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What is the "KDF-flavor"
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Now before you start giving me your answer take a moment to think about the question. I'm not asking what "Klingon flavor" is, I'm asking about the "KDF-flavor" because, unlike Starfleet, the KDF actually represents a wide range of different military cultures. Klingons have this honorable noble warrior culture where they will honor worthy opponents and seek them out, the Klingon allied Trill might appreciate it but can they really live it? Nausicaans, Letheans and Orions are known to be ruthless and aggressive, but they're not known for honor or nobility and any time we've seen them iin canon, it's quite obvious they would much sooner attack forces far weaker than them and would curse the more worthy opponents, not seek them out. Gorn are another group of strange ducks because they've been shown in canon as hyper defensive but not aggressively expansionistic and I've never gotten a 'warrior culture' vibe from them.
So you want KDF-Themed content, but with well over half the faction being non-Klingon races, what do you actually think that's going to mean? Do you really think it's appropriate for a cravenly Nausicaan mercenary to be seeking out 'greater glory?' Would a seductive Orion manipulator really rough up a Ferengi contact to get to the next step of the mission or would she go about lying to him in much the same the Federation does?
So you want KDF-Themed content, but with well over half the faction being non-Klingon races, what do you actually think that's going to mean? Do you really think it's appropriate for a cravenly Nausicaan mercenary to be seeking out 'greater glory?' Would a seductive Orion manipulator really rough up a Ferengi contact to get to the next step of the mission or would she go about lying to him in much the same the Federation does?
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I am Lt-General Tlexem of the Gurumba siege destroyer Tlexoi. I am Nausicaan and I find military life boring and tedious. I wan't to hunt the weak and steal from them.
I am Lt-General Xriviss of the Varanus ship Xrothis. I am Gorn and I want to crush the Federation... and the Klingon Empire. One day, the Gorn Hegemony will be reborn and the Galaxy will tremble with fear when they hear the word GORN!
I am Major Gen. Duv'eQ of the Vor'Cha attack cruiser Duv'eQ wa'. My brother Qor'aS is the elder brother and speaks for our familiy, but I do not mind having alien officers on my ship. I like to remind them who is the strongest!
I am Lt. Jizefar of the Bird of Prey waqboch vIq'. I am Lethean and I do not mind being ruled by the Klingon Empire. I was unemployed before the war but the Klingons can use my abilities. And they pay well!
Even though those other member races are not Klingons, they are members of the KDF, either through conquest or alliance. Like Starfleet, the KDF would have its own operational procedures aboard its vessels, based on distinctly Klingon ideals. Unlike the Federation, where no particular species is dominant, the Klingons are firmly in charge of the KDF, and they run it as a Klingon organization.
Adding to this if you don't mind:
I am Lt. General Lazira Irun of the Bird of Prey IKS Doom Bird.. I am a Trill who spent her whole life training to be joined. When my field docent washed me out of the program, I hunted and murdered a man for his symbiont. Once joined, Lazira Riven became Lazira Irun, and the memories of having murdered myself combined with the wisdom of centuries tempered my insanity. Two of my previous hosts had ties to the Klingons, and as a fugitive, I had no where else to go. I immersed myself in Klingon culture, trying to atone for my past dishonor, and now I fight for the KDF.
Very cool background.
Seriously though i think the KDF just want a lot of what the feds have and they don't. Like a wider range of costume bits (the KDF trenchcoat was nice) Or maybe some more KDF specific missions (which i'm sure are gingerly on their way). They've already got the Battle Cloak as well as Carriers and a few other relatively awesome ships though. I'm curious to see the new Qo'nos and tutorial though. Although some of those Nausicaan weapsons would be cool to get a hold of.
...
...
Wait for it.
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CHOCOLATE!
On a more serious note, while there may be more races than the Klingons, they are all subservient in one way or another to them. As such, the overall "flavor" should be focused on the dominate race, i.e. the Klingons. However, that doesn't mean that I won't enjoy an Orion-themed mission or a Gorn-centric storyline. Anything to overcome the monotony of the grind.
That being said, I have (or will make) KDF characters with varying backgrounds. I have a truly honorable Worf/Martok-style Klingon, a Gorn freedom fighter, an Orion Syndicate officer, and a Naussicaan pirate (with the addition of one or two more that have no real backstory yet).
I would say that each of these races have their own unique 'flavor' (read: culture) and it wouldn't hurt if those cultural differences were explored a little.
How many Fed players "get" that the model for Klingon culture was influenced by feudal Oriental cultures?
"Diplomatic Orders", as good a mission as that is, only hints at one of the reasons why the Federation and the Empire are at odds. A new player without background material would have no reason to know that there used to be an Alliance or why it collapsed. I don't recall any mission text that addressed it. If people who've actually read the official timeline don't fully understand why there's a war on, then people who haven't read it don't have a chance of understanding it.
