Once levels 1-25 are gone, they're gone for good. Don't doubt it for a second. Z
Apparently that isn't necessarily the plan. The "lvl 25" limit was actually a restriction on who can CREATE Klingon characters, not what level they will start at.
If I may, the poster's main question was in regards to a Tier 3 ship, which would be one of the options available at Commander. I think he wants you to say, "Upon starting your Klingon character you will be given the option to choose any of the three to six available Tier 3 ships."
Ahhh, but you see, I can't say that. The reason is, we have not stated at what level Klingon Characters will be starting at after the free-to play transition. We've only stated what level they will unlock at.
The actual starting level has not been locked down 100% yet.
Thanks,
Stormshade
So KDF may not lose levels 7-25 after all, that has not been decided. They have just committed to restricting who can play a Klingon character, not at what level a Klingon will start at. It sounds as though new accounts will have to level a character to 25 before they can unlock the KDF slot. But then, the KDF character could potentially start at lvl 7 like they do today.
One month they say, yeah new KDF academy, we want to make KDF access from the start. Oh and this season is the time to make a Klingon. Fast forward to today. No academy, but thank god we have the uniforms to fit in, and we want to unlock them at 25. IDk, it doesn't look good. But hey, at least we'll have new low level ships to fly around in the same featured episodes we've played hundreds of times!
Come to think of it. Why change the level you unlock KDF in the first place? What good will that bring?
At least I can say come F2P they will no longer have my money. That 15$ can go to something with more content.
Apparently that isn't necessarily the plan. The "lvl 25" limit was actually a restriction on who can CREATE Klingon characters, not what level they will start at.
So KDF may not lose levels 7-25 after all, that has not been decided. They have just committed to restricting who can play a Klingon character, not at what level a Klingon will start at. It sounds as though new accounts will have to level a character to 25 before they can unlock the KDF slot. But then, the KDF character could potentially start at lvl 7 like they do today.
Of course, that completely disagrees with earlier statements about raising the levels of existing KDF toons to the new starting level and eliminating low-level KDF PvP. Why would you need to raise the level of an existing KDF toon if the starting levels haven't changed? And why take away low-level PvP?
It's all smoke-and-mirrors until they actually do it. Right now they're in damage control mode. They're not actually saying anything definite, they're just doing a bunch of hand-waving trying to deflect a lot of the criticism with "it's not nailed down yet".
This post by StormShade actually reinforces the cut-the-KDF-in-half idea.
1) We all know that the KDF is suffering from a lack of content right now. We at Cryptic have honestly wanted to put more time, and money into this for some time now. It wasn't possible under previous ownership.
2) PWE's games all feature a very good amount of PvP in them. They're not happy with the current state of the Klingon Empire, much like you aren't. They WANT to fix this and make the Klingons a full fledged faction.
3) The current unlock plan for the KDF is still open to change, much like the rest of our free-to-play plans. However, we feel that by locking Klingon Gameplay until after a player reached level 25 has several benefits for the Empire right now:
Players who join the Empire will already have a good understanding of how to play.
The lack of content can now be made the "correct" amount of content, for leveling a new KDF Character, without having to resort to waiting in long PvP Queues, or grinding endlessly.
We really do want to make 25 levels of new content for the Klingon Empire, and it's easier to start at the beginning.
I know it's hard to see, and I can understand why it's difficult to see. The KDF has been through the ringer for awhile now. We want to make this better for you.
For now, once we make the transition to free-to-play, the plan is that new players will need to spend 25 levels as a federation player first, which we admit is going to be rough on the Klingons. However, once we have finished the KDF side of the game, we think that great things will happen for The Empire. We just have to get there first.
As always, thanks for your patience, and understanding.
Stormshade
Please note the highlighted portion. They can say it's not nailed down all they want, but then why state explicitly they want to make 25 new levels of content from the beginning? I don't buy it. You can give them the benefit of the doubt if you like, but It's going to take a lot more than empty promises and PR stunts to sell me on this.
Apparently that isn't necessarily the plan. The "lvl 25" limit was actually a restriction on who can CREATE Klingon characters, not what level they will start at.
So KDF may not lose levels 7-25 after all, that has not been decided. They have just committed to restricting who can play a Klingon character, not at what level a Klingon will start at. It sounds as though new accounts will have to level a character to 25 before they can unlock the KDF slot. But then, the KDF character could potentially start at lvl 7 like they do today.
Stormshade's quote is all kinds of problematic. First, if they aren't taking away levels 6-25, why do they need to turn off PvP for lower levels as stated in the FAQ? Second, why suddenly would the current Klingon content better fill the levels currently available? It wouldn't. Third, how does this make Stormshade's comments from earlier in the week about the change affording the Devs an opportunity to remake the first 25 levels make sense? Fourth, what exactly is Cryptic buying themselves by restricting Klingon access to those players that have levelled a Federation character to level 25?
If they aren't raising the entry level for Klingon characters, then they aren't actually improving anything for the Klingons in the short term pending the release of some Klingon update that restores or remakes the first 25 levels. If they don't plan on raising the Klingon starting level to something near level 25 after making players wait that long to try Klingons, it really looks like an attempt to discourage new players from trying Klingons early so that these new players will see all the great things the Federation has and not abandon the game after trying Klingons first, which they admit is an underdeveloped faction that has a frustrating level grind.
For the record, I'm not in favor of raising the level at which Klingons are unlocked either. I think it is a mistake, and one they are repeating. For the health of the Klingon faction, I wish they would have developed a Klingon themed tutorial and perhaps 2-3 low level missions of the quality of the Federation remastered missions. It wouldn't solve all the KDF problems, not by a longshot, but it would have given the KDF a better chance of attracting some of the new players after F2P goes live.
The Ask Cryptic from this afternoon cleared things up, kind of. Dstahl said in one answer that Klingons will start at level 20. In another answer, he said that Klingons will start at level 18ish, and should be around level 21 by the time they finish the welcome quests around Qo'noS. The update to the Klingon faction is currently planned for sometime in 2012.
To me, this says that the Klingon update is currently not in the plans for Season 5. If it had been, I suspect the answer would have been more reassuring and in tones of the change being very temporary. It looks like a lot of stuff has been moved to the F2P release. I'd expect a lot of changes to that proposed calendar from Dstahl released in August.
I was thinking about editing my OP to reflect these, but on second thought I'd rather just leave it as-is, just to see how far I might actually be off.
I have however changed my sig to reflect a very ironic answeer to a very good question. Thanks Minos.
Coming back from 1 1/2 days holidays and I see Cryptic hasn't made any better promises thet he last year for KDF. Seems that were are again delayed, this time until 2012 with empty assurances by the Devs.
