A Romulan weapon we seem to currently miss in STO are the TNG era Plasma Torpedoes.
This probably sounds strange but I'll try to explain.
In TOS the Romulan weapon used to destroy the outposts and scare the heck out of the Enterprise was called a "plasma energy weapon" and appearently that's what it was.
It had no solid core, hence it dissipated over time.
It used lots of energy.
DECIUS: Why don't we fire, Commander?
COMMANDER: No. No, he's shrewd, this starship commander. He tries to make us waste energy.
During the TNG era and beyond, the torpedoes used by the Romulans looked very similar to Photon Torpedoes, but not quite the same:
According to the DS9 episode "Image in the Sand", the Romulans were stockpiling Plasma Torpedoes on a Bajoran Moon.
How do you stockpile blobs of energy?
More importantly: why would you stockpile blobs of energy?
Appearently the Romulans of that era were using Plasma Torpedoes with a solid core that looked and worked differently from the old ones.
And it does make some sense:
They got Photon Torpedo technology from the Klingons and probably the onl real difference is that the Romulans removed the matter/antimatter pods and replaced them with containers of high-energy plasma.
Notes: I know in games like "Starfleet Command" the weapons used by the Romulans in the TOS era are referred to as "Plasma Torpedoes".
I'm also aware the Captain Garrett in "Yesterday's Enterprise" referred to the Romulans using "Photon Torpedoes".
However there are numerous instances where Klingon and Romulan weaponry was misidentified:
KIRK:Those are Klingon Phasers -TOS:Errand of Mercy
RIKER: Taris, if you've got phaser capability, prepare use them now! -TNG:Contagion
KARGAN: We'll only need one. Stand by on phasers and torpedoes. Prepare to fire them simultaneously. -TNG: A Matter of Honour
[in response to an attack by a K't'inga]
TACTICAL: Phaser hit on forward shields. Firming up now. No damage. -TNG:The Emissary
In addition Garrett and her crew might not have been able to tell the difference between those two types of weapons, especially when they might have been new.
The Plasma Torpedoes we currently have in STO look and work a lot like the ones in TOS (except they are green).
I think a bit more variety on those weapons would be interesting and enrich gameplay.
Theoretically a variation of the hybrid weapons we currently have would alleviate the problem:
Plasma/Photon hybrid Torps (basically green Photons with a PDV and DPS somewhere between Photons and Quantums) could do the trick.
tldr:
TNG era Romulans also had Plasmas that looked and worked very much like Photon Torpedoes.
Those are missing.
Yeah sometimes the scripts would use "phaser" as shorthand for "energy weapon".
anyways, that UBER plasma charge from TOS reminds me of those giant seekering plasma bolts that the Red Alert Borg command ships fire. Huge mass of energy that moves toward the target. and god help you if it hits you.....
It'd make for a fun Z-Store item! (Romulan faction exclusive of course)
And I suppose your poll included everyone that plays STO?
Now that is simply an unfair expectation and if you had half an argument to back your love for the DDF over the Romulan Faction; you wouldn?t have even attempted to go there!
First of all, not even Cryptic polls the entire player base! Secondly, a poll is a sampling of the entire population. You should know this and if you don?t already know, you might learn that fact later in life.
And you realize that no matter how many fans like the Romulan faction, it's the Developer team that will either make them fun or make them suffer the same fate as the KDF.
At least I agree with you on this point. No debate from me here.
Not to mention, they have flat stated that more mission content is oh so expensive to develop and release, how much you think it'll cost them to develop a whole set of missions for a new faction, much less a new line of ships, New homeWorld, etc.
It would probably cost a lot and I expect to pay a lot to un-lock or purchase access to the Romulan Faction.
I think it's a better idea to concentrate on making the improvements playrs have asked, cried and begged for since game launch rather than taking things into an entirely new direction.
I disagree and apparently so do 30% of those who voted. I strongly feel that some of the things that players have asked and even cried about are begging to be fixed with the launch of a new faction!
Anyway? we will just have to disagree, not that it matters much because Cryptic does whatever it wants. Do you remember a long time ago that one of the developers stated that they built the game that ?THEY? wanted to play? That right there should have been a hint to us all that they do what they want to do regardless often of what the community consensus often is.
First of all, while i am all for some romulan ships, how much sense would it really make to make a playable faction out of a civilization that was nearly wiped out? they are a scattered and broken people. OR u could base the new faction solely on that, new story missions involving the rebuilding of the romulan empire. that would be the only way i see to do that really.
second, what is all the talk about no KDF content? they basically have the same content as the feds. granted that is not alot of DIFFERENT content, but people talk like there is nothing on the klingon side. the biggest thing i would like to see on the klingon side is the ability to customize our appearance a lil more. just because we are klingons does not mean that we should overlook the fact that this is still a game...we should be able to have the individuality that new costumes, or the ability to use (with the exception of fed uniforms) the costumes we have purchased for our feds would bring.
its time to get rid of the borg, we have been at war with the borg since this game came out..how about we sign another treaty with the klinks..defeat the borg, and make room for the rest of the episodes involving the iconians.....and in doing that we could replace the existing BORG stfs with new iconian STFs. new gear....new episodes....cross faction teams...new stfs...this takes care of everything people want in the game with those few modifications.
