect. I narrowed down and condensed the original plan from missions spanning from a player starting as a lieutenant and moving all the way up to the top. But as the going trend moved into stricter and stricter mission limits, I eventually had the toss the other ancillary missions (the missions that would have brought out the war and fleshed out other characters) into possible optional missions before scrapping them entirely due to the mission number restrictions. If I ever do produce them, these mission will most likely occur as missions that are outside of the main arc I will eventually explain. If the optional missions are ever producible, I want them to have the feel of ongoing operations by both sides to assume dominance in the sector and if the player decides not to play them, that in the main mission arc these missions are assumed to have been done by another ship of the same faction.
Collaborative Effort?
I'm actually hoping this might even turn out into a collaborative effort. So if anyone's interested in working in collaborative effort just post here and we can discuss it more in depth.
Federation Proposed Story Arc
Introduction:
After the disastrous fast of the Marel II colony, Starfleet Command as finally agreed to dispatch additional ships to assist the beleaguered Task Force Musketeer. Will you and your crew turn the tide against the latest Klingon incursion? Or is the breakthrough the Klingons have been hoping for that will secure their dominance of the entire Alpha quadrant?
Proposed Missions in the Federation Main Arc:
* The New Musketeer The lead ship of Task Force Musketeer, the USS Paris, has begun its sensor sweep of the JSF-47 system. Your ship has been assigned to escort duty as the Paris completes the sweep for Klingon activity.
* Distraction Your ship has turned up an interesting find in near the JSF-47 system. Captain Chau, Task Force Musketeers commanding officer, has come up with a plan to evict your Klingon neighbors.
* The Mole Starfleet Intelligence reports there is a mole aboard the Paris. Anyone is suspect. Will you and your crew uncover the mole before he reveals more details of Federation activities?
* Defend Brios colony! Brios colony has just sent a Priority One distress call! Can Task Force Musketeer save Brios colony? Or will she suffer the same fate as Marel II?
Klingon Proposed Story Arc
Introduction:
The glorious battle waged for the Starfleets Marel II colony was one to sign songs about for generations! Those Starfleet cowards are running away scared of the might of the Empire. Come, will you fight alongside your warrior brethren and gain honor in heroic combat and press this momentous advantage against the craven Starfleet? Or will you cower at your mothers side and make way for true warriors?
Proposed Missions in the Klingon Main Arc:
* Looking Tough Captain KNorak, battle group master of Gintak, has ordered you to disrupt Federation supply lines to Almedy colony in preparation for the next offensive against the Federation.
* Breaking Stuff - The Federation obviously has more fight in them than KNorak expected. Captain KNorak has ordered you to disrupt Federation communications with several Federation-protected colonies to divide the Federation advance.
* Investigate Hortag colony Hortag colony has come under some sort of biological attack. Few survive the attack, evidently due to some sort of innate immunity; regardless, the biological weapon is atrocious even by Federation standards. You and your crew are sent to find who is responsible.
* Guilty Party The mysterious culprit has been revealed and is now escaping from Klingon space. Regroup with the rest of GinTak and stop him at all costs!
Anyways, hopefully that sounds interesting to people (Ill probably be posting this later on the STO forums as well). Oh and feedback would be great if anyone has it. Looking forward to hearing what people have to say!
Purpose:
Theres an old post by Andreia somewhere in the hidey holes of Starbase UGC (its actually in the collaboration tab for those brave enough to look) that talks about adding to the game story itself. As I read through the post, I found myself starting to get a little excited about UGC in general and how I could add to the game story. I sort of imagined some UGC authors playing off each others mission building bigger and better campaign arcs and awesome little references to past missions (part of the reason I do reviews is to find missions I want to reference for my own missions). I also wanted to push some elements in-game I found lacking. One element of the game I feel neglected is the lack of interaction between the player and his or her own faction and to a certain extent the enemy faction. Another note I wanted to make is: as the game is now, I believe the game treats players too much like theyre the only ship of destiny whos coming to save the day. But Ill address this topic further in the design philosophy.
Though possibly the biggest element is the fact the Cryptic generated missions really dont talk about the ongoing war. The toll it takes on the individual soldiers, movement along the lines, tactics, etc. As such, I really wanted to put the focus of my stories on the war and the no-name ships and NPCs that we miss in the Cryptic missions. Hopefully, I can hit on a few of these things in the story if people wanted to see this published.
Design Philosophy:
Combat:
I originally planned my mission and story arc to be as combat light as possible. Theres already enough shooting in game and I think players need a more compelling reason to shoot and fight X than what the Cryptic generated missions offer. Its a bit of a hard debate but I decided eventually that the combat really drives the story along too well and decided to reinsert it at various points of the proposed arc.
To make it Trek-like, I figured I needed to change the feel of combat entirely in my missions. Without setting new health bars, it took a little creativity to push it across. Theres a few things here and there I added or changed that I thought would bring out and at least change the feel of how combat is. I wanted to recreate those one on one ship battles that we saw on the shows or make the player feel part of a larger operation on the ground, instead of the grim reaper slaying the opposing forces with ease.