I have come back after 6 months of not playing. I have made a new Klingon (well a Gorn) and started playing. I think I have been playing on and off for a week in that time I have learn't
1) Gorn's look much better
2) Cross Hairs is a fun addition to ground combat
3) I like the Episodes.
4) I have made it to Comander 7 and I am bored there is no where near enough klingon content
5) The foundry people can make klingon missions so why can't Cryptic it really cant be that hard
6) PvP is dead at lower levels.
7) Free to play might be the only thing which keeps me playing as I wont be paying fro a game where thre is no content.
The bottom line is that it's much easier to take something away than to give it back, especially in an improved state. Cutting the Klingon faction in half will be easy for Cryptic and once it's done there will be no 'undo' button. I seriously question Cryptic's intent and ability to restore a full 25 levels of content to the KDF at some point in the future. All they have to do is lop of the first 25 levels, go F2P and get lots of new players that have never known KDF levels 1-25 or the promises to fill them. Then, a year later, Cryptic decides it's in STO's best interest to keep the KDF as a mini-faction. "Sure" they'll say, "we could flesh out the KDF...but then we wouldn't be able to add the Romulan mini-faction!" How do you think that debate will go?
Once levels 1-25 are gone, they're gone for good. Don't doubt it for a second.
Z
All this, i dont hold any dedicated hope wel ever see these 25 lvls or whatever return. And lest anyone out there think that maybe Cryptic will somehow decide to patch any content to the Empire in consolation for their long failure to do anything remotely worth mention for the KFD, dont count on it. If and when any content is available for the KDF i truly believe youl have to buy it with dilithium traded for Cpts or cash bought Cpts directly. And i doubt your sub status will matter at all.
Please don't forget the absolute state infogames/atari left Cryptic in, the sheer fact they dumped them to try and go for making cheap and easy mobile games despite very few actually being successful and no experience in the field shows the mess that was supposed to be supporting Cryptic. That, and Atari were going bust, so no financial support there, so no money going to Cryptic either.
Perfect World arguably are experts in F2P games, they have plenty of money and will want to make sure everything is done properly in order to do well on their $50million investment. You don't put that much money into something unless you want it done properly. Especially as part of the idea is to create a push for more F2P in the western market, so they need to build up a reputation in the west, something that can't be done through a half-hearted job. We can already see the mobilization through the recruitment drive to beef up Cryptic's staffing.
In conclusion, its been difficult for Cryptic to do much of anything with a tight budget, tight staffing, being sold off, transitioning to F2P, but we're nearly through that and PW want to repair all of this; the levels will return, the content will get done, the Empire will return to glory!
Please don't forget the absolute state infogames/atari left Cryptic in, the sheer fact they dumped them to try and go for making cheap and easy mobile games despite very few actually being successful and no experience in the field shows the mess that was supposed to be supporting Cryptic. That, and Atari were going bust, so no financial support there, so no money going to Cryptic either.
Perfect World arguably are experts in F2P games, they have plenty of money and will want to make sure everything is done properly in order to do well on their $50million investment. You don't put that much money into something unless you want it done properly. Especially as part of the idea is to create a push for more F2P in the western market, so they need to build up a reputation in the west, something that can't be done through a half-hearted job. We can already see the mobilization through the recruitment drive to beef up Cryptic's staffing.
In conclusion, its been difficult for Cryptic to do much of anything with a tight budget, tight staffing, being sold off, transitioning to F2P, but we're nearly through that and PW want to repair all of this; the levels will return, the content will get done, the Empire will return to glory!
And we shall pave Gre'thor with their ashes!
I am glad you restated these things for new players whom may not be aware of these facts, and i want to be very clear i agree with you and respect your opinion. I do think facts are also lost at times in the presentaion of other facts, in this case being that Cryptic as far as im aware signed a bussiness partnership with a company in poor financial condition of their own free will. And while some may feel its perfectly normal to be suprised by the outcome of such an adventure im not. I do not feel ive been compensated for the 300 bucks i coughed up for a lifetime sub in the last 7 months,so be it. But while i may be "understanding" im not "sympathetic".^^
In conclusion, its been difficult for Cryptic to do much of anything with a tight budget, tight staffing, being sold off, transitioning to F2P, but we're nearly through that and PW want to repair all of this; the levels will return, the content will get done, the Empire will return to glory!
Apparently, players can make good missions with no budget and no staff but themselves, using the Foundry. You'd think Cryptic could do it, too. In less time.
PW bought a struggling MMO company with technology they wanted, in a market they wanted a bigger share in. The first things to grace STO under PW auspices were: blue phaser stealth nerf (since fixed), the RI and sister ships, STO going F2P, and the proposed evisceration of the Klingon faction. The blue phaser nerf was a bug that was fixed satisfactorily, granted. Everything else? Either the jury is still out or it's bad news.
The RI and sister ships? Bye-bye game balance. Helllooooo pay to win. Why even pay lip service to game balance when you can make money, right? Who's going to care? A few whiners on the forums who are mostly PvPer's? You seen the state of PvP in STO recently? Yeah, these ships are SO here to stay.
STO going F2P. Probably a good thing for game longevity if the hype can be believed. That said, living a long time isn't necessarily a good thing. It's a pretty sure bet that preparations for F2P are what caused the very real and totally not debatable content drought. A content drought which undoubtedly cost players.
F2P will also make STO much more C-$tore-centric than it was before. What's the biggest button on the launcher post-S4? Oh yeah, baby! The C-$tore. Hell, there's even a C-$tore 'Buy' button on the Exchange! It doesn't do anything (yet) but it's there. STO is feeling more like a Ferengi website and less a Trek game, and it's not even F2P yet. It wouldn't surprise me if silver players got advertisements for PW's other games in STO at some point ("zoning to Iota Pavonis and...Hot Dance Party...WTF?!").
I'm not opposed to companies making money. They can do it tastefully or they can do it in your face. I never thought I'd say this but the C-$tore pre-S4 was tasteful compared to what we have now. And it's only going to get worse. I know that when I think "Trek" I think "microtransaction". :rolleyes:
Lastly, we have the impending Klingon truncation. So they're going to cut the KDF in half instead of:
adding one or two new KDF missions a month while maintaining their current schedule, which is completely reasonable if the Foundry is any indication.
adding KDF "explore" missions. Basically, same as Fed explore missions minus the diplomacy. Rename some and change Aid the Planet so that the KDF helps out said planet but demands tribute and fealty to the Empire (so just change the dialog). Seriously, how hard can this be? This alone would help alleviate the feeling of "grind" when leveling a Klingon. And since the only thing that changes in Fed explore missions is the level of the opponents you face there's no reason the KDF can't have these.
adding marauder XP to some of the proposed KDF "explore" missions in #2, especially the "Aid" the Planet missions. The Marauder system is already in the works so KDF players need a non-DOff way to earn MXP.