The Romulan Faction needs to be independent, and a power unto itself as presented in the shows. Not yet another alliace of races that allows them to all be folded into one flow of content so the devs can be lazy and not flesh them out unto themselves...
So no Roms+Cardies+Breen BS.
Want playable Roms, then let there be roms
Want playable Cardies, then let there be playable cardies.
Want playable Breen, then let there be playable breen.
Give them each access to all of the common gameplay mechanics
As for stories... Leave that for the Foundry...
Let them be unlockable on the C-store. Doing so would get you a character slot for the romulan faction. All Romulan Assets not existing in the Foundry already would be unlocked in there. Turn the foundry community loose creating romulan-themed stories for players to enjoy.
If we are ever going to hope to get romulans or any other race added to the mix in a way that sets them factionally apart from the others without slapping the KDF players in the face by yet again failing to finish the KDF faction, then whatever they do needs to be equal to or less than what they have done with the KDF...
I just want to play as a romulan. Commanding a Romulan ship as part of the Romulan Star Empire. Merging the Romulans with the UFP or KDF would be stupid, unless the goal is to introduce a horrifying threat to the entire known galaxy from an outside threat, where it would make sense for EVERYONE whether they like each other or not, must stand side-by-side on the battlefield for the good of all... if Cryptic is not willing to do THAT, then they need to find a way to introduce the Romulans, Cardassians, Breen, Dominion, WHATEVER as separate intities...
Minifactions which have access to all core mechanics and whose stories are farmed out to Foundry authors is a good enough start for me...
This sounds great to me. I'd pay 20 to 40 bucks on the c-store to get a playable Rom toon. I'd pay my first born for a playable Borg faction, but the romulans would be cool. Only major way to make them seperate from the other factions I see is in how their cloaks work and ground based skills. Their cloaks should be a non console ability that at the higher levels allow you to either use it as a battle cloak or upon cloaking grant a smaller version of evasive maneuvers for free. As for ground skills, all should have improved strength and an ability to avoid detection.
Okay, so playable Romulans are leading the "ask cryptic" poll by a significant amount. Over 50% higher than the next competitor, Klingon mission content.
So I'm going to ask two questions. What do you want playable Romulans to be and what do you expect playable Romulans to be?
Now, what I want is nothing short of the total subjugation of the Klingon Empire. A dramatic story arc in which the Romulans, with their powerful Iconian allies, conquer the Klingon Empire in total. Rather than making the Romulans a third faction, this would cause the Romulan faction to replace the Klingon faction, taking on their ships and missions, with modifications as needed, while adding some shiny new Romulan and Hirogen ships and missions. The new Romulan missions would finish up the KDF leveling process, supplying them the content they need to start at level 1 as slaves to the Romulan Star Empire.
Now, what I expect is something more along the lines of a five level micro-faction that starts at level 45 and then joins the Federation as a military liaison for end game content. There'd be a few Romulan ships available and fleet versions, cause 20 bucks for a slight cosmetic update and slightly better stats is a developers dream. Because there won't be enough initial Romulan ships to fill every role they'd also give the new Fed-Rommies access to Federation ships.
I do want them scarred by Hobus in real ways. I would not be averse to the idea that we're witnessing the final death throes of the Empire. You don't sustain an IP like Star Trek without destroying popular and beloved stuff and ticking off a few fans. If you want an unscathed Romulan Empire, go to J.J. Trek for a world that has one. I think there's a lot more mileage to be had in considering the Romulan era over (just as Rome fell) since that's something you can't do in the J.J. verse and you have "back-up copies" of Romulus there and in the Mirror Universe. So there's really only a net gain, creatively, to be had by saying that the Empire is now and forever gone.
And you tick off fans. Which is good if you can do something of quality from a decision that ticks people off. If you can tick people off for creative reasons and create something of quality that upsets people, do it. Do it every time.
Now in terms of a Playable faction (which may or may not be the Romulan Star Empire)...
I think there are two tracks I'd look at with the content.
One is that you could have overlap of content with Klingons when it comes to police actions against third parties. You could have a LOT of overlapping content as long as it's about repelling third parties, protecting weak colonies in exchange for their support, behaving on the unethical side of military conduct. So I'd want some missions for both.
