In her latest Captain's Log entry, Columnist Terilynn Shull shares details about the Fleet Advancement system that will launch with Season 6: Under Siege.
Sounds like all the fears about the big guys (large fleets) being able to prey on the smaller guys (fleets) might have been justified after all. There really needs to be more detailed information on exactly how the star base defense portion is going to work exactly.
On the plus side there was nothing mentioned about upkeep costs so hopefully this means there isn't any so a small fleet can actually grind their way through the development of the station and not just struggle with upkeep.
all in all not bad and it definitely sounds interesting, just really wish there was going to be separate zone for the star bases, one without the star base defense portion for the smaller fleets or fleets not interested in that and one with the star base defense for the larger fleets or fleets interested in that.
Fleet Officers will have the ability to assign specific fleet projects they want the fleet to focus on. Some of these "will be gated by the starbase's development in each of the three major categories of Military, Engineering and Science, but others will be available only at certain times with unique rewards for those fleets who are able to complete their strenuous requirements."
Forgive me if I am misunderstanding how this works. The part about the gating of the projects dependent of the progress of certain tiers I have no problem with. Makes sense that you can't do more advanced projects until the underlying resources are there. However, the part about the 'unique rewards' being gated to certain times. I'm assuming this will be like the Vault event where you can only do the mission if you happen to hit the random time slot just right, and be able to complete the mission in an allotted time frame.
So does this mean that unless you can get all of your fleet members from all over the world and in different time zones together at just the right moment to do a gated event, you're pretty much out of luck to advance in that area?
Fleet members will be able to contribute a variety of resources, including [...] dilithium
Anyone else thing this might be a problem?
All in all, interesting reading. We'll see how much of this is implemented when S6 hits, since it seems rather overly optimistic to think that all that will be implemented on release (even considering what has been said to be 'for later') but it could certainly make fleets more engaged and involved.
I hope loosing FEs is worth it.
Also:
but others will be available only at certain times
Really? Time-gating this, as well? I don't know anyone who is in favor of time-gated content.
So basically they're an almost exact copy of Faction Bases from other perfect world games with the only STO addition being the changing of certain items to attribute to the faction bases. I had hoped some more through and unique work would be put into this rather than just taking PWE's system, which from what I know of it, isn't going to sit well with the vast majority of STO's players after the initial hype. In my opinion at least.
Although "limited number of special ships" sounds.... bothersome. I´m looking forward to the fleet infighting about who gets the three Sovies +1 that are available. :eek:;)
So, including Fleet Merits how many forms of currency does STO have now? (because that's basically what it is, be honest)
I'm glad I've got something worthwhile to spend my collected data samples on, and I can only hope the fleet gear's worth it, but overall this is not encouraging a healthy playstyle. The whole system encourages people to join the largest fleet with their tech focus and forsake any other - because they'll be able to power through Fleet Projects faster, and get to higher-tier fleet projects that yield better rewards way faster than smaller fleets.
Really, we may as well relegate all fleets to Teams and just have six actual fleets:
Fed Military
Fed Science
Fed Engineering
Klingon Military
Klingon Science
Klingon Engineering
Join whichever takes your fancy, contribute to whatever fleet project is ongoing at the time and get the Fleet Merits to spend on new stuff (and you'll have access to a wide array of new stuff, because the station will power up the tech tree with so many contributors.
there's no advantage in not joining up with the largest fleet that'll take you
Hopefully the interview later might clear up some stuff, but at the moment I'm seeing no reason to engage in season 6 at all if it's just going to be toys for the big fleets (also more timegated content? what the hell, guys?)
As soon as I saw "According to Cryptic" I was concerned...
And the nail...
"Fleets will be able to "improve their starbase interior with special contacts and functionality such as bank access, ship dock facilities, social spaces, starbase level sickbays and many other additions"
Soo...it is as I hoped it would not be...a fancy social area...
"Fleet advancement has been designed for fleets of all sizes, although there will exist "advantages and disadvantages depending on the size of [the] fleet's membership."
ie; this is going to be tough for the smaller fleets...Geez...maybe my fleet wouldn't be so small if we had *insert long lists of things the KDF has asked for over the past 2 years to attract more players*
"Fleet Officers will have the ability to assign specific fleet projects they want the fleet to focus on. Some of these "will be gated by the starbase's development in each of the three major categories of Military, Engineering and Science, but others will be available only at certain times with unique rewards for those fleets who are able to complete their strenuous requirements."
*sigh* more time gated stuff? Really? Are you sure you are listening to players feedback on those?