Cryptic can breathe new life into the KDF without amputating anything. They're choosing not to. Or rather, they're continuing to choose not to. As long as that continues I'll continue to not believe them when they say that they're going to fix the KDF and they really, really mean it THIS time. Actions speak louder, and all that.
Apparently, players can make good missions with no budget and no staff but themselves, using the Foundry. You'd think Cryptic could do it, too. In less time.
PW bought a struggling MMO company with technology they wanted, in a market they wanted a bigger share in. The first things to grace STO under PW auspices were: blue phaser stealth nerf (since fixed), the RI and sister ships, STO going F2P, and the proposed evisceration of the Klingon faction. The blue phaser nerf was a bug that was fixed satisfactorily, granted. Everything else? Either the jury is still out or it's bad news.
The RI and sister ships? Bye-bye game balance. Helllooooo pay to win. Why even pay lip service to game balance when you can make money, right? Who's going to care? A few whiners on the forums who are mostly PvPer's? You seen the state of PvP in STO recently? Yeah, these ships are SO here to stay.
STO going F2P. Probably a good thing for game longevity if the hype can be believed. That said, living a long time isn't necessarily a good thing. It's a pretty sure bet that preparations for F2P are what caused the very real and totally not debatable content drought. A content drought which undoubtedly cost players.
F2P will also make STO much more C-$tore-centric than it was before. What's the biggest button on the launcher post-S4? Oh yeah, baby! The C-$tore. Hell, there's even a C-$tore 'Buy' button on the Exchange! It doesn't do anything (yet) but it's there. STO is feeling more like a Ferengi website and less a Trek game, and it's not even F2P yet. It wouldn't surprise me if silver players got advertisements for PW's other games in STO at some point ("zoning to Iota Pavonis and...Hot Dance Party...WTF?!").
I'm not opposed to companies making money. They can do it tastefully or they can do it in your face. I never thought I'd say this but the C-$tore pre-S4 was tasteful compared to what we have now. And it's only going to get worse. I know that when I think "Trek" I think "microtransaction". :rolleyes:
Lastly, we have the impending Klingon truncation. So they're going to cut the KDF in half instead of:
adding one or two new KDF missions a month while maintaining their current schedule, which is completely reasonable if the Foundry is any indication.
adding KDF "explore" missions. Basically, same as Fed explore missions minus the diplomacy. Rename some and change Aid the Planet so that the KDF helps out said planet but demands tribute and fealty to the Empire (so just change the dialog). Seriously, how hard can this be? This alone would help alleviate the feeling of "grind" when leveling a Klingon. And since the only thing that changes in Fed explore missions is the level of the opponents you face there's no reason the KDF can't have these.
adding marauder XP to some of the proposed KDF "explore" missions in #2, especially the "Aid" the Planet missions. The Marauder system is already in the works so KDF players need a non-DOff way to earn MXP.
Cryptic can breathe new life into the KDF without amputating anything. They're choosing not to. Or rather, they're continuing to choose not to. As long as that continues I'll continue to not believe them when they say that they're going to fix the KDF and they really, really mean it THIS time. Actions speak louder, and all that.
Z
Yea this holy grail of answers to the content drought (see the foundry), wich ive been told really doesnt exist (abstract ideology), at times seems analogous in my world to dropping my tool bucket next to a 1200 pound thoroubred and telling Joe the owner, hey joe you owe me 90$ for the shoe and by the way your doing it yourself today because im haveing difficulties and i dont want to. I also know i have no idea just how much harder it is to develop video game content for subscribers who pay for it than anything "i" might have to do to get paid. All i know is i get paid "after" the job is done not before, and when i tell a client i can do that job they expect me to do just that. If i cant im not going to get paid, and i dont expect to. People i work for dont care "why" i cant get the job done anywhere this side of my haveing a busted limb or that im deceased. Now the answer to the poor klingons gan-green leg infection is to cut them both off, reduce his total height by 1/2 and fatten him up by cramming that content into his upper torso, i guess.
Cryptic says their new Chinese Overlords say this will change in time that the kdf will be on par with the feds eventually. Part of me believes this because PW holds Cryptic's purse strings; and PW has a fairly good track-record of putting out games that have solid dual-factions with content on boths sides.
Cryptic has an abysmal track-record. I am not sure if this is their fault entirely though. They were saddled with Atari for a long time; and Atari has a worse track record than Cryptic does. So I am more willing to lay at least half the blame on Atari for this.
So I guess what I am saying that I am jaded. I am not going to believe a word they say, even if the PW folk come on here and try to say that KDF will get content. I will believe it when I see actual content.
They could start by giving the kdf access to all those skirts they gave the feds, and that blademaster coat that they renamed as a admirals coat... talk about a slap in the face.
Have they actually announced they're starting new KDF characters at Level 25? A post by Stormshade only a few days ago said they hadn't actually determined the new KDF starting level. As far as I'm aware, the KDF *unlocks* after someone reaches level 25 with a Fed character, not that KDF characters are going to be starting at 25.
Unless there's been some firm declaration by the Dev team on KDF character starting levels, everything is just wild speculation and unsubstantiated rumors. Not that such has ever stopped these types of threads in the past, of course.
Have they actually announced they're starting new KDF characters at Level 25? A post by Stormshade only a few days ago said they hadn't actually determined the new KDF starting level. As far as I'm aware, the KDF *unlocks* after someone reaches level 25 with a Fed character, not that KDF characters are going to be starting at 25.
Unless there's been some firm declaration by the Dev team on KDF character starting levels, everything is just wild speculation and unsubstantiated rumors. Not that such has ever stopped these types of threads in the past, of course.
Q: MinosOne: Klingons will now be unlocked once a player has achieved level 25 as a Fed character. What does Cryptic plan to do in order to incentivize new players to play a Klingon?
A: There is a lot of history to this answer, but the basics are that at F2P launch, the Federation faction will have a more rounded PVE experience than the KDF. With Episode missions becoming part of the linear storyline in the game, Feds will have at least one episode mission every level from 6 through to level 45. The KDF do not have enough episodes to provide the same rounded PVE experience. So for those players who want to play the KDF at F2P launch, we are increasing their starting level to the 20s so that they too will have approximately one episode mission or more every level so that the game play feels more rounded than it would be otherwise. So the incentive for playing a Klingon at F2P launch is that you will not have an repeat mission heavy grind to get to max level, but will instead start out higher level and have similar content to what a Fed character would have.