Beyond that, I'd want the Romulan unique missions to be Brannon Braga-like mindbender stories. I imagine a life as a Romulan is basically like constantly being in one of those episodes. Brainwashing. Imaginary scenarios. Clones, proxies, plants. I think you'd be doing your job well as a content designer if when a Romulan player does Nukara Prime or an STF, they're waiting for the whole thing to dissolve into a holodeck grid at the end of a mission "because that's how missions end." Because they assume everything is a fake or a trick, instinctively.
its time to get rid of the borg, we have been at war with the borg since this game came out..how about we sign another treaty with the klinks..defeat the borg, and make room for the rest of the episodes involving the iconians.....and in doing that we could replace the existing BORG stfs with new iconian STFs. new gear....new episodes....cross faction teams...new stfs...this takes care of everything people want in the game with those few modifications.
This^^^^^^^^^
Fed and KDF should still be their own star empires with their own drives and goals, but the borders should be stable and no reason for on going war. There are bigger fish to fry with the Borg, Dominion, Undine, and Iconians. There are plenty of worlds and resources for the empires to move outward towards.
There is plenty of time to develop super weapons and destroy the Federation later. Qaplah!
Wait! What was that?
Fed/KDF multiple personality disorder...
Player and forumite formerly known as FEELTHETHUNDER
I expect a mini-faction where a handful of Romulan colonies are protected by the federation under a mutual defense agreement and another mini-faction where the Remen make a pact with the Klingons for their own autonomy and independence from the fractured Empire.
I expect both the Remen and Romulan Factions to have their own UI and own home systems.
In exchange:
The Klingon Faction gain Remen Bridge and duty officers while the Remen gain access to Klingon Space and some mission content. Also, the KDF and Remen are on the same side in PVP areas.
The Federation gain a couple more daily missions involving assisting the Romulan colonies while the Romulans gain access to some Federation content. The Romulans effectively are allied with the Federation.
That is what I expect will happen or sort of. Any less would be even more disappointing.
What I want to happen? Is a level 40-50 Romulan Faction is independent of the Federation or the KDF.
I think the Romulan STAR EMPIRE can end without ending the idea of a Romulan faction or without taking away distinctively Romulan traits like passion, revenge, treachery, and mind games.
I have what I think is a killer idea for how the faction would kick off and it's in that "Brannon Braga mindbender" category of story. It builds on something in STO lore already and gets Romulans up to speed on their history and motivation.
I can't say it without spoiling it but as soon as you login, you'd say, "This is impossible. This doesn't fit with anything else."
And you'd be right.
And you'd need to get ready for the rug being pulled out from under you. Hard.
I'll give you a hint:
When you login, you're in the capital city of Romulus. And the year is 2409.
Yes yes, option 1 was mostly a tongue-in cheek joke. But I want to know what your options 1 and 2 are.
I see.
What i *want* is a full faction from 1-50 content (or at least 20-50 like the KDF) with several races, Romulan, Reman, Hirogen and maybe a couple of others like the mirradorn, lessepians etc. About 4 or 5 major uniform options. I want a sizeable number of new and old ships, with at least two different skins per ship for some customization and at the very least 15 unique episodes. i want the episodes to deal with the divisions within the romulan empire and touch n the iconians. i want unique doff missions and their own starbase exterior and interior.
what i *expect* is a start zone but your level being very close to endgame already. perhaps 5 unique episodes and only the canon ships, possibly with a unique starbase.
or the other way round and you start at level 1 and join the feds/klingons by level 5-10 but you then have to use a KDF or Fed starbase.
Now, what I want is nothing short of the total subjugation of the Klingon Empire. A dramatic story arc in which the Romulans, with their powerful Iconian allies, conquer the Klingon Empire in total. Rather than making the Romulans a third faction, this would cause the Romulan faction to replace the Klingon faction, taking on their ships and missions, with modifications as needed, while adding some shiny new Romulan and Hirogen ships and missions. The new Romulan missions would finish up the KDF leveling process, supplying them the content they need to start at level 1 as slaves to the Romulan Star Empire.
Why would they conquer the KDF first over Star Fleet?
