In another thread a joke mentioned the possible 24th expansion of the game, and it really got me wondering where in the world the game will be at that time with the given that it survives till and past such a point. Where would we be?
Space without zoning?
How many factions could be developed in such time?
Would we still be asking for more and more ships?
Are there still uniforms to ask for sneak peaks of?
Playable childhood and Academy entrance exams to help suggest playable class?
My mind boggles at the possibilities and I'm really curious where you guys think the game will go 21 expansions from now.
Science has melded with virtual gaming where your mind is brought into your character in game and everything becomes "real"...
And at the end of your subscription a nurse comes along to pull the plug from the back of your head that's resting in nice comfy cozy chair in your living room.
Science has melded with virtual gaming where your mind is brought into your character in game and everything becomes "real"...
And at the end of your subscription a nurse comes along to pull the plug from the back of your head that's resting in nice comfy cozy chair in your living room.
I see where your joke is coming from and raise you realism. This would be at the very least 6 years in the future. By 2017 voice and motion tech could become so good and cheaply made that we might be able to activate abilities with voice, and have those BO voiceovers answer back.
If Cryptic averages 3 seasons per year, that'd make Season 24 seven years in the future.
During this time, we'd probably see two JJ-Trek movies as well as a new series. This means tie-ins to the game.
STO would probably go free to play, considering market trends toward that direction.
Around 52 missions were released the games first year, assuming they decrease that number to 40 per year but of higher quality, that's 280 missions from the core team.
The Foundry which saw ~200 missions in its first two months (on just tribble) would eventually see 1200/year or 8400 Foundry missions. Some of these would be PvP maps as well.
Atari would realize the error of their ways and funnel money to Cryptic en masse. This means a dedicated KDF team would exist until design plans for the Romulan Digital Expansion pack are formulated.
Territory Control, Exploration, Diplomacy, Duty Officers, Fleet Management, and PvP would be tightly unified in a single interface. Players would be operating at the strategic gameplay level instead of just tactical gameplay. Admiral-level gameplay would be like a 4x strategy game.
Players would be able to select how far into Admiral gameplay these wish to participate and determine whether they want to refuse promotion to the Admiralty and opt for Captain instead.
Players could also become Station Commanders in the new Exploration Clusters: complete with their own station.
Averaging 4 stfs during its first year, 28 new STFs would be created (spread across every rank).
Dstahl would challenge Atari leadership - in a bat'leth tournament. Both the team and Q/A would triple in size as Atari grants concessions.
If Cryptic averages 3 seasons per year, that'd make Season 24 seven years in the future.
During this time, we'd probably see two JJ-Trek movies as well as a new series. This means tie-ins to the game.
STO would probably go free to play, considering market trends toward that direction.
Around 52 missions were released the games first year, assuming they decrease that number to 40 per year but of higher quality, that's 280 missions from the core team.
The Foundry which saw ~200 missions in its first two months (on just tribble) would eventually see 1200/year or 8400 Foundry missions. Some of these would be PvP maps as well.
Atari would realize the error of their ways and funnel money to Cryptic en masse. This means a dedicated KDF team would exist until design plans for the Romulan Digital Expansion pack are formulated.
Territory Control, Exploration, Diplomacy, Duty Officers, Fleet Management, and PvP would be tightly unified in a single interface. Players would be operating at the strategic gameplay level instead of just tactical gameplay. Admiral-level gameplay would be like a 4x strategy game.
Players would be able to select how far into Admiral gameplay these wish to participate and determine whether they want to refuse promotion to the Admiralty and opt for Captain instead.
Players could also become Station Commanders in the new Exploration Clusters: complete with their own station.
Averaging 4 stfs during its first year, 28 new STFs would be created (spread across every rank).
3 Factions would be added:
Romulans
Cardassians
Neutral/Trading Faction which include the Ferengi
Then will people stop complaining about how STO is a bad game?:D You know how the forums are:p
Not only would the entirety of the Sol-ar System be accessible in a single zone, which allows transit within system via a new warp mechanic, but the expansion of the other star systems would either be on its way or already implemented.
Atmospheric combat, ground to space transition via shuttle, collision damage from large asteroids, the ability to target asteroids to blast them out of your way, as well as mirror-universe-style crossovers with the new (JJ Abrams) alternate reality.