"Contributing to a fleet project will reward a fleet member with a number of Fleet Merits commensurate to her individual contribution"
Another form a currency being introduced? Wow...so much for that "reducing the number of curerencys" as the excuse for converting everything to Dilithium...seems like it was done so you could introduce more, different types of currency.
To finish it all off, Cryptic stated that "future holdings in distant sectors in addition to starbases are also planned for the future."
So...no new missions associated with it, as previoulsy indicated, or at least hinted at by Danny in the last interview, what a surprise...
Basicly, "If your entire fleet grinds the same tired missions over and over and over you can get one of these..."
Oh wait...that's what we're doing now...well, at least we'll have something to show for it now...
What is interresting for me is that Massively gets all the Exclusives now, what is going on, first they rip the **** out of Jeremy and now they are Cryptic's fianc
Can we change Military to Tactical? Roddenberry always wanted to distance Starfleet from being a military organization as it's primary purpose, he wanted to emphasize the exploration/science activities instead. IMHO I think Tactical fits better with the lore of the IP.
I had hoped some more through and unique work would be put into this rather than just taking PWE's system, which from what I know of it, isn't going to sit well with the vast majority of STO's players after the initial hype. In my opinion at least.
Could you detail some of that system for us that don't know anything about it?
Can we change Military to Tactical? Roddenberry always wanted to distance Starfleet from being a military organization as it's primary purpose, he wanted to emphasize the exploration/science activities instead. IMHO I think Tactical fits better with the lore of the IP.
Agreed, though it should be kept in mind that Starfleet's at war with pretty much everybody right now.
As soon as I saw "According to Cryptic" I was concerned...
And the nail...
Soo...it is as I hoped it would not be...a fancy social area...
ie; this is going to be tough for the smaller fleets...Geez...maybe my fleet wouldn't be so small if we had *insert long lists of things the KDF has asked for over the past 2 years to attract more players*
*sigh* more time gated stuff? Really? Are you sure you are listening to players feedback on those?
Another form a currency being introduced? Wow...so much for that "reducing the number of curerencys" as the excuse for converting everything to Dilithium...seems like it was done so you could introduce more, different types of currency.
So...no new missions associated with it, as previoulsy indicated, or at least hinted at by Danny in the last interview, what a surprise...
Basicly, "If your entire fleet grinds the same tired missions over and over and over you can get one of these..."
Oh wait...that's what we're doing now...well, at least we'll have something to show for it now...
couldnt have said that better myself.
time gated content? jesus. you guys really dont listen at all do you? TIME GATED CONTENT IS BAD FOR THE GAME! NO ONE WANTS TO PLAN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE AROUND THE GAME AND THE MISSION!
how many times does that need to be repeated? we all have lives outside of the game. i know the PW wants to bring an asian style MMO over here, but time gated doesnt work- we arent drones the like PW's traditional clientele- the more time gated content you give us, the less likely we will be to play and spend money. at a certain point it becomes more hassle than worth the pleasure we get from playing the game. many people have hit that point. you keep doing this, youre going to drive the game into the ground. even though its quite obvious that is really the intention (take old currencies out to "get rid of the glut" but replace them with new currencies that cost REAL LIFE MONEY, ignore community feedback, skirt gambling laws, drive PvP into the ground by putting a guy who made STF's the TRIBBLE they are today.... i really could keep going on and on here but i wont)
every time i think you guys cant TRIBBLE up the game even more, you find a way to do so. bravo craptic, bravo indeed.
edit; good to see that nothing bad will actually happen to the starbases and we can choose whether or not we want to defend- id hate to be in the middle of infected ground elite just to have to leave and take a death penalty to defend my starbase. but still time gated? sounds crappy.
In her latest Captain's Log entry, Columnist Terilynn Shull shares details about the Fleet Advancement system that will launch with Season 6: Under Siege.
Amazing cannot wait untill testing starts keep up the great work Cryptic! New Starships highlight of my day just get rid of the time gated content that you talked about and all will be well.
The Captain's Log supplement is up on Massively.com (I'm sure Brandon will start a thread shortly). I found the following to be reassuring:
The challenges being released this season include an assortment of enemies that will be assaulting your faction's starbases (and in some cases, maybe even your fleet's starbase). While these challenges are not designed to have negative impacts (for example, your base can be temporarily disabled but not destroyed), the challenge comes by needing to perform well in order to earn the most Fleet Marks. Without Fleet Marks, it will be impossible to advance your Fleet's Projects. We are not releasing cross-faction or PvP fleet challenges at this time, but we reserve this as an option for future fleet holdings. Rumor has it that the Tholians will be making their first appearance in Fleet Starbase Challenges.