The feds have troubled them far more than us;
The Romulan Mystery[edit] Storyline
Lvl Rank Name Giver
17 LC 7 ?Under the Cover of Night? Admiral T'nae
17 LC 7 ?To Boldly Go: Explore the Khazan Cluster? Admiral T'nae
18 LC 8 ?Minefield? Admiral T'nae
19 LC 9 ?Divide et Impera? Admiral T'nae
20 LC 10/Cm 0 ?Saturday's Child? Admiral T'nae
21 Cm 1 ?Preemptive Strike? Admiral T'nae
21 Cm 1 ?To Boldly Go: Explore the Afehirr Nebula? Admiral T'nae
22 Cm 2 ?Hunting the Hunters? Admiral T'nae
23 Cm 3 ?Project Nightingale? Admiral T'nae
24 Cm 4 ?By Any Means? Admiral T'nae
25 Cm 5 ?Ground Zero? Admiral T'nae
26 Cm 6 ?Ghost Ship? Admiral T'nae
26 Cm 6 ?To Boldly Go: Explore the Eridan Belt? Admiral T'nae
27 Cm 7 ?Friend of My Enemy? Admiral T'nae
28 Cm 8 ?Taris? Admiral T'nae
28 Cm 8 ?Venture into Deep Space? Admiral T'nae
29 Cm 9 ?S'harien's Swords? Admiral T'nae
29 Cm 9 ?Trapped? Admiral T'nae
[edit] Patrol
Lvl Rank Name Associated Patrols Giver
18 LC 8 ?Patrol the Teneebia Sector? ?Eirhess System Patrol?, ?Elvren System Patrol?, ?Icari System Patrol? Commander Argus Genstra
19 LC 9 ?Patrol the Sierra Sector? ?Rhi System Patrol?, ?Sienae System Patrol?, ?Terrh System Patrol? Commander Argus Genstra
21 Cm 1 ?Patrol the Vendor Sector? ?Ra'kholh System Patrol?, ?T'liss System Patrol?, ?Tephrei System Patrol? Commander Argus Genstra
22 Cm 2 ?Patrol the Hyralan Sector? ?Patrol the Daise System?, ?Patrol the Hfihar System?, ?Patrol the Chulan System? Commander Argus Genstra
23 Cm 3 ?Patrol the Onias Sector? ?Patrol the Khellian System?, ?Patrol the Aido System?, ?Patrol the Muso System? Commander Argus Genstra
24 Cm 4 ?Patrol the Mylasa Sector? ?Patrol the Alth'ndor System?, ?Patrol the T'iokol System?, ?Patrol the Khaiell System?, ?Patrol the Dera System? Commander Argus Genstra
25 Cm 5 ?Patrol the Devron Sector? ?Patrol the Cero System?, ?Patrol the Fitzan System?, ?Patrol Aihai II? Commander Argus Genstra
26 Cm 6 ?Patrol the Tarod Sector? ?Patrol the K'shan System?, ?Patrol the Sarita System?, ?Patrol the Lonco System? Commander Argus Genstra
28 Cm 8 ?Patrol the Z-6 Sector? ?Patrol the Lirss System?, ?Patrol the Fvillhai System?, ?Patrol the Vhoran System? Commander Argus Genstra
29 Cm 9 ?Patrol the Bolarus Sector?
versus the KDFs paltry;
The Romulan MysteryLvl Rank Type Name Giver
34 Cp Storyline ?Alpha? J'mpok
20 LC Defend ?Removing the Romulan Star Empire? Mara
SO why would they even know the KDF exists? We hardly bother them, thanks to a lack of content.
I think the Romulan STAR EMPIRE can end without ending the idea of a Romulan faction or without taking away distinctively Romulan traits like passion, revenge, treachery, and mind games.
I have what I think is a killer idea for how the faction would kick off and it's in that "Brannon Braga mindbender" category of story. It builds on something in STO lore already and gets Romulans up to speed on their history and motivation.
I can't say it without spoiling it but as soon as you login, you'd say, "This is impossible. This doesn't fit with anything else."
And you'd be right.
And you'd need to get ready for the rug being pulled out from under you. Hard.
I'll give you a hint:
When you login, you're in the capital city of Romulus. And the year is 2409.
Yeah, get ready for a rude awakening.
The only way I see them being able to bring back Romulus is by going back in time and altering the incedent that caused the star to explode.
If i wanted to play a romulan , id rp a paranoid schizophrenic Vulcan who has severe anger management issues :rolleyes:
Joking aside, a faction could work , but not as STO stands at the moment , once we get the KDF to where it should be , fully fleshed out and ( hopefully ) a population increase , then would be a good time to begin work on a Romulan faction
Any time sooner would be a complete waste of time and resources in my opinion
Any time sooner would be a complete waste of time and resources in my opinion
I agree. I barely touch my KDF as it is, and adding another faction at this point, or even within the next 2 years would just be half-baked and leave no one happy. It would just be a big sink of time and effort without nearly enough gain to warrant it.
I'd just have them use Rator III for the current Romulan capital. and a major Romulan starbase in each of the sections of Romulan space.
That's kinda sensible and boring for my tastes.
If you use Occam's Razor when designing your content (or you're movie), you cut out the interesting stuff.
Might as well say, Charlton Heston is an astronaut on a planet ruled by apes. That's it. Or have Tyler Durden shoot Edward Norton in the head and then face off against a SWAT team.
Having a story means creating these barriers between where you are and what's logical and then working through them. True for everything from Cindarella to Casablanca. Bad stories don't work through the barriers well enough or at least fail to distract people from how badly they do.
But if you just do what's sensible, there's no story. "Dog bites man" isn't a news story. "Man bites dog" is. I think this is one of the weaknesses I see in young writers, fanfic, and RPG design: the willingness to regard something as a story that doesn't have any nonsense to plow through.