So from a Fed perspective, the Klingons are just out being "the bad guys" again. But from a Klingon perspective, they have a visceral need to hunt down the Undine and eradicate them and the Federation is too soft to deal with the situation appropriately.
That's one reason why we need to see the Klingon side of that mission. It would flesh out the backstory and put a little righteous indignation into a new KDF player's backbone.
In a game like this, you can only deal out background information a little at a time. But even a little bit is better than nothing.
How's that for heavily dominated by the Klingons?
I'm not sure they would operate on the same procedures as Klingon ships. I recall quite distinctly an episode of DS9 where Worf was serving on General Martok's ship and General Martok was refusing to enter Dominion territory to retrieve a damaged Klingon ship and it's survivors. If you don't recall the episode, Worf called Martok a coward and challenged him right then and there for the captaincy of hi ship. Martok won the fight and was so invigorated by classic Klingon combat that he pushed his newly moralized men into Dominion territory, into the ambush he knew was waiting for them and out the other side victorious.
Now imagine that same situation, but replace Martok with an orion female. Do you really see her rising with hot blood and righteous anger at the accusations of cowardice being leveled at her by her first officer? Do you really see her giving him a fair fight? No, it wouldn't work.
I have a female Orion captain. Due to her background, having been adopted into a Klingon house, her outlook is just a bit more Klingon. While she wouldn't necessarily relish a fight, she would at least understand it and respond appropriately. She does have her own version of honor.
But she doesn't have to command by the 'Law of the Jungle'. You know why? Because she's still a full-blooded Orion female, and a right canny one. A good part of her crew is either in love with her or infatuated with her, and she knows it. They are all bent to her will one way or the other. Her biggest problem is really preventing her male crew from fighting over her (which is one reason why she does not allow herself to have relations with any of them). Few of them would actually challenge her, and those that would are either quietly transferred to other ships or taken care of by the rest of her crew.
The only thing she'd ever have to fear is another Orion female. You can be sure that she does NOT allow any other Orion women on her ship!
I have to give a similar response as bluegeek. My Orion girl, "Blayyde", earned her nickname when she was found, as a child, as the only survivor of a raid against Syndicate insurgent forces. She was holding a bloody dagger, and surrounded by bodies from both sides of the conflict.
Blayyde would likely laugh at accusations of cowardice, on the inside, but she's also aware of the importance of outside appearance, especially to Klingons. If one were to challenge her, she would meet the challenge head on. (And in keeping with her name, there is NO bladed weapon she is not an expert with, including the Bat'leth) She's actually not a seductive Orion female in the traditional sense, but she knows how to manipulate people, and can play the part of either Slave Girl or bloodthirsty KDF captain with equal skill.
The Timeline pretty much makes it clear that all of the Orions pretty much decided to blend in with Klingon culture when they migrated from their homeworld. Most of them probably see themselves as infiltrators and spies, but they can play the part. The same probably goes for the Gorn and Naussicans as well. And the mission text can only go so far, while I'd like to see some "backstabbing" or alternate choices for KDF missions that give you the chance to role play a more self serving type of character, I don't think it's that important.
Heck, even the Klingons have their version of Section 31, Klingon Intelligence, which is known for acting "dishonorably". Meaning, they are willing to stab their superiors in the back if needed to protect the Empire as a whole.
You put alot of thought into your toon I see...and to tell you the truth I do the same thing...put alot of though tinto the name of my toons and such....
Klingons not being stupid and being equally capable of manipulative behavior, it's also safe to say that these non-Klingon officers are:
a) Under close observation (read: you got a spy on your ship, and probably more than one)
b) Kept in line with rewards and punishments
c) Played against each other as necessary to maintain an acceptable status quo
That's exactly my point. The carrot and stick they offer my Nausicaan pirate would be totally different from the carrot and stick used on a Klingon, Orion or Gorn. My Nausicaan would deal with NPC's in ways different from the standard Klingon, Orion, or Gorn reactions, sometimes in subtly different ways sometimes in dramatically different ways.
We all agree that they haven't written a Featured Episode that fits for both the Federation and KDF. They've come close but invariably you reach a problem and the solution involves apologizing, bartering or performing some mundane task that is a waste of time that destroys any KDF feel. But I'm saying it's even worse than that if you try to set a featured episode to that unique Klingon feel because that featured episode would not only destroy any Federation feel, it also would be some degree alien to the Trill, Orion, Nausicaan, Gorn and maybe even Lethean players in the KDF.
Not that it still isn't worth the effort of them to try. Put the Federation players in a "klingon costume" and have section 31 impress upon them the importance of 'maintaining their cover.' It wouldn't be any more aggravating for me to have my Nausicaan extolling the virtues of honor and dying in battle this time than it was when he was on the galley of the dead and it certainly wouldn't be any more aggravating than the task of fixing a lady a warm, medium strength drink in a little stemmed glass with a drop of honey but with a sour taste to it.