In the future, we are discussing something similar to a Klingon expansion that would backfill levels 0-20 with a Klingon tutorial and enough episode missions so that they would (finally) be on par with Fed PVE. At that time we would finally allow players to create a Klingon at level 1 as their first character. The time frame for this is sometime in 2012, but we are in initial discussions with Perfect World about our schedules and it will be a while before I can share specifics.
Q: UFP_Dodgers: How can you justify having Klingons start at level 25, halfway through Commander when there is new Gorn and Orion ships coming at Commander, so basicly you are killing half of those ships play time?
A: Sounds like a misunderstanding. Klingon play is unlocked by achieving level 25 with a Fed character. New Klingon players will most likely start around level 18ish and leave QonoS as soon as they finish the welcome quests, hit level 21, and get their Commander ship. As far as ships that are below Commander? We are still debating what to do with them until we can backfill the lower level KDF gameplay in a future expansion.
They just need to decide the exact level to start KDF characters at. The general level vicinity seems pretty well determined.
It really annoys me to see people still whining the KDF arn't being developed. Look through the patch notes. Every single bit of content that has been released in the last 8 months has either been for both fed AND klingon or at least klingons have / will be getting the same treatment.
Feds got Retrofit ships at max level. Klingons got retrofit ships at max level.
ESD got a big revap. The First City got a big revamp.
Feds got the acadamy. Oh look klingons are getting their acadamy.
All the featured episodes are for both factions, borg invasion is for both factions, both sides have gotten an abundance of new costume options. While the feds got more clothing options the klingons had a LOT of work done on the Gorn. People seem to forget that.
If you klingon players feel you haven't gotten anything new recently up until a few weeks ago neither had the feds. Feds have had 2 new ships now, after much moaning from the "Pay to Win" crowd, the Rhode Island and the Venture. The Klingons are getting a new ship too (with possible the best console in game so far) and we know Cryptic are working on new ships for klingons at the moment a lot more than feds. Do the words "New ship skins for every tier" sound familiar?
So quit your ********* and accept that because your faction is the minority at the moment and its lucky to get equal treatment from Cryptic.
It really annoys me to see people still whining the KDF arn't being developed.
It is very obvious that this being has not played all the way through the KDF side. Everything that has been posted on this thread has had the literature to back up what is being said. (Way to play detectives) With the exclusion of a few frustrated KFD'rs( i am one of you ), this has been a very informative thread, and a painful memory lane.
...both sides have gotten an abundance of new costume options. While the feds got more clothing options the klingons had a LOT of work done on the Gorn. People seem to forget that.
New costume options? Oh you mean the TOS belt, leftover boots, and Academy set? No really that's about all i can think of. As for the work they did on the Gorn... the redo of the Gorn is very welcomed, for those who are or wanted to play Gorn. I can not see myself rolling a new Gorn toon just to see all the new coolness. I believe that the Fed players forget that just because we get new pieces, not all of are toons are able to use it. So no we did not forget that.
If you klingon players feel you haven't gotten anything new recently up until a few weeks ago neither had the feds. Feds have had 2 new ships now, after much moaning from the "Pay to Win" crowd, the Rhode Island and the Venture. The Klingons are getting a new ship too (with possible the best console in game so far) and we know Cryptic are working on new ships for klingons at the moment a lot more than feds. Do the words "New ship skins for every tier" sound familiar?
2 new ships? What were the ships before that? Obreth? Ok, now all the KDF tell me in unison what was the last ship we got? When? And with Cryptics track record our "New Ships" will be delayed for an undisclosed amount of time. ( As of this post, no new ships. 1 day late. )
So quit your ********* and accept that because your faction is the minority at the moment and its lucky to get equal treatment from Cryptic.
You would be "beep"ing to if your faction was about to get cut in half.
As i stated before, there are a lot of informative links in this thread, and before you mistake our frustration for whining, read some of those links and try to be empathetic about our situation, isn't that what the Federation is all about?
As a 12% minority, I will continue to fight for the Empire. We may never get an even playing field, but one that is not completely slanted against use would be nice. I will take whatever I am given and make some Feds squeal, not because of the equipment, but because of superior tactics.
As a primarily fed player, I have to agree with the Klingons on this one. Since launch Cryptic has promised more and more for the Klingon Faction but it still seems to be treated as the red headed step child.
Klingons badly need content, if Cryptic can't or wont deliver on it I suggest they hire more people who can. And no the foundry is not an acceptable alternative to content.
Here is what I would do.
#1 no new fed content until klingons are up to par. We havee plenty for now
#2 no new c-store items, again we have plenty
#3 no revamps or new missions until the klingons are up to par.
Edit: And on a personal note, hurry up and fix the Klingons so I can have romulans!
It is very obvious that this being has not played all the way through the KDF side. Everything that has been posted on this thread has had the literature to back up what is being said. (Way to play detectives) With the exclusion of a few frustrated KFD'rs( i am one of you ), this has been a very informative thread, and a painful memory lane.
Actually I have played through the KDF side of the game. However I know leveling a klingon is not as easy as leveling a fed character so I did what any intelligent person would do. I waited until the Q boost weekend, exploited every bugged klingon mission there is, and leveled to max in 2 days.
I'm not saying the amount of klingon only content is enough that the klingon only players should be satisfied. I'm simply saying that the majority of the player base play fed so Cryptic are going to release more fed "content" because that usually means C-store items and more money made.
If the majority of the player base played klingon we would see more klingon releases than fed. Its just good business sense.
Unless there's been some firm declaration by the Dev team on KDF character starting levels, everything is just wild speculation and unsubstantiated rumors. Not that such has ever stopped these types of threads in the past, of course.
As of September's "Ask Cryptic" EP Daniel Stahl said the KDF starting level was around "18-ish".
After taking into consideration the weight with which the individual's words have had in the past, I'm not sure this stands as 'firm declaration' but take it as you will.
As I have stated in a previous post I could edit the OP to take this into account, however I feel it is best left unedited so that we see what actually occurs and exactly how far off my estimations were/are/will be.
As it is, I'm not sure taking a 7 level dock in progression to play a faction that has significantly fewer playable species as well as offering only 9 missions exclusive to it is incentive enough for new players to invest there time in doing such.
So quit your ********* and accept that because your faction is the minority at the moment and its lucky to get equal treatment from Cryptic.
As the past has shown, the KDF has not received equal treatment. As it applies to real life as well as 'make believe' fair treatment is one of the underlying themes upon which humanity derives it's very nature.
If the majority of the player base played klingon we would see more klingon releases than fed. Its just good business sense.
As history has shown time and again, neither is the majority opinion always correct nor is the unfair treatment of a minority based on economic necessity a good idea.
