I try to have different careers with my toons. I take lots of screenshots of missions for my screensaver photo album. I never take pictures of the same mission with two different toons, so when it plays back to me, it looks like they all had different careers. So many foundry mission pictures are in my album.
I say that to say this, what would be wrong with giving players a bundle of XP points at the start of their career. Each mission they start, official or foundry pays out enough XP to advance one level. This way, players can mix in foundry missions in any order into their allotment of 50 missions. We dont have to wait for them to be spotlighted, what we pick gets us our 1 level XP. Personally I dont play cheap console clickers. But even for those players who want to rob themselves of a lengthy career by playing clickers, who cares? Leveling is so fast anyways, what does Cryptic care if someone wants to go slipstream fast or pace themselves playing 30-45 min avg mission times? All the best loot is in STFs anyways. Missions can still have a level requirement, but I dont want to wait forever for a mission to get spotlighted, if its getting good reviews early, I want to add it to one of my 50 career missions and get full XP credit for it first time I play it. Instead of essentially waiting for decent XP credit to come with the DVD release months later. And players have to pay for every 2 additional toons anyways beyond their default amount. Is there a problem in what I propose? It would make foundry much more enticing instantly and lets players choose their leveling speed while not robbing them of XP per mission played. No more having to play foundry missions JUST for the love if the mission, you instantly get full credit for it. If someone wants to level up entirely on cheap Nagus missions, let them. We all get to 50 so fast anyways, whats the difference?
STO: @AGNT009 Since Dec 2010
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
Also - I might be nit-picking here. . . but it's a bugbear of mine to see every ship flying around with a captain with the rank of Vice Admiral!
But just how many Vice Admirals can there be in Starfleet? Can you imagine watching TNG, "This is Vice Admiral Picard" - LOL!
Last time I checked, the usual rank of ship's Captain was either Commander or Captain. Admirals are supposed to sit behind desks :mad:
Here's my radical solution - Although I fear too radical to be implemented:
You get your first ship at Ens. not Lt.
Add the rank Lt. Jr. grade
Level 50 should be CAPTAIN
Then perhaps have a level 51, which is very, very difficult to get and takes many, many months of hard work, where you can then become an Rear Admiral . . . 52, Rear Admiral Upper - and then, perhaps, after year of solid play get Vice Admiral.
Then, most ships flying around will have a captain with the rank of captain and only players who've really earned the title of admiral should be awarded it.
I doubt my idea would go down very well.... would certainly be more in line with Star Trek cannon though?
Seriously though - Starfleet with more admirals than captains?!
Actually, I've had a rethink about my idea -
The following ranks would replace the ranks currently used:
Problem solved! I mean, it should be a major undertaking to become a captain by rank! It should take work and dedication. To suggest a player can become a Vice Admiral after a few hours of play, just doesn't seem right.
Now - here's my new suggestion of getting a rank of Admiral - Fleet leaders, who've proved themselves. Then Admiral would mean something, it would carry weight. It would say "I can lead players, I can co-ordinate groups" - which is what an Admiral should be able to do.
I think I'm just dreaming though - I doubt this would be implemented in the game.
Admiral Tuwud - High Commissioner, UFP Peace Corps Sigma Red
STO at launch: A 50 to 80 hour journey to VA, in which players had to play lots of content, even though some of it was lackluster, like patrols. Getting to VA took some work, but we got to experience most of the official content, even if there wasn't much to do at endgame. Players complained about the speed of getting to max level and the lack of endgame content. The game was "too short" and lacked "content." But, there was a reason to care about mid-level purples and even crafting.
STO now: A 10 to 15 hour journey to VA, in which players don't have to play much content at all, beyond a few missions here and there while messing with doffs. Most of the lackluster content, like patrols, is completely optional. Getting to VA takes very little work, and we're likely to hit it prior to playing the Romulan episodes. There is a lot to do at VA, since we hit it before playing captain-level missions. We can just continue on, playing the lower level content after reaching max level. And, there are our starbases. Hitting VA is kind of an arbitrary moment, when we say, "OK, well, I won't get further promoted, but I still have lots of stuff in my mission log." There is no reason to care about mid-level purples or crafting.