I agree. I barely touch my KDF as it is, and adding another faction at this point, or even within the next 2 years would just be half-baked and leave no one happy. It would just be a big sink of time and effort without nearly enough gain to warrant it.
Really? Yet 30% and growing think otherwise. That is nearly 1/3 of the population. If the price is done right on access to the Romulan Faction... they can expect to bring in a lot of sales on its making.
How it affects the game... will be determined in how much of the Romulan added Content involves the Federation Faction and Klingon Faction... If they were smart, by adding a Romulan Faction they could create content for both the KDF and Federation at the same time in the way of missions that involve those two factions along with the Romulan Faction.
But... anyway... I just disagree with you and your lack of vision to what could be done.
Why would they conquer the KDF first over Star Fleet?
The feds have troubled them far more than us;
versus the KDFs paltry;
SO why would they even know the KDF exists? We hardly bother them, thanks to a lack of content.
*snicker*
Okay, I was going to appeal to balancing the populations and then come up with some line about the KDF being more fractured and volatile and thus more vulnerable to the kind of sneaky, underhanded manipulations at the Romulans are good at. But to be honest, that list was hilarious... and sad.
You're right, you guys are supposed to be invading us, but I just don't see it.
Okay, I'm changing my plan A.
The Iconians conquer the Federation. Having to fly under the banner of the RSE should make enough players jump ships and roll up "noble liberators" to help the KDF out.
Fed and KDF should still be their own star empires with their own drives and goals, but the borders should be stable and no reason for on going war. There are bigger fish to fry with the Borg, Dominion, Undine, and Iconians. There are plenty of worlds and resources for the empires to move outward towards.
There is plenty of time to develop super weapons and destroy the Federation later. Qaplah!
Wait! What was that?
Fed/KDF multiple personality disorder...
The Undine, Borg and Iconians are why we are at war. The Undine have subverted the Federation and thats why are at war with the Romulans, The Iconians sent the Borg it seems to attack everyone and seem to be helping the RSE in part. We KDF are at war with the fedration becuase of our atack on the Gorn and our retaking of once Romulan systems. Its an action the UFP condemned.
The fault for why the war makes little sense is not the backstory that puts it inplace, but the fact that the war has not been given any attention in STO by the Dev team.
Heck, we KDF are at war with the feds and the only way a player would know this is to read the Path to 2409, our faction play has little PvE to explain it.
The Feds have a much better attempt at following the fed/war/undine involved storyline but even thier missions do little to tell the player why the war exists.
One came close though to revealing the Undine subversion of Star Fleet (the mission where as a fed you kill a bunch of innocent Romulan scientist) but it hit a lot a flack from the playerbase as being "anti-fed" in nature and for not allowing the player the option of refusing the order.
All in all the fault for the confusing Fed/KDF war falls on Cryptic for not elaborating on it properly as part of the games backstory.
What I would like them see is finally finish the KDF/Fed war/Undine subversion to its endgame level by allowing the player to play through it as they progress up the ranks. Give the player time and ability to uncover the Undine plot for themselves and realize the danger. It could culminate in a series of Undine STFs and would make the co-operation between the KDF and feds at endgame make more sense instead being forced as it is now.
If I had to make a wishlist, I'd want them to be independent as well as hostile or at least opposed to both the Feds as well as the Klingons. Place the storyline around Sela and her attempts to recreate the Empire and subdue the Remans. I'd really dislike seeing them as a minor Fed or Klingon faction, or even both.
One of the most important things imho, is that the Romulans should get some sort of sovereignty over their territory. While the civil war and the loss of Romulus made them lose some cohesion, I really hate the way it's currently handled, with the Federation and the Klingons just flying around unharmed in Romulan space. Iota Pavonis should have gotten the same restrictions as OL/Sirius have right from the beginning (you can only enter with DI/RP). After all, the Romulans seem to have gotten their act together somewhat after Sela and Velal took over.
I'd also encourage not to make it into a "green Federation", as the Klingon Empire has become. Keep it with playable Romulans and don't invent any far-fetched alliances, just to get some costume options...
Really? Yet 30% and growing think otherwise. That is nearly 1/3 of the population. If the price is done right on access to the Romulan Faction... they can expect to bring in a lot of sales on its making.
How it affects the game... will be determined in how much of the Romulan added Content involves the Federation Faction and Klingon Faction... If they were smart, by adding a Romulan Faction they could create content for both the KDF and Federation at the same time in the way of missions that involve those two factions along with the Romulan Faction.
But... anyway... I just disagree with you and your lack of vision to what could be done.
its not a case of just looking at what people want , do you really think that creating a romulan faction , full missions and ships at current is even possible ? let alone practical
Heh, in game the 'True way' stated they had trouble subduing the Klingons and decided to leave them alone, unlike other less difficult races like the federation.