As for good business sense, neither lying to customers nor misrepresenting goals assosciated with the improvement of products constitute as good business sense even if these practices are aimed at a minority of the target audience.
It really annoys me to see people still whining the KDF arn't being developed. Look through the patch notes. Every single bit of content that has been released in the last 8 months has either been for both fed AND klingon or at least klingons have / will be getting the same treatment.
You mean that the Nebula, Excelsior, Oberth, MVAM, Delta Flyer, Vulcan D'kyr ships, Nimbus, Comet, Maelstrom, Nomad, Haphaestus and Imperial costumes are all dual-faction!? Woo!! Thanks, guy! Stupid Klingons, that's a ton of ship content that we thought was Fed only.
So that's C-Store content, you say? Do you remember Diplomacy? Yeah. Fed only. How about those reimagined missions with the cool voiceovers? Ding ding! Those were all Fed too. And those Red Alerts that you like? You know, the ones that Feds have to invite KDF into if we want to complete the Sirius accolades? I guess if one faction spoon-feeds content to the other, then that sort of counts as dual-faction...
To summarize, apparently you have no idea what you're talking about, which is a shame. Someone went to a lot of work posting all of that into a nicely cohesive timeline to educate you.
You mean that the Nebula, Excelsior, Oberth, MVAM, Delta Flyer, Vulcan D'kyr ships, Nimbus, Comet, Maelstrom, Nomad, Haphaestus and Imperial costumes are all dual-faction!? Woo!! Thanks, guy! Stupid Klingons, that's a ton of ship content that we thought was Fed only.
So that's C-Store content, you say? Do you remember Diplomacy? Yeah. Fed only. How about those reimagined missions with the cool voiceovers? Ding ding! Those were all Fed too. And those Red Alerts that you like? You know, the ones that Feds have to invite KDF into if we want to complete the Sirius accolades? I guess if one faction spoon-feeds content to the other, then that sort of counts as dual-faction...
To summarize, apparently you have no idea what you're talking about, which is a shame. Someone went to a lot of work posting all of that into a nicely cohesive timeline to educate you.
Ok I'll bite just cos im bored as hell.
Rattle off ship costumes if you like. Personally I dont consider ship skins worth mentioning. They arnt even close to my definition of content. For the sake of it I'm going to point out a few things. At started level the klingons have no use for ships like the Oberth and the NX enterprise because they should be out of their starter ship almost immediatly. Besides nobody flies the Oberth because its a ship, they only buy it for the console. The Delta flyer isnt even worth mentioning either. Its a shuttle. Big deal. Klingons got a shuttle at the same time. Ok we got our cool MVAE, klingons got Vorcha varients. I'd trade your entire list of federation ships / skins for the console on the new klingon ship. Besides the klingons havent exactly been deprived of new ships. Granted not as many as the feds got but you did aquire a 2nd carrier with a completely different layout.
You want the Diplomacy grind? I'm sure Cryptic could give it to klingons but there would be cries that it makes no sense. Dont complain you dont get equal content when it would make no sense for you to. There should be a klingon version of Diplomacy but this all comes down to the fact its not worth Cryptic investing considerable resources to KDF content when KDF players are such a small percentage of the player base.
I cant believe you are *****ing about the Red Alerts favoring one faction over the other. Both factions can get the accolades and even if they dont want to bother, weather or not you can go into 1 sector block hardly matters when the Borg are appearing in 10 (or is it 11?) Pretty sure there isnt an accolade for the feds to defend the klingon home sector block. I might be wrong though. Dont care.
Bah not worth my time. And that is something I waste freely.
You think Commander 7 is bad, wait till Captain 7!!! I had to drug myself to do repeat missions over and over and over.........
You are right though, sub-LTG PvP is pretty rare from LT thru Captain anymore.
I feel your pain, I hit Major General last night and ever since Captain 6 I have been b****ing non-stop. What really got on my last nerve was Gamma O and its ONE freaking mission at 43... and then The Return and the STFs at 45. We dont even get to go in B'tran, instead we have to putter all the way back to OL, and then putter all the way back to Qonos to spend the tokens...
Everything Korhil says sounds like the nattering of someone who plays only one side and then expects the red-headed step-children known as the KDF to be happy with what we have.
Level up a KDF character and then tell us to shut up... also you completely missed the point about the ships. Its not that we want the oberth or the NX, its that the Feds have gotten twice as many ships and costumes than the KDF. We still dont have Lt General refits for all our klingon ships.
Everything Korhil says sounds like the nattering of someone who plays only one side and then expects the red-headed step-children known as the KDF to be happy with what we have.
Level up a KDF character and then tell us to shut up... also you completely missed the point about the ships. Its not that we want the oberth or the NX, its that the Feds have gotten twice as many ships and costumes than the KDF. We still dont have Lt General refits for all our klingon ships.
You are right I do tend to only play one side. However if you read my post you will see I do have a max level klingon character so I am aware of the difficulties facing people trying to level klingons even though I didnt have to face them myself.
What do you mean the klingons dont have Lt General refits?
Fed: Defiant with Cloak, Galaxy with Saucer Separation, Intrepid with Ablative Armor.
Klingon: Garumba with Javelin, Gorn ship with Repair Platform, Orion ship with Interceptors.
Just because they arn't available in some form at lower level doesn't mean they arn't the equivilent of fed refits.
So is your real gripe that at the first admiral level / brig general the feds get to choose from 2 cruisers, 2 escorts and 2 science ships where as klingons only get to choose between 1 Carrier, 1 Escort, 1 Cruiser and 1 Whatever you want?
I really dont know where the Fek Carrier fits in. Weather its considered a 4th refit of a C-store only ship.
Look -- there is a history, no denying it. KDF has suffered as a faction for a very, very long time.
What I would like to say though is this -- for the very first time in this game, there is a major change wind headed our way.
New owners, new guidance. According to what I have seen from the devs, one of the first thing PW said was to bring the KDF up to par.
Now...put yourself in Cryptic's shoes. You have neglected the balancing faction in this game since launch, and the reason why was a combination of guidance from Atari (no, I am not completely blaming them, but they are a factor) and Cryptic itself, which took one look at the player base, then the C-Store, did the math, and determined that their business model would have a higher profit margin if they pandered to the majority.
A business decision...but then a new boss comes around and says, "that just won't do. Bring the opposing faction up to speed, because we know that in an MMO, without an opposing faction, the game will wither and die."
What do you do if you are Cryptic? You want to keep your jobs...but your new bosses have just handed you a task to fix an issue that has an entire year of neglect, and which as a result of that neglect, has become a problem that has grown bigger since day one. Because of neglect, the KDF "problem" has grown over time, and now the payment has come due, because your new bosses don't like the situation, and they just told you to wave a magic wand and "make it so."