It averages better than the average Foundry content, and none of it is as mind-searingly awful as the worst Foundry content. The rewards are better, which means you can make more EC in the Exchange, until you hit the cap. There's a few cosmetically-interesting unique rewards, but those are mostly in the Featured Episodes.
I disagree with this statement , i have played far more entertaining Foundry missions, than STO truly enjoyable storyline content. The, borg, the undine, dooms day, a few time travel stories, and most, but not all of the featuted episodes and the stfs are some of the best storyline content, and alot of those are ripped off from tng, ds9, tos episodes.
The worst part is tne the cryptic missions that are bad, any of us could of built in the Foundry in like 1 or 2 hours, and I remember more of thoses than i should.
Problem solved! I mean, it should be a major undertaking to become a captain by rank! It should take work and dedication. To suggest a player can become a Vice Admiral after a few hours of play, just doesn't seem right.
Now - here's my new suggestion of getting a rank of Admiral - Fleet leaders, who've proved themselves. Then Admiral would mean something, it would carry weight. It would say "I can lead players, I can co-ordinate groups" - which is what an Admiral should be able to do.
I think I'm just dreaming though - I doubt this would be implemented in the game.
"Critics who say that the optimistic utopia Star Trek depicted is now outmoded forget the cultural context that gave birth to it: Star Trek was not a manifestation of optimism when optimism was easy. Star Trek declared a hope for a future that nobody stuck in the present could believe in. For all our struggles today, we haven’t outgrown the need for stories like Star Trek. We need tales of optimism, of heroes, of courage and goodness now as much as we’ve ever needed them." -Thomas Marrone
May I ask what ideas people have for the Vice Admiral jacket you get at lvl 50, if you adjust the levels so lvl 50 is "Captain"?
Frankly the name of titles such as VA and Captain are rhetorical. First off, the Admiralty ranks are only 5 levels long and can be extended to 10 each if they wanted to. Second off the title an NPC calls me in a mission that I have repeated for the 150th time doesn't matter. Content matters, Captain or VA at the top, if it gets boring, why play it?
The argument of topping off at Captain is a red herring, always has and always will be. Its like arguing in Star Wars Galaxies Mos Eisley cantina who shot first: Han or Greedo. Having Cryptic working to create new content (even if they were to hire work from Foundry creators) is paramount to people staying interested.
While I don't mind that TNG variant, I am still rather attached to my Vice Admiral longcoat. I guess a better phrasing of my question would be "How would you achieve the Vice Admiral jacket"?
Member since November 2009... I think. (UFP) Ragnar
Frankly the name of titles such as VA and Captain are rhetorical. First off, the Admiralty ranks are only 5 levels long and can be extended to 10 each if they wanted to. Second off the title an NPC calls me in a mission that I have repeated for the 150th time doesn't matter. Content matters, Captain or VA at the top, if it gets boring, why play it?
The argument of topping off at Captain is a red herring, always has and always will be. Its like arguing in Star Wars Galaxies Mos Eisley cantina who shot first: Han or Greedo. Having Cryptic working to create new content (even if they were to hire work from Foundry creators) is paramount to people staying interested.
Ooh. Can of worms.
Han shooting--or not shooting--first is not a red herring because the answer to "Who shot first?" is actually integral to the story--and thus the experience of the content.
For those looking to be immersed in the universe of Star Trek, seeing a fleet of admirals does little to keep you engaged in the material. But then, with how things have developed over the last couple of years, immersion doesn't seem to be a high priority for the folks at Cryptic. Immersion apparently doesn't make money.
Also - I might be nit-picking here. . . but it's a bugbear of mine to see every ship flying around with a captain with the rank of Vice Admiral!
But just how many Vice Admirals can there be in Starfleet? Can you imagine watching TNG, "This is Vice Admiral Picard" - LOL!
Last time I checked, the usual rank of ship's Captain was either Commander or Captain. Admirals are supposed to sit behind desks :mad:
Here's my radical solution - Although I fear too radical to be implemented:
I have the exact same issue with the ranks, and even though I love this game I've been griping about this point since beta:
This game from start to finish, is a CAPTAIN'S game. Pretty much nothing else.
And there's nothing wrong with that, but they need to stop pretending it's anything else. As such, my solution is also probably "too radical to be implemented", but I honestly feel it's the most technically feasible with current technology already in-use.