I agree. I barely touch my KDF as it is, and adding another faction at this point, or even within the next 2 years would just be half-baked and leave no one happy. It would just be a big sink of time and effort without nearly enough gain to warrant it.
That's where I sortof get Stahl's point about splitting them up.
If the effort wouldn't be worth it and they can't come up with a way to apply more effort then maybe redefining the goal to match the work they can do makes sense.
But it comes back down to the same line of logic as merging the KDF with the Feds. Is it worth ticking people off to have a more polished and sustainable product, assuming resources are fixed and unlikely to increase dramatically.
Regardless of whether the playerbase could grow. It may well be that we are at the level we're at and any dramatic playerbase growth would not necessarily mean dramatically more resources put into the game. Because I think where we're at already involves most of the resources being pumped back in and that if we grew, any extra gains probably wouldn't be dramatically reinvested into the game. PWE would just say, "We let you break even, we let you hire 20 more employees when you made more money. We need a return. Above 40 employees, you'll need another $1 million in revenue for every extra team member we let you hire. Above 50 employees, you'll need $5 million in revenue for every team member we let you hire."
Okay, I was going to appeal to balancing the populations and then come up with some line about the KDF being more fractured and volatile and thus more vulnerable to the kind of sneaky, underhanded manipulations at the Romulans are good at. But to be honest, that list was hilarious... and sad.
You're right, you guys are supposed to be invading us, but I just don't see it.
Okay, I'm changing my plan A.
The Iconians conquer the Federation. Having to fly under the banner of the RSE should make enough players jump ships and roll up "noble liberators" to help the KDF out.
Well it was meant to be a tongue n cheek answer to your original #1, but yes once the evidence was on the table it showed how poorly Cryptic has followed there own Path to 2409 storyline concerning the KDf invasion of RSE systems.
Comments
anyways, that UBER plasma charge from TOS reminds me of those giant seekering plasma bolts that the Red Alert Borg command ships fire. Huge mass of energy that moves toward the target. and god help you if it hits you.....
It'd make for a fun Z-Store item! (Romulan faction exclusive of course)
My character Tsin'xing
First of all, not even Cryptic polls the entire player base! Secondly, a poll is a sampling of the entire population. You should know this and if you don?t already know, you might learn that fact later in life. At least I agree with you on this point. No debate from me here.
It would probably cost a lot and I expect to pay a lot to un-lock or purchase access to the Romulan Faction. I disagree and apparently so do 30% of those who voted. I strongly feel that some of the things that players have asked and even cried about are begging to be fixed with the launch of a new faction!
Anyway? we will just have to disagree, not that it matters much because Cryptic does whatever it wants. Do you remember a long time ago that one of the developers stated that they built the game that ?THEY? wanted to play? That right there should have been a hint to us all that they do what they want to do regardless often of what the community consensus often is.
second, what is all the talk about no KDF content? they basically have the same content as the feds. granted that is not alot of DIFFERENT content, but people talk like there is nothing on the klingon side. the biggest thing i would like to see on the klingon side is the ability to customize our appearance a lil more. just because we are klingons does not mean that we should overlook the fact that this is still a game...we should be able to have the individuality that new costumes, or the ability to use (with the exception of fed uniforms) the costumes we have purchased for our feds would bring.
its time to get rid of the borg, we have been at war with the borg since this game came out..how about we sign another treaty with the klinks..defeat the borg, and make room for the rest of the episodes involving the iconians.....and in doing that we could replace the existing BORG stfs with new iconian STFs. new gear....new episodes....cross faction teams...new stfs...this takes care of everything people want in the game with those few modifications.
This sounds great to me. I'd pay 20 to 40 bucks on the c-store to get a playable Rom toon. I'd pay my first born for a playable Borg faction, but the romulans would be cool. Only major way to make them seperate from the other factions I see is in how their cloaks work and ground based skills. Their cloaks should be a non console ability that at the higher levels allow you to either use it as a battle cloak or upon cloaking grant a smaller version of evasive maneuvers for free. As for ground skills, all should have improved strength and an ability to avoid detection.
So I'm going to ask two questions. What do you want playable Romulans to be and what do you expect playable Romulans to be?
Now, what I want is nothing short of the total subjugation of the Klingon Empire. A dramatic story arc in which the Romulans, with their powerful Iconian allies, conquer the Klingon Empire in total. Rather than making the Romulans a third faction, this would cause the Romulan faction to replace the Klingon faction, taking on their ships and missions, with modifications as needed, while adding some shiny new Romulan and Hirogen ships and missions. The new Romulan missions would finish up the KDF leveling process, supplying them the content they need to start at level 1 as slaves to the Romulan Star Empire.
Now, what I expect is something more along the lines of a five level micro-faction that starts at level 45 and then joins the Federation as a military liaison for end game content. There'd be a few Romulan ships available and fleet versions, cause 20 bucks for a slight cosmetic update and slightly better stats is a developers dream. Because there won't be enough initial Romulan ships to fill every role they'd also give the new Fed-Rommies access to Federation ships.