Understandably, if you are Cryptic dev in this sort of situation, you are stressed and you are going to be frustrated. No denying it...and it is their own fault, because an ignored problem does not go away -- instead, it starts to grow....
I believe that is what Cryptic is dealing with now. They somehow have to bring the KDF up to par in a short amount of time...all while keeping the majority of the player base -- the Feds -- happy too. They know for a fact that if some really good Klingon ships that are on par with Federation tech start rolling out there is going to be a ton of angst on these forums from their majority base - just imagine if a Neghvar or Vorcha variant was fielded with a LCDR Tac slot (like the Excelsior). Certain very vocal forum posters are going to have a cow. They are going to have to deal with that as well.
Now, in the long run, with the KDF finally up to par, we will definitely see a more even distribution of the player base...but that is in the long run. To get there, they have to go through hell first.
I know that past promises have been broken. I know that we have been ignored since launch for the most part -- thrown a bone here and there, but really no serious development when compared to the Federation. I know that we have seen exclusive Klingon abilities handed out like candy to the Federation faction (cloak, Har'peng)...they have nearly everything we do, except for a Carrier variant and a battle cloak...and even then Cryptic has addressed carriers by constantly nerfing them into oblivion because of complaints from the Federation, as well as providing a device that turns any ship into a mini-carrier. I guess that the strategy of "if I can't have it, then lobby to get it neutered" sort of worked.
But...hopefully, all of that is about to change. Not overnight...not instantly...but change is coming.
I say give Cryptic a clean slate and let's see what direction it goes in. Like you, I am dissapointed with what has happened with the KDF...but I am looking at the big picture, an the big picture clearly shows that things have shaken up from the top down for once...and when there is change on that scale, opportunity often knocks. Let's give them yet another chance to do the right thing by the KDF, and see where it goes.
Comments
Apparently that isn't necessarily the plan. The "lvl 25" limit was actually a restriction on who can CREATE Klingon characters, not what level they will start at.
So KDF may not lose levels 7-25 after all, that has not been decided. They have just committed to restricting who can play a Klingon character, not at what level a Klingon will start at. It sounds as though new accounts will have to level a character to 25 before they can unlock the KDF slot. But then, the KDF character could potentially start at lvl 7 like they do today.
Come to think of it. Why change the level you unlock KDF in the first place? What good will that bring?
At least I can say come F2P they will no longer have my money. That 15$ can go to something with more content.
Of course, that completely disagrees with earlier statements about raising the levels of existing KDF toons to the new starting level and eliminating low-level KDF PvP. Why would you need to raise the level of an existing KDF toon if the starting levels haven't changed? And why take away low-level PvP?
It's all smoke-and-mirrors until they actually do it. Right now they're in damage control mode. They're not actually saying anything definite, they're just doing a bunch of hand-waving trying to deflect a lot of the criticism with "it's not nailed down yet".
This post by StormShade actually reinforces the cut-the-KDF-in-half idea.
Please note the highlighted portion. They can say it's not nailed down all they want, but then why state explicitly they want to make 25 new levels of content from the beginning? I don't buy it. You can give them the benefit of the doubt if you like, but It's going to take a lot more than empty promises and PR stunts to sell me on this.
Z
Stormshade's quote is all kinds of problematic. First, if they aren't taking away levels 6-25, why do they need to turn off PvP for lower levels as stated in the FAQ? Second, why suddenly would the current Klingon content better fill the levels currently available? It wouldn't. Third, how does this make Stormshade's comments from earlier in the week about the change affording the Devs an opportunity to remake the first 25 levels make sense? Fourth, what exactly is Cryptic buying themselves by restricting Klingon access to those players that have levelled a Federation character to level 25?
If they aren't raising the entry level for Klingon characters, then they aren't actually improving anything for the Klingons in the short term pending the release of some Klingon update that restores or remakes the first 25 levels. If they don't plan on raising the Klingon starting level to something near level 25 after making players wait that long to try Klingons, it really looks like an attempt to discourage new players from trying Klingons early so that these new players will see all the great things the Federation has and not abandon the game after trying Klingons first, which they admit is an underdeveloped faction that has a frustrating level grind.
For the record, I'm not in favor of raising the level at which Klingons are unlocked either. I think it is a mistake, and one they are repeating. For the health of the Klingon faction, I wish they would have developed a Klingon themed tutorial and perhaps 2-3 low level missions of the quality of the Federation remastered missions. It wouldn't solve all the KDF problems, not by a longshot, but it would have given the KDF a better chance of attracting some of the new players after F2P goes live.
To me, this says that the Klingon update is currently not in the plans for Season 5. If it had been, I suspect the answer would have been more reassuring and in tones of the change being very temporary. It looks like a lot of stuff has been moved to the F2P release. I'd expect a lot of changes to that proposed calendar from Dstahl released in August.
I have however changed my sig to reflect a very ironic answeer to a very good question. Thanks Minos.
1) Gorn's look much better
2) Cross Hairs is a fun addition to ground combat
3) I like the Episodes.
4) I have made it to Comander 7 and I am bored there is no where near enough klingon content
5) The foundry people can make klingon missions so why can't Cryptic it really cant be that hard
6) PvP is dead at lower levels.
7) Free to play might be the only thing which keeps me playing as I wont be paying fro a game where thre is no content.
Perfect World arguably are experts in F2P games, they have plenty of money and will want to make sure everything is done properly in order to do well on their $50million investment. You don't put that much money into something unless you want it done properly. Especially as part of the idea is to create a push for more F2P in the western market, so they need to build up a reputation in the west, something that can't be done through a half-hearted job. We can already see the mobilization through the recruitment drive to beef up Cryptic's staffing.
In conclusion, its been difficult for Cryptic to do much of anything with a tight budget, tight staffing, being sold off, transitioning to F2P, but we're nearly through that and PW want to repair all of this; the levels will return, the content will get done, the Empire will return to glory!
And we shall pave Gre'thor with their ashes!
Apparently, players can make good missions with no budget and no staff but themselves, using the Foundry. You'd think Cryptic could do it, too. In less time.
PW bought a struggling MMO company with technology they wanted, in a market they wanted a bigger share in. The first things to grace STO under PW auspices were: blue phaser stealth nerf (since fixed), the RI and sister ships, STO going F2P, and the proposed evisceration of the Klingon faction. The blue phaser nerf was a bug that was fixed satisfactorily, granted. Everything else? Either the jury is still out or it's bad news.
The RI and sister ships? Bye-bye game balance. Helllooooo pay to win. Why even pay lip service to game balance when you can make money, right? Who's going to care? A few whiners on the forums who are mostly PvPer's? You seen the state of PvP in STO recently? Yeah, these ships are SO here to stay.