Drop all the ranks. From level one through 50 (and whatever levels they expand to in the future) all players are the rank of CAPTAIN. Not just the role, but the actual rank. This would bring players more in-line to what they saw in Star Trek films and movies, playing the lead roles their familiar with, and they wouldn't have to change anything story or gameplay-wise for the game except maybe a minor tweak to the tutorial:
Have the tutorial start you out as a newly-promoted Commander reporting to his/her new command as a ship's XO. Since the player is new to being an XO, the NPC captain sends the players to familiarize themselves with the various departments of the ship before calling them to the bridge due to the emergency with the USS Khitomer. Once at the bridge, the CO has the player lead the efforts of the away teams being sent over to aid the Khitomer just as they do now, except now it makes sense because the player is supposed to be the first officer. Also just like the current tutorial, while on the Khitomer, the player's ship gets boarded and all the senior crew are killed off, leaving the player in command (which now makes sense, as the player was the new XO instead of the new raw Ensign). The rest of the tutorial (and the game) plays exactly the same. When the player returns to ESD to report to Admiral Quinn, they get officially promoted from Commander to Captain and CO of their ship (instead of placing a raw Ensign in command).
Experience Levels can mean exactly what they are supposed to represent: amount of experience. Nub Captains are still nubs after all, and have to work their way up to gain standing amongst the other Captains. Not everyone is a Jean-Luc Picard as soon as they put on that 4th pip. You can also think of the current level brackets (1-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-44, 45-50) as "Security Clearance levels". Each one grants you access to the appropriate ships and gear as they do now. So fresh Captains get Light Cruiser commands, while the most experienced Captains get to command the flagships like the Odyssey.
But what about the current Admirals and Generals? Bust them back down to Captain. Personally, I feel that this is a sacrifice that has to be made for the betterment of the game. Save the Flag Officer ranks for whenever we get gameplay content befitting of a Flag Officer (and also make it an option that players can go back and forth from). We currently don't have that. Being a Flag Officer is a MUCH DIFFERENT role than being a ship captain. If they needed Flag Officers to command individual ships, they wouldn't promote them to Flag Officers in the first place.
I have the exact same issue with the ranks, and even though I love this game I've been griping about this point since beta:
This game from start to finish, is a CAPTAIN'S game. Pretty much nothing else.
And there's nothing wrong with that, but they need to stop pretending it's anything else. As such, my solution is also probably "too radical to be implemented", but I honestly feel it's the most technically feasible with current technology already in-use.
Drop all the ranks. From level one through 50 (and whatever levels they expand to in the future) all players are the rank of CAPTAIN. Not just the role, but the actual rank. This would bring players more in-line to what they saw in Star Trek films and movies, playing the lead roles their familiar with, and they wouldn't have to change anything story or gameplay-wise for the game except maybe a minor tweak to the tutorial:
Have the tutorial start you out as a newly-promoted Commander reporting to his/her new command as a ship's XO. Since the player is new to being an XO, the NPC captain sends the players to familiarize themselves with the various departments of the ship before calling them to the bridge due to the emergency with the USS Khitomer. Once at the bridge, the CO has the player lead the efforts of the away teams being sent over to aid the Khitomer just as they do now, except now it makes sense because the player is supposed to be the first officer. Also just like the current tutorial, while on the Khitomer, the player's ship gets boarded and all the senior crew are killed off, leaving the player in command (which now makes sense, as the player was the new XO instead of the new raw Ensign). The rest of the tutorial (and the game) plays exactly the same. When the player returns to ESD to report to Admiral Quinn, they get officially promoted from Commander to Captain and CO of their ship (instead of placing a raw Ensign in command).
Experience Levels can mean exactly what they are supposed to represent: amount of experience. Nub Captains are still nubs after all, and have to work their way up to gain standing amongst the other Captains. Not everyone is a Jean-Luc Picard as soon as they put on that 4th pip. You can also think of the current level brackets (1-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-44, 45-50) as "Security Clearance levels". Each one grants you access to the appropriate ships and gear as they do now. So fresh Captains get Light Cruiser commands, while the most experienced Captains get to command the flagships like the Odyssey.
But what about the current Admirals and Generals? Bust them back down to Captain. Personally, I feel that this is a sacrifice that has to be made for the betterment of the game. Save the Flag Officer ranks for whenever we get gameplay content befitting of a Flag Officer (and also make it an option that players can go back and forth from). We currently don't have that. Being a Flag Officer is a MUCH DIFFERENT role than being a ship captain. If they needed Flag Officers to command individual ships, they wouldn't promote them to Flag Officers in the first place.