This one made me laugh...imagine the Naussican drinking from a stemmed glass with fuzzy slippers on...lol. :eek:
I totally agree with you.
But, the primary form of new content coming into the game right now are these faction-agnostic FE's. So that's the vehicle we have to educate players as to the "Klingon Way" and the "Gorn Way" and so on.
Hopefully we can get even more of those kinds of missions in the First City and when the Klingon Academy is released.
I do have a couple of 'oddity' Fed backgrounds (one from the MU, another couple from a planet that's applying for Fed membership and is in an 'officer exchange program' with Starfleet), but for the most part, everybody's mostly regular ol' Starfleet personnel.
On the KDF side, I have a bounty hunter, a privateer, a 'normal' KDF captain, a Federation dissident who feels more comfortable with Klingon 'honesty' in actions, and a couple others. It's just much easier to come up with a wider variety, it seems.
I agree. I like my Feds but my KDF officers tend to be more interesting to me, there's more freedom.
I never actually realized the KDF just let anyone waltz in and have a ship...no wonder they can't beat the federation :P training VS...random person with a BOP drinking Bloodwine
Well to be fair, when someone incompetent gets a ship in the KDF, he usually gets murdered by his crew or murdered by one of the KDF's many enemies.
Even though the Orions, Nausicaans, Gorn and some Letheans are now part of the KDF, they don't have much influence on it. The Klingon Empire conqueres many other species too before this incident, and why should this new members have much more rights? My main KDF character is Nalev, a Nausicaan. His backstory is, that he learned to adapt to Klingon culture in some way, and because he was one of the most famous generals back then, he was allowed to fly a Klingon warship. But although he has proven his loyalty and finally got promoted to a Lt. General, there are still some high ranking Klingons around whereever he is and keep an eye on him. I also imagine, that more than 75 % of the crew is Klingon, so an uprising is nearly impossible. This is possible, because there are waaay more Klingons around, because the Klingon Empire is, in fact, the biggest Empire around here. And "minor" races like the Krios, or whatever they're called, are never seen because they aren't worthy to be the captain of a Klingon starship.
Sorry if this sound confusing, I tried my best to articulate in an understandable way (lol)
i'd rather some targ bacon, it doesnt wriggle off the plate
back the semi seriousness, we know they like; shakespear, trials, bloodwine and bar fights, conquoring, singing, pain sticks and orion women.
so there flavor seems to be a cross between a theater and a brothel, hmm tastes wrong, maybe there are a collection of flavors?
Maybe a questline of 5 missions that are unique to Vulcans or Gorn or Pak'led.
How they got where they are, why they fight for the Federation / KDF and what their political intentions and goals are.
Well... maybe the KDF could get 5 Missions per Species and the FED's get only 2 or 3 missions per Species because they have so many more...
I like that idea. It'll help flesh out the races more and give them an organic feel other than just another member of the KDF or Starfleet. That, and it'll give the Star Trek "newbs" some backstory that the game is sorely lacking.
I've been advocating for exactly that kind of thing.
Although I'd stick with the major races at first. I could care less about the Pak'led and don't even understand why they're Starfleet. They appeared like, once in TNG? Not a lot to base a background story on.
They still haven't discovered the secrets of the Crimson Field, and there are still many more things that will make them go that they haven't found yet.
???
anyway, my Klingon is actually a politician gone warrior.
Raised in a high class family, she was just your standard high ranking high council house member... until her family was found out to be Undine and they were all killed... by her. Though her house still didn't fair well, seeing as it wasn't that big, just important and having Undine exposed within your family was... kind of BAD. She was later in a bar when she was recognized by another Politician, he bet a ship commission that she wasn't honorable or skilled enough to take a planet for all the dishonor done upon her house.
Let's just say being a former Politician gave her a sharp tongue, some supporters and she was later awarded a strong battlecruiser upon return that she used to work her way up the ranks, and now a certain family doesn't like their father that much.
KDF flavor in TOS was more of a Communism theme Inspired by the US cold war with the USSR. Klingon Flavor in TNG and beyond has been more of a romanticized version of Feudal Japan. 'Bushido' is important but Backstabbing is also common but punished if you get caught. Rule is through feudal Lords, Houses, while the Shogun, Chancellor, Focuses the nations might through his own strength and political maneuverings.
And with the whole communism thing we also had "the berlin wall coming down" in Undiscovered Country.
KDF is very feudal, it in its concept allows for a mercenary background and making your character more merc if you wish, with the Empire leaving the Khitormer Accords whats to say if you have a Klingon character that he was not originally a Federation trained one and felt as Worf did and cut ties with the Federation. Go with an ex-patriot angle.
KDF allows for so much more the Fed side will ever. Federation your a Starfleet officer or your a Starfleet officer not much room for anything else. Its hard to work into a back story as a merc on a fed. The merc costume should been given as an option for the KDF not the feds.
Klingon Flavor to me means diversity.