Two campaigns and time:
It may sound right about now like I only had a Federation story arc planned out but I like to unveil that there is/was a Klingon story arc. I was hoping that I could make the missions seem to reflect the state of the opposite factions missions. Like the Federation captured a space station and the next Klingon mission would be to retake it or otherwise reflect the changed state of the war. As I came up with the missions, I wanted a sense of chronology to be an element in the story, but at the same time, allow players to jump in at any time. (Im kinda hoping that people would want to play these things in order! Or at least eventually I could restrict those kinds of things.)
Optional missions:
I was hoping to have a little more freedom in this respect. I narrowed down and condensed the original plan from missions spanning from a player starting as a lieutenant and moving all the way up to the top. But as the going trend moved into stricter and stricter mission limits, I eventually had the toss the other ancillary missions (the missions that would have brought out the war and fleshed out other characters) into possible optional missions before scrapping them entirely due to the mission number restrictions. If I ever do produce them, these mission will most likely occur as missions that are outside of the main arc I will eventually explain. If the optional missions are ever producible, I want them to have the feel of ongoing operations by both sides to assume dominance in the sector and if the player decides not to play them, that in the main mission arc these missions are assumed to have been done by another ship of the same faction.
Collaborative Effort?
I'm actually hoping this might even turn out into a collaborative effort. So if anyone's interested in working in collaborative effort just post here and we can discuss it more in depth.
Federation Proposed Story Arc
Introduction:
After the disastrous fast of the Marel II colony, Starfleet Command as finally agreed to dispatch additional ships to assist the beleaguered Task Force Musketeer. Will you and your crew turn the tide against the latest Klingon incursion? Or is the breakthrough the Klingons have been hoping for that will secure their dominance of the entire Alpha quadrant?
Proposed Missions in the Federation Main Arc:
* The New Musketeer The lead ship of Task Force Musketeer, the USS Paris, has begun its sensor sweep of the JSF-47 system. Your ship has been assigned to escort duty as the Paris completes the sweep for Klingon activity.
* Distraction Your ship has turned up an interesting find in near the JSF-47 system. Captain Chau, Task Force Musketeers commanding officer, has come up with a plan to evict your Klingon neighbors.
* The Mole Starfleet Intelligence reports there is a mole aboard the Paris. Anyone is suspect. Will you and your crew uncover the mole before he reveals more details of Federation activities?
* Defend Brios colony! Brios colony has just sent a Priority One distress call! Can Task Force Musketeer save Brios colony? Or will she suffer the same fate as Marel II?
Klingon Proposed Story Arc
Introduction:
The glorious battle waged for the Starfleets Marel II colony was one to sign songs about for generations! Those Starfleet cowards are running away scared of the might of the Empire. Come, will you fight alongside your warrior brethren and gain honor in heroic combat and press this momentous advantage against the craven Starfleet? Or will you cower at your mothers side and make way for true warriors?
Proposed Missions in the Klingon Main Arc:
* Looking Tough Captain KNorak, battle group master of Gintak, has ordered you to disrupt Federation supply lines to Almedy colony in preparation for the next offensive against the Federation.
* Breaking Stuff - The Federation obviously has more fight in them than KNorak expected. Captain KNorak has ordered you to disrupt Federation communications with several Federation-protected colonies to divide the Federation advance.
* Investigate Hortag colony Hortag colony has come under some sort of biological attack. Few survive the attack, evidently due to some sort of innate immunity; regardless, the biological weapon is atrocious even by Federation standards. You and your crew are sent to find who is responsible.
* Guilty Party The mysterious culprit has been revealed and is now escaping from Klingon space. Regroup with the rest of GinTak and stop him at all costs!
Anyways, hopefully that sounds interesting to people (Ill probably be posting this later on the STO forums as well). Oh and feedback would be great if anyone has it. Looking forward to hearing what people have to say!
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
i personally could not think of a Fed-Klingon war story arc and instead just developed something i wanted to do for ages
i hope you come up with some interesting storylines for the war so that we can somehow enjoy all this combat yet to come
Thanks a bunch for the vote of confidence. I'm starting to lean into actually creating the missions regardless of how many plays I get. Most of the people who have said something usually come out in with positive things so that's always a good sign. Hopefully I make an enjoyable experience for those who do play.
Also, I was talking it over with the boys and girls at SBUGC about how to make it a collaborative effort. It doesn't seem too complex. There's a few things that we decided were necessary like copy and paste etc etc. But I'd actually like to start planning it now if I could find people interested and maybe even get the ball rolling on mission ideas to expand on the subject further. This is more or less my "Who's interested in working with me" thread as it is my own thread to try and promote my own mission line. If you're interested we can talk it over on this thread or over on the SBUGC site.
When I have the time to sit down and play some STO, I'll be sure to hit up your mission. That particular mission's actually been on my "to play through and review list" for some time but due to real-life commitments, I haven't been able to do anything recreational. Hopefully in about a week and a half, I'll get some quality time with the Foundry though.
I'll get to you as soon as I get some time to play through your mission!
Hey chooch, I was wondering if you could republish your mission when you get the chance. Just thought I'd ask ahead of time.