And of course, people will still complain not only that it is not "Star Trek" enough for their picky standards, but then old beards (Like Us) will complain that it was better at launch thanks to the nostalgia effect.
Also, the rank will have become decoupled from the level. (That is one of the hardest things for some people to wrap their head around when they transfer from other MMO's.)
Rank is now based on a Promotion Point system. You earn Promotion Points by raw # of missions completed successfully. (punishment (loss of promotion points) for failing). Extra points for not dieing, and extra points for doing it on elite. (possibly even more for doing it solo). And so forth.
With it unbounded, your character is now punished for breaking the prime directive (again), stealing a soon-to-be commissioned ship for an unauthorized mission, or accidentally starting a small interstellar war. Best of all, it doesn't drop your character's level. (clearly capped at over 100 at this point)
The Rank still determines ship choice, mission availability, and other things.
Oh, and the timeships Aeon and Relativity are now available in the c-store with the (totally balanced) ability to travel in, or transport to, any point in time (even during your previous attempts at the mission. Your original actions are recorded, and played back, if you interfere with your past self, an AI overrides the scripted sequence and attempts to complete its prior objectives.) Only 20,000 Atari Points.
The Iconian Arc lasted 3 years of development time and was epic
Ground Vehicles
Three Expansions. First is the Romulan Civil War (introuduces playable Romulans). Second is the Second Dominion War (introduces Playable Dominion and True Way), and finally a neutral faction (led by Ferengi, but also has the aforementioned Tholians and Breen, among others)
Ship Interior Customization and missions that occur almost entirely on your ship
Holodeck Episodes: Replay Classic Star Trek scenarios as your ship like the Mutara Nebula, Battle of Wolf 359, Kobiyashi Maru, and other classics from Star Trek
Rebalance of Space Weapons: Make the underperforming weapons and torpedoes worth the added point costs or just make all weapon skills cost the same
Improved differentiation of and possibly added ground weapons
Add more ground skills to be usable by the player
Improved AI for the NPCs and Away Parties
Improved 'Victory Conditions' for episodes. Maybe have instead of ALL the Romulans needing to be killed on a mission they will withdraw or surrender after 60% are eliminated for example
Welcome to the latest Engineering Report, as we boldly go forward into our eighth year of Star Trek Online. First, thanks to everyone for turning up at the Eighth anniversary event. It was great to see you all splashing around in the fountain again, and I hope that plenty of players got the exclusive MK XVIII Ultrarares that Q had hidden in the waters.
It's great to have Gozer back on the team again, having fully paid his debt to society for bludgeoning a fan to death back at Crypticon '14. As part of his appeal bargain, he has agreed to change the STF entry requirements to no longer demand players set themselves on fire in front of their webcams. We should hope to at least double STF participation now - ensuring more players get to experience Infected, The Cure, Khitomer Accord and the other one as they were designed.
The team is eagerly working on Season 24, which will contain plenty of new content to buy in the Atari Token Store or with Emblems. This season will see the long-awaited return of Feature Episodes - and we promise the adversary will be the biggest threat to the Greater Federation yet. (Clue: Corbomite!)
Re-mastering of existing missions continues apace. Since the Greater Federation was formed after popular player demand, this has allowed for more content to be shared across the old factions. Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi and Borg will be able to play their own version of 'Stranded in Space' in the months to come, with the Klingon version to come later.
We will also see a return of the popular 'Millennium City Meltdown' event, where the boundaries between worlds will crumble once more. This event will also see a return to Neverwinter, as well as - for the first time - Hogwart's! Anything is possible when Q and He-who-will-not-be-named make mischief!
New boosters for the Duty Officer TCG are on the way. Expect to see them on the Atari Token Store soon!
The Foundry has proved to be an amazing success over the years, and we will continue to provide updates on Tribble as and when they pass muster on the Redshirt, Targ and Horta servers. We thank our loyal supporters for continuing to provide valuable feedback and free content in this beta. I am certain this year will see it reach Holodeck, although it is too far away to make any promises.