STO going F2P. Probably a good thing for game longevity if the hype can be believed. That said, living a long time isn't necessarily a good thing. It's a pretty sure bet that preparations for F2P are what caused the very real and totally not debatable content drought. A content drought which undoubtedly cost players.
F2P will also make STO much more C-$tore-centric than it was before. What's the biggest button on the launcher post-S4? Oh yeah, baby! The C-$tore. Hell, there's even a C-$tore 'Buy' button on the Exchange! It doesn't do anything (yet) but it's there. STO is feeling more like a Ferengi website and less a Trek game, and it's not even F2P yet. It wouldn't surprise me if silver players got advertisements for PW's other games in STO at some point ("zoning to Iota Pavonis and...Hot Dance Party...WTF?!").
I'm not opposed to companies making money. They can do it tastefully or they can do it in your face. I never thought I'd say this but the C-$tore pre-S4 was tasteful compared to what we have now. And it's only going to get worse. I know that when I think "Trek" I think "microtransaction". :rolleyes:
Lastly, we have the impending Klingon truncation. So they're going to cut the KDF in half instead of:
Cryptic can breathe new life into the KDF without amputating anything. They're choosing not to. Or rather, they're continuing to choose not to. As long as that continues I'll continue to not believe them when they say that they're going to fix the KDF and they really, really mean it THIS time. Actions speak louder, and all that.
Z
Cryptic has an abysmal track-record. I am not sure if this is their fault entirely though. They were saddled with Atari for a long time; and Atari has a worse track record than Cryptic does. So I am more willing to lay at least half the blame on Atari for this.
So I guess what I am saying that I am jaded. I am not going to believe a word they say, even if the PW folk come on here and try to say that KDF will get content. I will believe it when I see actual content.
They could start by giving the kdf access to all those skirts they gave the feds, and that blademaster coat that they renamed as a admirals coat... talk about a slap in the face.
Unless there's been some firm declaration by the Dev team on KDF character starting levels, everything is just wild speculation and unsubstantiated rumors. Not that such has ever stopped these types of threads in the past, of course.
They just need to decide the exact level to start KDF characters at. The general level vicinity seems pretty well determined.
Z
Feds got Retrofit ships at max level. Klingons got retrofit ships at max level.
ESD got a big revap. The First City got a big revamp.
Feds got the acadamy. Oh look klingons are getting their acadamy.
All the featured episodes are for both factions, borg invasion is for both factions, both sides have gotten an abundance of new costume options. While the feds got more clothing options the klingons had a LOT of work done on the Gorn. People seem to forget that.
If you klingon players feel you haven't gotten anything new recently up until a few weeks ago neither had the feds. Feds have had 2 new ships now, after much moaning from the "Pay to Win" crowd, the Rhode Island and the Venture. The Klingons are getting a new ship too (with possible the best console in game so far) and we know Cryptic are working on new ships for klingons at the moment a lot more than feds. Do the words "New ship skins for every tier" sound familiar?
So quit your ********* and accept that because your faction is the minority at the moment and its lucky to get equal treatment from Cryptic.
We did get our new city and it does look pretty.
New costume options? Oh you mean the TOS belt, leftover boots, and Academy set? No really that's about all i can think of. As for the work they did on the Gorn... the redo of the Gorn is very welcomed, for those who are or wanted to play Gorn. I can not see myself rolling a new Gorn toon just to see all the new coolness. I believe that the Fed players forget that just because we get new pieces, not all of are toons are able to use it. So no we did not forget that.
2 new ships? What were the ships before that? Obreth? Ok, now all the KDF tell me in unison what was the last ship we got? When? And with Cryptics track record our "New Ships" will be delayed for an undisclosed amount of time. ( As of this post, no new ships. 1 day late. )
You would be "beep"ing to if your faction was about to get cut in half.
As i stated before, there are a lot of informative links in this thread, and before you mistake our frustration for whining, read some of those links and try to be empathetic about our situation, isn't that what the Federation is all about?
As a 12% minority, I will continue to fight for the Empire. We may never get an even playing field, but one that is not completely slanted against use would be nice. I will take whatever I am given and make some Feds squeal, not because of the equipment, but because of superior tactics.
Klingons badly need content, if Cryptic can't or wont deliver on it I suggest they hire more people who can. And no the foundry is not an acceptable alternative to content.
Here is what I would do.
#1 no new fed content until klingons are up to par. We havee plenty for now
#2 no new c-store items, again we have plenty
#3 no revamps or new missions until the klingons are up to par.
Edit: And on a personal note, hurry up and fix the Klingons so I can have romulans!
You are right though, sub-LTG PvP is pretty rare from LT thru Captain anymore.
Actually I have played through the KDF side of the game. However I know leveling a klingon is not as easy as leveling a fed character so I did what any intelligent person would do. I waited until the Q boost weekend, exploited every bugged klingon mission there is, and leveled to max in 2 days.
I'm not saying the amount of klingon only content is enough that the klingon only players should be satisfied. I'm simply saying that the majority of the player base play fed so Cryptic are going to release more fed "content" because that usually means C-store items and more money made.
If the majority of the player base played klingon we would see more klingon releases than fed. Its just good business sense.
As of September's "Ask Cryptic" EP Daniel Stahl said the KDF starting level was around "18-ish".
After taking into consideration the weight with which the individual's words have had in the past, I'm not sure this stands as 'firm declaration' but take it as you will.
As I have stated in a previous post I could edit the OP to take this into account, however I feel it is best left unedited so that we see what actually occurs and exactly how far off my estimations were/are/will be.
As it is, I'm not sure taking a 7 level dock in progression to play a faction that has significantly fewer playable species as well as offering only 9 missions exclusive to it is incentive enough for new players to invest there time in doing such.
As pertaining to 'wild speculation' this thread is based on factual data and quotes. Speculation, perhaps, albeit a much more realistic view of where the game is and is headed than some developers and industry representatives have recently put forth.
As the past has shown, the KDF has not received equal treatment. As it applies to real life as well as 'make believe' fair treatment is one of the underlying themes upon which humanity derives it's very nature.
As history has shown time and again, neither is the majority opinion always correct nor is the unfair treatment of a minority based on economic necessity a good idea.
As for good business sense, neither lying to customers nor misrepresenting goals assosciated with the improvement of products constitute as good business sense even if these practices are aimed at a minority of the target audience.
You mean that the Nebula, Excelsior, Oberth, MVAM, Delta Flyer, Vulcan D'kyr ships, Nimbus, Comet, Maelstrom, Nomad, Haphaestus and Imperial costumes are all dual-faction!? Woo!! Thanks, guy! Stupid Klingons, that's a ton of ship content that we thought was Fed only.