I like your thinking a lot -
Your rank only changes from Commander to Captain!
Unlink levelling up with rank - Levelling up could give you, the starfleet equivalent of medals of service, thus giving you permission to buy a better ship.
I like it a lot.
Think about it - when they say the shard is coming down they make the alert "To all captains"
The game even mentions in it's promotional material, "Be your own captain"
Thats what the game should be about - Being a captain.
Admiral Tuwud - High Commissioner, UFP Peace Corps Sigma Red
Frankly the name of titles such as VA and Captain are rhetorical. First off, the Admiralty ranks are only 5 levels long and can be extended to 10 each if they wanted to. Second off the title an NPC calls me in a mission that I have repeated for the 150th time doesn't matter. Content matters, Captain or VA at the top, if it gets boring, why play it?
Agreed, even though this wouldn't fix that, it would be nice to choose what rank you're at. (Didn't they have that at launch? )
Also now that you can get significantly better items from your fleet starbase, which requires resources such as dilithium, the crafting option is totally illogical. The only reason I can think of for a player to craft, is just so they can say "Done that, next!" which would apply to those who like to accomplish all that is available in game.
The only practical reason to craft is to munch them for EC's, and to get Aegis Set. And even that gets obsolete pretty quickly.
Easy as pie - A captain's jacket - I.e. like Picards on TNG.
That's one option. Another would be to let people keep whatever they already have, give PLENTY of advance notice on the change (like, four months. A season's notice, basically), and then make it so that after that, the Admiral jacket, pips, and rank title become unlocked via duty officer system.
The idea being that an Admiral is a Captain who also does a lot of extra paperwork.
Max out any two DOff categories and get "Rear Admiral, Lower Half" unlocked.
Max out four and get "Rear Admiral, Upper Half."
Max out six get "Fleet Admiral."
Max out eight and get "Vice Admiral."
Max out ten and get "Admiral."
Max out twelve and get "Fleet Admiral."
New DOff categories would be added that give other options from canon like "Colonel," "Deputy Director," or "Commodore" (the last being for an ALL TOS expansion of the DOff program, with TOS themed categories).
Thats what the game should be about - Being a captain.
Sort of... I think you should be able to choose what you are. Picard did. Riker did. Kirk wished he did. :P
Ideally I would have it where you could even remain an ensign and have the "Captain" be one of your boffs. That would open up all kinds of roleplay possibilities!
Personally though, I would enjoy being a Rear Fleet Admiral cause then I could make everyone call me Commodore.
Hmmm... I thought I read somewhere that they did...
Well they should have it!
They allow you to change your display title, but you still get called by your actual Rank when talking to NPCs.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Han shooting--or not shooting--first is not a red herring because the answer to "Who shot first?" is actually integral to the story--and thus the experience of the content.
For those looking to be immersed in the universe of Star Trek, seeing a fleet of admirals does little to keep you engaged in the material. But then, with how things have developed over the last couple of years, immersion doesn't seem to be a high priority for the folks at Cryptic. Immersion apparently doesn't make money.
Both ARE a red herring because they detract from they detract from the real problem at hand, content as a whole.
When it comes down to it, the person in command of a naval vessel, no matter the ships size or their actual rank, is still regarded as "Captain".
And they are still usually the highest ranking officer on the ship. I think an Ensign captaining a ship is definitely a stretch, especially when I have Doffs (which I can immediately claim on a new character) who hold the rank of Lieutenant.
And they are still usually the highest ranking officer on the ship. I think an Ensign captaining a ship is definitely a stretch, especially when I have Doffs (which I can immediately claim on a new character) who hold the rank of Lieutenant.
The only time an Ensign captains a ship is during the Tutorial - when you're sent there by your Captain to do so. By the end of the Tutorial you are promoted to Lieutenant, so it's not generally going to be an issue.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
The only time an Ensign captains a ship is during the Tutorial - when you're sent there by your Captain to do so. By the end of the Tutorial you are promoted to Lieutenant, so it's not generally going to be an issue.