Cryptic_Nagus would like to remind everyone that the Foundry is STILL a beta, and can change at any time. He hopes he doesn't have to lock any threads regarding the loss of user generated content through bugs, design flaws, or simply because we felt like the lulz. After the Facebook Patriation Act of 2016, we DO have all your personal details on file and are authorised as a Corporate Citizen to act accordingly against any negative forum trolls. This includes sending Gozer round with his toolkit.
So, without further ado, here's what our players have to look forward to!
In Testing
These items are currently being tested on either an internal test shard or on TRIBBLE/REDSHIRT/TARG/HORTA
Foundry: Update 17 - Flat maps and Vivox integration.
Iconians!
3000 day reward for Federation, Romulan, Cardassian, Ferengi and Borg.
800 day reward for Klingons.
Exploration fixes.
Scrapping strategic Delta Quadrant conquest map in favor of more dailies. (By popular demand!)
Crafting specialities. (See post from Cryptic_Leviathan)
Integrating 'Warp Fuel' purchase with automatic bank debit.
Atari Token store improvements.
Michael Dorn 'Worf' VO pack.
Klingon UI change to Greater Federation colors.
Under Investigation
These issues are hot topics in the QA and CS world. It by no means represents all the bugs we're looking into. Please do not exploit any of these bugs in the game or, well... Gozer will get mad.
That really bad one that I can't talk about otherwise I'd have to permaban myself.
PVP Skirmish team balance.
Ascension-class Nacelle issues.
Obisek AI in 'Reunified' mission chain.
Tongo bugs.
In Development
These items are actively being worked on by the at this time by the development team.
'Star Trek: Endeavor' series pack
TNG interiors.
Point defense system for Starbases.
Risa Outfits. (You'll get a 'rise' out of these!)
Playable Preservers.
Capellan costumes.
Duty Officer TCG sets 14 thru 21.
Mek'leth and D'k Tahg presentation set.
In-Design Discussions
The lead designer is currently preparing these features for implementation in an upcoming update
Qo'noS redesign for Greater Federation.
Wil Wheaton voiceover pack.
William Shatner memorial.
New Loading Screens.
Latinum-player subscriber bonuses.
New sector.
The great Undine conspiracy revealed!
Long Term
Designs and features being considered for updates further in the future
ATI card dynamic lighting
Toolbars
Ship Interior functionality.
Ascension Bridge Pack.
Account wide Ship slots.
More Species (Androids, Aenar, Talaxian, Hologram species)
Improving Hair and Cloth tech to include other body hair. (Planned for Risa Outfits but placed on hold.)
Comments
Science has melded with virtual gaming where your mind is brought into your character in game and everything becomes "real"...
And at the end of your subscription a nurse comes along to pull the plug from the back of your head that's resting in nice comfy cozy chair in your living room.
I see where your joke is coming from and raise you realism. This would be at the very least 6 years in the future. By 2017 voice and motion tech could become so good and cheaply made that we might be able to activate abilities with voice, and have those BO voiceovers answer back.
In my imagination:
During this time, we'd probably see two JJ-Trek movies as well as a new series. This means tie-ins to the game.
STO would probably go free to play, considering market trends toward that direction.
Around 52 missions were released the games first year, assuming they decrease that number to 40 per year but of higher quality, that's 280 missions from the core team.
The Foundry which saw ~200 missions in its first two months (on just tribble) would eventually see 1200/year or 8400 Foundry missions. Some of these would be PvP maps as well.
Atari would realize the error of their ways and funnel money to Cryptic en masse. This means a dedicated KDF team would exist until design plans for the Romulan Digital Expansion pack are formulated.
Territory Control, Exploration, Diplomacy, Duty Officers, Fleet Management, and PvP would be tightly unified in a single interface. Players would be operating at the strategic gameplay level instead of just tactical gameplay. Admiral-level gameplay would be like a 4x strategy game.
Players would be able to select how far into Admiral gameplay these wish to participate and determine whether they want to refuse promotion to the Admiralty and opt for Captain instead.
Players could also become Station Commanders in the new Exploration Clusters: complete with their own station.
Averaging 4 stfs during its first year, 28 new STFs would be created (spread across every rank).
Dstahl would challenge Atari leadership - in a bat'leth tournament. Both the team and Q/A would triple in size as Atari grants concessions.