I do want them scarred by Hobus in real ways. I would not be averse to the idea that we're witnessing the final death throes of the Empire. You don't sustain an IP like Star Trek without destroying popular and beloved stuff and ticking off a few fans. If you want an unscathed Romulan Empire, go to J.J. Trek for a world that has one. I think there's a lot more mileage to be had in considering the Romulan era over (just as Rome fell) since that's something you can't do in the J.J. verse and you have "back-up copies" of Romulus there and in the Mirror Universe. So there's really only a net gain, creatively, to be had by saying that the Empire is now and forever gone.
And you tick off fans. Which is good if you can do something of quality from a decision that ticks people off. If you can tick people off for creative reasons and create something of quality that upsets people, do it. Do it every time.
Now in terms of a Playable faction (which may or may not be the Romulan Star Empire)...
I think there are two tracks I'd look at with the content.
One is that you could have overlap of content with Klingons when it comes to police actions against third parties. You could have a LOT of overlapping content as long as it's about repelling third parties, protecting weak colonies in exchange for their support, behaving on the unethical side of military conduct. So I'd want some missions for both.
Beyond that, I'd want the Romulan unique missions to be Brannon Braga-like mindbender stories. I imagine a life as a Romulan is basically like constantly being in one of those episodes. Brainwashing. Imaginary scenarios. Clones, proxies, plants. I think you'd be doing your job well as a content designer if when a Romulan player does Nukara Prime or an STF, they're waiting for the whole thing to dissolve into a holodeck grid at the end of a mission "because that's how missions end." Because they assume everything is a fake or a trick, instinctively.
This^^^^^^^^^
Fed and KDF should still be their own star empires with their own drives and goals, but the borders should be stable and no reason for on going war. There are bigger fish to fry with the Borg, Dominion, Undine, and Iconians. There are plenty of worlds and resources for the empires to move outward towards.
There is plenty of time to develop super weapons and destroy the Federation later. Qaplah!
Wait! What was that?
Fed/KDF multiple personality disorder...
Player and forumite formerly known as FEELTHETHUNDER
Expatriot Might Characters in EXILE
Yes yes, option 1 was mostly a tongue-in cheek joke. But I want to know what your options 1 and 2 are.
I expect both the Remen and Romulan Factions to have their own UI and own home systems.
In exchange:
The Klingon Faction gain Remen Bridge and duty officers while the Remen gain access to Klingon Space and some mission content. Also, the KDF and Remen are on the same side in PVP areas.
The Federation gain a couple more daily missions involving assisting the Romulan colonies while the Romulans gain access to some Federation content. The Romulans effectively are allied with the Federation.
That is what I expect will happen or sort of. Any less would be even more disappointing.
What I want to happen? Is a level 40-50 Romulan Faction is independent of the Federation or the KDF.
I think the Romulan STAR EMPIRE can end without ending the idea of a Romulan faction or without taking away distinctively Romulan traits like passion, revenge, treachery, and mind games.
I have what I think is a killer idea for how the faction would kick off and it's in that "Brannon Braga mindbender" category of story. It builds on something in STO lore already and gets Romulans up to speed on their history and motivation.
I can't say it without spoiling it but as soon as you login, you'd say, "This is impossible. This doesn't fit with anything else."
And you'd be right.
And you'd need to get ready for the rug being pulled out from under you. Hard.
I'll give you a hint:
When you login, you're in the capital city of Romulus. And the year is 2409.
Yeah, get ready for a rude awakening.
I see.
What i *want* is a full faction from 1-50 content (or at least 20-50 like the KDF) with several races, Romulan, Reman, Hirogen and maybe a couple of others like the mirradorn, lessepians etc. About 4 or 5 major uniform options. I want a sizeable number of new and old ships, with at least two different skins per ship for some customization and at the very least 15 unique episodes. i want the episodes to deal with the divisions within the romulan empire and touch n the iconians. i want unique doff missions and their own starbase exterior and interior.
what i *expect* is a start zone but your level being very close to endgame already. perhaps 5 unique episodes and only the canon ships, possibly with a unique starbase.
or the other way round and you start at level 1 and join the feds/klingons by level 5-10 but you then have to use a KDF or Fed starbase.
R.I.P
The only way I see them being able to bring back Romulus is by going back in time and altering the incedent that caused the star to explode.
Maybe you only THINK you're on Romulus. Maybe some people don't know any better.
With that, I'll shut up.
My character Tsin'xing
Joking aside, a faction could work , but not as STO stands at the moment , once we get the KDF to where it should be , fully fleshed out and ( hopefully ) a population increase , then would be a good time to begin work on a Romulan faction
Any time sooner would be a complete waste of time and resources in my opinion
Rear Admiral , Engineering Division
U.S.S. Sheffield N.C.C. 92016
I agree. I barely touch my KDF as it is, and adding another faction at this point, or even within the next 2 years would just be half-baked and leave no one happy. It would just be a big sink of time and effort without nearly enough gain to warrant it.