While we discussed at length all sorts of nasty losses that could occur, in general we feel it is more fun to provide a positive challenge to perform well than have fleets lose progress. The only real loss that occurs is when you don't perform well in a challenge and thus earn fewer Fleet Marks for that run.
In some cases, an alert may pop up asking you to defend your starbase, but if you choose to ignore it (or aren't online), then nothing bad will really happen. You will simply lose out on the ability to earn more Fleet Marks. In most cases, players can choose when they want to play in Fleet Challenges by queuing to participate. Fleet Challenges are set for a specific number of players from five up to 20. There is also a new ground zone that will allow many more players to participate at once in order to earn Fleet Merits together. Once your starbase is established, it will have the opportunity to open up new missions and Duty Officer assignments in the future.
(1) Let us build a SB out of these dang green crate thingies.... finally we'll have a use for them!!!
(2) How much you want to bet that you'll be able to build anything in a SB with a grind.... or surprise of all surprises, you'll be able to **BUY** something out of the c-store to speed the effort!
Ohhh well such is the ban of any MMO gone F2P:cool:
It would seem a trend has begun using Massively as a Press Release Agent. Not sure I would have done the same thing, yet having the "press" involved is good for PR.
Correction: Operational Assets are NOT another In Game Currency but it is however purchased whith what is called Fleet Merits. Here is a direct quote from Massivly ; "will also provide fleet members with new special consumable devices called Operational Assets, which can be only be used in these special challenges." The Fleet Merit is the New Currency
Thanks to Heretic for posting the information, I stand corrected.
Now, to the heart of the matter. What A little teaser this is and I am happy to see its timely release.
I retract the original post.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my humble opinion here. Now to post this and have my fire extinguisher handy, here comes the flames no doubt.
I hope there will be more information will be released regarding the fleet system for example more bank tabs, more ranks, more control over events and ability to join several fleets together to create one large fleet without loosing the spaces of 4 fleets for example.
Can we change Military to Tactical? Roddenberry always wanted to distance Starfleet from being a military organization as it's primary purpose, he wanted to emphasize the exploration/science activities instead. IMHO I think Tactical fits better with the lore of the IP.
+1 on this Dev's, get it right this is STAR TREK not PWE TREK.
Took a look at other games in PWE and found that it is true, we got a made over version of what is currently offered in other PWE Games.
PWE is the fraggin Publisher, why do they keep forcing the hardest to design and adapt MMO from an exsiting IP to become something it was never able be? Just another MMO? OMGosh!
Comments
I am going to pass and skip this one...... No thanks massively
*in support of borticus*
On the plus side there was nothing mentioned about upkeep costs so hopefully this means there isn't any so a small fleet can actually grind their way through the development of the station and not just struggle with upkeep.
all in all not bad and it definitely sounds interesting, just really wish there was going to be separate zone for the star bases, one without the star base defense portion for the smaller fleets or fleets not interested in that and one with the star base defense for the larger fleets or fleets interested in that.
Why?
Fleet Officers will have the ability to assign specific fleet projects they want the fleet to focus on. Some of these "will be gated by the starbase's development in each of the three major categories of Military, Engineering and Science, but others will be available only at certain times with unique rewards for those fleets who are able to complete their strenuous requirements."
Forgive me if I am misunderstanding how this works. The part about the gating of the projects dependent of the progress of certain tiers I have no problem with. Makes sense that you can't do more advanced projects until the underlying resources are there. However, the part about the 'unique rewards' being gated to certain times. I'm assuming this will be like the Vault event where you can only do the mission if you happen to hit the random time slot just right, and be able to complete the mission in an allotted time frame.
So does this mean that unless you can get all of your fleet members from all over the world and in different time zones together at just the right moment to do a gated event, you're pretty much out of luck to advance in that area?
All in all, interesting reading. We'll see how much of this is implemented when S6 hits, since it seems rather overly optimistic to think that all that will be implemented on release (even considering what has been said to be 'for later') but it could certainly make fleets more engaged and involved.
I hope loosing FEs is worth it.
Also: Really? Time-gating this, as well? I don't know anyone who is in favor of time-gated content.
Hey, the FEs might still survive. We haven't heard the results of their cost-benefit analysis yet.
Although "limited number of special ships" sounds.... bothersome. I´m looking forward to the fleet infighting about who gets the three Sovies +1 that are available. :eek:;)
Massively misquoted a certain Cryptic DEV and hurt the community as a whole by doing so.
Expect know we have more then before and you adding another one.
Good point. Still, you shouldn't condemn the whole site based on that one mistake. Nobody's perfect, right?