3 Factions would be added:
*click*click*
Atmospheric combat, ground to space transition via shuttle, collision damage from large asteroids, the ability to target asteroids to blast them out of your way, as well as mirror-universe-style crossovers with the new (JJ Abrams) alternate reality.
And of course, people will still complain not only that it is not "Star Trek" enough for their picky standards, but then old beards (Like Us) will complain that it was better at launch thanks to the nostalgia effect.
LOL you beat me to it!
Rank is now based on a Promotion Point system. You earn Promotion Points by raw # of missions completed successfully. (punishment (loss of promotion points) for failing). Extra points for not dieing, and extra points for doing it on elite. (possibly even more for doing it solo). And so forth.
With it unbounded, your character is now punished for breaking the prime directive (again), stealing a soon-to-be commissioned ship for an unauthorized mission, or accidentally starting a small interstellar war. Best of all, it doesn't drop your character's level. (clearly capped at over 100 at this point)
The Rank still determines ship choice, mission availability, and other things.
Oh, and the timeships Aeon and Relativity are now available in the c-store with the (totally balanced) ability to travel in, or transport to, any point in time (even during your previous attempts at the mission. Your original actions are recorded, and played back, if you interfere with your past self, an AI overrides the scripted sequence and attempts to complete its prior objectives.) Only 20,000 Atari Points.
Kidding. I know they couldn't pull that off so soon.
Greetings! / ¡Bienvenidas!
Welcome to the latest Engineering Report, as we boldly go forward into our eighth year of Star Trek Online. First, thanks to everyone for turning up at the Eighth anniversary event. It was great to see you all splashing around in the fountain again, and I hope that plenty of players got the exclusive MK XVIII Ultrarares that Q had hidden in the waters.
It's great to have Gozer back on the team again, having fully paid his debt to society for bludgeoning a fan to death back at Crypticon '14. As part of his appeal bargain, he has agreed to change the STF entry requirements to no longer demand players set themselves on fire in front of their webcams. We should hope to at least double STF participation now - ensuring more players get to experience Infected, The Cure, Khitomer Accord and the other one as they were designed.
The team is eagerly working on Season 24, which will contain plenty of new content to buy in the Atari Token Store or with Emblems. This season will see the long-awaited return of Feature Episodes - and we promise the adversary will be the biggest threat to the Greater Federation yet. (Clue: Corbomite!)
Re-mastering of existing missions continues apace. Since the Greater Federation was formed after popular player demand, this has allowed for more content to be shared across the old factions. Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi and Borg will be able to play their own version of 'Stranded in Space' in the months to come, with the Klingon version to come later.
We will also see a return of the popular 'Millennium City Meltdown' event, where the boundaries between worlds will crumble once more. This event will also see a return to Neverwinter, as well as - for the first time - Hogwart's! Anything is possible when Q and He-who-will-not-be-named make mischief!
New boosters for the Duty Officer TCG are on the way. Expect to see them on the Atari Token Store soon!
The Foundry has proved to be an amazing success over the years, and we will continue to provide updates on Tribble as and when they pass muster on the Redshirt, Targ and Horta servers. We thank our loyal supporters for continuing to provide valuable feedback and free content in this beta. I am certain this year will see it reach Holodeck, although it is too far away to make any promises.
Cryptic_Nagus would like to remind everyone that the Foundry is STILL a beta, and can change at any time. He hopes he doesn't have to lock any threads regarding the loss of user generated content through bugs, design flaws, or simply because we felt like the lulz. After the Facebook Patriation Act of 2016, we DO have all your personal details on file and are authorised as a Corporate Citizen to act accordingly against any negative forum trolls. This includes sending Gozer round with his toolkit.
So, without further ado, here's what our players have to look forward to!
In Testing
These items are currently being tested on either an internal test shard or on TRIBBLE/REDSHIRT/TARG/HORTA
Under Investigation
These issues are hot topics in the QA and CS world. It by no means represents all the bugs we're looking into. Please do not exploit any of these bugs in the game or, well... Gozer will get mad.
In Development
These items are actively being worked on by the at this time by the development team.
In-Design Discussions
The lead designer is currently preparing these features for implementation in an upcoming update
Long Term
Designs and features being considered for updates further in the future
Here's to another 8 years!
- dstahl's disembodied head in a jar