That's kinda sensible and boring for my tastes.
If you use Occam's Razor when designing your content (or you're movie), you cut out the interesting stuff.
Might as well say, Charlton Heston is an astronaut on a planet ruled by apes. That's it. Or have Tyler Durden shoot Edward Norton in the head and then face off against a SWAT team.
Having a story means creating these barriers between where you are and what's logical and then working through them. True for everything from Cindarella to Casablanca. Bad stories don't work through the barriers well enough or at least fail to distract people from how badly they do.
But if you just do what's sensible, there's no story. "Dog bites man" isn't a news story. "Man bites dog" is. I think this is one of the weaknesses I see in young writers, fanfic, and RPG design: the willingness to regard something as a story that doesn't have any nonsense to plow through.
Really? Yet 30% and growing think otherwise. That is nearly 1/3 of the population. If the price is done right on access to the Romulan Faction... they can expect to bring in a lot of sales on its making.
How it affects the game... will be determined in how much of the Romulan added Content involves the Federation Faction and Klingon Faction... If they were smart, by adding a Romulan Faction they could create content for both the KDF and Federation at the same time in the way of missions that involve those two factions along with the Romulan Faction.
But... anyway... I just disagree with you and your lack of vision to what could be done.
Just another faction to be made with angry fans.
I hope it DOES NOT happen like this, but history is any indication of the future... it will be TRIBBLE.
The Undine, Borg and Iconians are why we are at war. The Undine have subverted the Federation and thats why are at war with the Romulans, The Iconians sent the Borg it seems to attack everyone and seem to be helping the RSE in part. We KDF are at war with the fedration becuase of our atack on the Gorn and our retaking of once Romulan systems. Its an action the UFP condemned.
The fault for why the war makes little sense is not the backstory that puts it inplace, but the fact that the war has not been given any attention in STO by the Dev team.
Heck, we KDF are at war with the feds and the only way a player would know this is to read the Path to 2409, our faction play has little PvE to explain it.
The Feds have a much better attempt at following the fed/war/undine involved storyline but even thier missions do little to tell the player why the war exists.
One came close though to revealing the Undine subversion of Star Fleet (the mission where as a fed you kill a bunch of innocent Romulan scientist) but it hit a lot a flack from the playerbase as being "anti-fed" in nature and for not allowing the player the option of refusing the order.
All in all the fault for the confusing Fed/KDF war falls on Cryptic for not elaborating on it properly as part of the games backstory.
What I would like them see is finally finish the KDF/Fed war/Undine subversion to its endgame level by allowing the player to play through it as they progress up the ranks. Give the player time and ability to uncover the Undine plot for themselves and realize the danger. It could culminate in a series of Undine STFs and would make the co-operation between the KDF and feds at endgame make more sense instead being forced as it is now.
R.I.P
One of the most important things imho, is that the Romulans should get some sort of sovereignty over their territory. While the civil war and the loss of Romulus made them lose some cohesion, I really hate the way it's currently handled, with the Federation and the Klingons just flying around unharmed in Romulan space. Iota Pavonis should have gotten the same restrictions as OL/Sirius have right from the beginning (you can only enter with DI/RP). After all, the Romulans seem to have gotten their act together somewhat after Sela and Velal took over.
I'd also encourage not to make it into a "green Federation", as the Klingon Empire has become. Keep it with playable Romulans and don't invent any far-fetched alliances, just to get some costume options...
its not a case of just looking at what people want , do you really think that creating a romulan faction , full missions and ships at current is even possible ? let alone practical
Rear Admiral , Engineering Division
U.S.S. Sheffield N.C.C. 92016
Awoken Dead
Now shaddup about the queues, it's a BUG
That's where I sortof get Stahl's point about splitting them up.
If the effort wouldn't be worth it and they can't come up with a way to apply more effort then maybe redefining the goal to match the work they can do makes sense.
But it comes back down to the same line of logic as merging the KDF with the Feds. Is it worth ticking people off to have a more polished and sustainable product, assuming resources are fixed and unlikely to increase dramatically.
Regardless of whether the playerbase could grow. It may well be that we are at the level we're at and any dramatic playerbase growth would not necessarily mean dramatically more resources put into the game. Because I think where we're at already involves most of the resources being pumped back in and that if we grew, any extra gains probably wouldn't be dramatically reinvested into the game. PWE would just say, "We let you break even, we let you hire 20 more employees when you made more money. We need a return. Above 40 employees, you'll need another $1 million in revenue for every extra team member we let you hire. Above 50 employees, you'll need $5 million in revenue for every team member we let you hire."
R.I.P