I'm glad I've got something worthwhile to spend my collected data samples on, and I can only hope the fleet gear's worth it, but overall this is not encouraging a healthy playstyle. The whole system encourages people to join the largest fleet with their tech focus and forsake any other - because they'll be able to power through Fleet Projects faster, and get to higher-tier fleet projects that yield better rewards way faster than smaller fleets.
Really, we may as well relegate all fleets to Teams and just have six actual fleets:
Fed Military
Fed Science
Fed Engineering
Klingon Military
Klingon Science
Klingon Engineering
Join whichever takes your fancy, contribute to whatever fleet project is ongoing at the time and get the Fleet Merits to spend on new stuff (and you'll have access to a wide array of new stuff, because the station will power up the tech tree with so many contributors.
there's no advantage in not joining up with the largest fleet that'll take you
Hopefully the interview later might clear up some stuff, but at the moment I'm seeing no reason to engage in season 6 at all if it's just going to be toys for the big fleets (also more timegated content? what the hell, guys?)
And the nail... Soo...it is as I hoped it would not be...a fancy social area...
ie; this is going to be tough for the smaller fleets...Geez...maybe my fleet wouldn't be so small if we had *insert long lists of things the KDF has asked for over the past 2 years to attract more players*
*sigh* more time gated stuff? Really? Are you sure you are listening to players feedback on those?
Another form a currency being introduced? Wow...so much for that "reducing the number of curerencys" as the excuse for converting everything to Dilithium...seems like it was done so you could introduce more, different types of currency.
So...no new missions associated with it, as previoulsy indicated, or at least hinted at by Danny in the last interview, what a surprise...
Basicly, "If your entire fleet grinds the same tired missions over and over and over you can get one of these..."
Oh wait...that's what we're doing now...well, at least we'll have something to show for it now...
Right, very true, but no love for a little while.
Could you detail some of that system for us that don't know anything about it?
Agreed, though it should be kept in mind that Starfleet's at war with pretty much everybody right now.
couldnt have said that better myself.
time gated content? jesus. you guys really dont listen at all do you? TIME GATED CONTENT IS BAD FOR THE GAME! NO ONE WANTS TO PLAN THEIR ENTIRE LIFE AROUND THE GAME AND THE MISSION!
how many times does that need to be repeated? we all have lives outside of the game. i know the PW wants to bring an asian style MMO over here, but time gated doesnt work- we arent drones the like PW's traditional clientele- the more time gated content you give us, the less likely we will be to play and spend money. at a certain point it becomes more hassle than worth the pleasure we get from playing the game. many people have hit that point. you keep doing this, youre going to drive the game into the ground. even though its quite obvious that is really the intention (take old currencies out to "get rid of the glut" but replace them with new currencies that cost REAL LIFE MONEY, ignore community feedback, skirt gambling laws, drive PvP into the ground by putting a guy who made STF's the TRIBBLE they are today.... i really could keep going on and on here but i wont)
every time i think you guys cant TRIBBLE up the game even more, you find a way to do so. bravo craptic, bravo indeed.
edit; good to see that nothing bad will actually happen to the starbases and we can choose whether or not we want to defend- id hate to be in the middle of infected ground elite just to have to leave and take a death penalty to defend my starbase. but still time gated? sounds crappy.
Amazing cannot wait untill testing starts keep up the great work Cryptic! New Starships highlight of my day
The Captain's Log supplement is up on Massively.com (I'm sure Brandon will start a thread shortly). I found the following to be reassuring:
I'm looking forward to this.
(1) Let us build a SB out of these dang green crate thingies.... finally we'll have a use for them!!!
(2) How much you want to bet that you'll be able to build anything in a SB with a grind.... or surprise of all surprises, you'll be able to **BUY** something out of the c-store to speed the effort!
Ohhh well such is the ban of any MMO gone F2P:cool:
Correction: Operational Assets are NOT another In Game Currency but it is however purchased whith what is called Fleet Merits. Here is a direct quote from Massivly ; "will also provide fleet members with new special consumable devices called Operational Assets, which can be only be used in these special challenges." The Fleet Merit is the New Currency
Thanks to Heretic for posting the information, I stand corrected.
Now, to the heart of the matter. What A little teaser this is and I am happy to see its timely release.
I retract the original post.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my humble opinion here. Now to post this and have my fire extinguisher handy, here comes the flames no doubt.
Took a look at other games in PWE and found that it is true, we got a made over version of what is currently offered in other PWE Games.
PWE is the fraggin Publisher, why do they keep forcing the hardest to design and adapt MMO from an exsiting IP to become something it was never able be? Just another MMO? OMGosh!
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06/04/captains-log-supplemental-an-exclusive-interview-with-stos-da/