So that's C-Store content, you say? Do you remember Diplomacy? Yeah. Fed only. How about those reimagined missions with the cool voiceovers? Ding ding! Those were all Fed too. And those Red Alerts that you like? You know, the ones that Feds have to invite KDF into if we want to complete the Sirius accolades? I guess if one faction spoon-feeds content to the other, then that sort of counts as dual-faction...
To summarize, apparently you have no idea what you're talking about, which is a shame. Someone went to a lot of work posting all of that into a nicely cohesive timeline to educate you.
Ok I'll bite just cos im bored as hell.
Rattle off ship costumes if you like. Personally I dont consider ship skins worth mentioning. They arnt even close to my definition of content. For the sake of it I'm going to point out a few things. At started level the klingons have no use for ships like the Oberth and the NX enterprise because they should be out of their starter ship almost immediatly. Besides nobody flies the Oberth because its a ship, they only buy it for the console. The Delta flyer isnt even worth mentioning either. Its a shuttle. Big deal. Klingons got a shuttle at the same time. Ok we got our cool MVAE, klingons got Vorcha varients. I'd trade your entire list of federation ships / skins for the console on the new klingon ship. Besides the klingons havent exactly been deprived of new ships. Granted not as many as the feds got but you did aquire a 2nd carrier with a completely different layout.
You want the Diplomacy grind? I'm sure Cryptic could give it to klingons but there would be cries that it makes no sense. Dont complain you dont get equal content when it would make no sense for you to. There should be a klingon version of Diplomacy but this all comes down to the fact its not worth Cryptic investing considerable resources to KDF content when KDF players are such a small percentage of the player base.
I cant believe you are *****ing about the Red Alerts favoring one faction over the other. Both factions can get the accolades and even if they dont want to bother, weather or not you can go into 1 sector block hardly matters when the Borg are appearing in 10 (or is it 11?) Pretty sure there isnt an accolade for the feds to defend the klingon home sector block. I might be wrong though. Dont care.
Bah not worth my time. And that is something I waste freely.
The very definition is correct is "chosen by the majority" so I think you might be wrong there.
Good lord it isn't? Seems like it should be.
I feel your pain, I hit Major General last night and ever since Captain 6 I have been b****ing non-stop. What really got on my last nerve was Gamma O and its ONE freaking mission at 43... and then The Return and the STFs at 45. We dont even get to go in B'tran, instead we have to putter all the way back to OL, and then putter all the way back to Qonos to spend the tokens...
Everything Korhil says sounds like the nattering of someone who plays only one side and then expects the red-headed step-children known as the KDF to be happy with what we have.
Level up a KDF character and then tell us to shut up... also you completely missed the point about the ships. Its not that we want the oberth or the NX, its that the Feds have gotten twice as many ships and costumes than the KDF. We still dont have Lt General refits for all our klingon ships.
You are right I do tend to only play one side. However if you read my post you will see I do have a max level klingon character so I am aware of the difficulties facing people trying to level klingons even though I didnt have to face them myself.
What do you mean the klingons dont have Lt General refits?
Fed: Defiant with Cloak, Galaxy with Saucer Separation, Intrepid with Ablative Armor.
Klingon: Garumba with Javelin, Gorn ship with Repair Platform, Orion ship with Interceptors.
Just because they arn't available in some form at lower level doesn't mean they arn't the equivilent of fed refits.
So is your real gripe that at the first admiral level / brig general the feds get to choose from 2 cruisers, 2 escorts and 2 science ships where as klingons only get to choose between 1 Carrier, 1 Escort, 1 Cruiser and 1 Whatever you want?
I really dont know where the Fek Carrier fits in. Weather its considered a 4th refit of a C-store only ship.
Look -- there is a history, no denying it. KDF has suffered as a faction for a very, very long time.
What I would like to say though is this -- for the very first time in this game, there is a major change wind headed our way.
New owners, new guidance. According to what I have seen from the devs, one of the first thing PW said was to bring the KDF up to par.
Now...put yourself in Cryptic's shoes. You have neglected the balancing faction in this game since launch, and the reason why was a combination of guidance from Atari (no, I am not completely blaming them, but they are a factor) and Cryptic itself, which took one look at the player base, then the C-Store, did the math, and determined that their business model would have a higher profit margin if they pandered to the majority.
A business decision...but then a new boss comes around and says, "that just won't do. Bring the opposing faction up to speed, because we know that in an MMO, without an opposing faction, the game will wither and die."
What do you do if you are Cryptic? You want to keep your jobs...but your new bosses have just handed you a task to fix an issue that has an entire year of neglect, and which as a result of that neglect, has become a problem that has grown bigger since day one. Because of neglect, the KDF "problem" has grown over time, and now the payment has come due, because your new bosses don't like the situation, and they just told you to wave a magic wand and "make it so."
Understandably, if you are Cryptic dev in this sort of situation, you are stressed and you are going to be frustrated. No denying it...and it is their own fault, because an ignored problem does not go away -- instead, it starts to grow....
I believe that is what Cryptic is dealing with now. They somehow have to bring the KDF up to par in a short amount of time...all while keeping the majority of the player base -- the Feds -- happy too. They know for a fact that if some really good Klingon ships that are on par with Federation tech start rolling out there is going to be a ton of angst on these forums from their majority base - just imagine if a Neghvar or Vorcha variant was fielded with a LCDR Tac slot (like the Excelsior). Certain very vocal forum posters are going to have a cow. They are going to have to deal with that as well.
Now, in the long run, with the KDF finally up to par, we will definitely see a more even distribution of the player base...but that is in the long run. To get there, they have to go through hell first.
I know that past promises have been broken. I know that we have been ignored since launch for the most part -- thrown a bone here and there, but really no serious development when compared to the Federation. I know that we have seen exclusive Klingon abilities handed out like candy to the Federation faction (cloak, Har'peng)...they have nearly everything we do, except for a Carrier variant and a battle cloak...and even then Cryptic has addressed carriers by constantly nerfing them into oblivion because of complaints from the Federation, as well as providing a device that turns any ship into a mini-carrier. I guess that the strategy of "if I can't have it, then lobby to get it neutered" sort of worked.
But...hopefully, all of that is about to change. Not overnight...not instantly...but change is coming.
I say give Cryptic a clean slate and let's see what direction it goes in. Like you, I am dissapointed with what has happened with the KDF...but I am looking at the big picture, an the big picture clearly shows that things have shaken up from the top down for once...and when there is change on that scale, opportunity often knocks. Let's give them yet another chance to do the right thing by the KDF, and see where it goes.