This is right on, but it begs the question "What happened to Lt. j.g.?" I mean it is an actual rank and everything, but it's overlooked in STO.
That's one option. Another would be to let people keep whatever they already have, give PLENTY of advance notice on the change (like, four months. A season's notice, basically), and then make it so that after that, the Admiral jacket, pips, and rank title become unlocked via duty officer system.
The idea being that an Admiral is a Captain who also does a lot of extra paperwork.
Max out any two DOff categories and get "Rear Admiral, Lower Half" unlocked.
Max out four and get "Rear Admiral, Upper Half."
Max out six get "Fleet Admiral."
Max out eight and get "Vice Admiral."
Max out ten and get "Admiral."
Max out twelve and get "Fleet Admiral."
New DOff categories would be added that give other options from canon like "Colonel," "Deputy Director," or "Commodore" (the last being for an ALL TOS expansion of the DOff program, with TOS themed categories).
ALL of these would be lateral to Captain.
Wow, I really like this suggestion and the whole "paperwork on top of Captain duties" of it all.
Member since November 2009... I think. (UFP) Ragnar
Easily added, too, by making it effectively "Lieutenant, Lower Half".
Ha! Funny. To overlook it in the rank structure is still somewhat surprising. In the Army rank structure there are 2nd & 1st Lieutenants (Ensign and Lt. j.g. in Navy rank) as well as Lt. Colonel and "Full Bird" Colonels (Commander and Captain in Navy). These are their own distinguishable ranks on different pay scales and would never be combined with one another.
Ha! Funny. To overlook it in the rank structure is still somewhat surprising. In the Army rank structure there are 2nd & 1st Lieutenants (Ensign and Lt. j.g. in Navy rank) as well as Lt. Colonel and "Full Bird" Colonels (Commander and Captain in Navy). These are their own distinguishable ranks on different pay scales and would never be combined with one another.
The problem is that we do not see JG used often in Star Trek. The only 2 examples which spring to mind are Picard as a JG in "Tapestry" and Lavelle and Ogawa getting promoted to JG in "Lower Decks." The important characters we encounter in the various episodes tend to be Lieutenant or higher.
And ranks. Sorry, Ex-Astris doesn't allow hotlinking. :P
If you are referring to the non-commissioned ranks then yes, Star Trek has always revolved around commissioned officers. Non-commissioned officers would never be command of a ship and although they are an integral part of any unit, are subordinate to commissioned officers. There is a difference between enlisted troops, non-commissioned officers, and commissioned officers.
The problem is that we do not see JG used often in Star Trek. The only 2 examples which spring to mind are Picard as a JG in "Tapestry" and Lavelle and Ogawa getting promoted to JG in "Lower Decks." The important characters we encounter in the various episodes tend to be Lieutenant or higher.
Hmm...Geordi and Worf in TNG...Bashir and Ezri Dax in DS9...Paris and Torres in VOY (although Torres was provisional)...there are a bunch of Lt. j.g. but by the end of the series they always get promoted, which is a logical progression. The higher up you go in rank, the longer you serve at that rank.
Comments
I say that to say this, what would be wrong with giving players a bundle of XP points at the start of their career. Each mission they start, official or foundry pays out enough XP to advance one level. This way, players can mix in foundry missions in any order into their allotment of 50 missions. We dont have to wait for them to be spotlighted, what we pick gets us our 1 level XP. Personally I dont play cheap console clickers. But even for those players who want to rob themselves of a lengthy career by playing clickers, who cares? Leveling is so fast anyways, what does Cryptic care if someone wants to go slipstream fast or pace themselves playing 30-45 min avg mission times? All the best loot is in STFs anyways. Missions can still have a level requirement, but I dont want to wait forever for a mission to get spotlighted, if its getting good reviews early, I want to add it to one of my 50 career missions and get full XP credit for it first time I play it. Instead of essentially waiting for decent XP credit to come with the DVD release months later. And players have to pay for every 2 additional toons anyways beyond their default amount. Is there a problem in what I propose? It would make foundry much more enticing instantly and lets players choose their leveling speed while not robbing them of XP per mission played. No more having to play foundry missions JUST for the love if the mission, you instantly get full credit for it. If someone wants to level up entirely on cheap Nagus missions, let them. We all get to 50 so fast anyways, whats the difference?
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
Actually, I've had a rethink about my idea -
The following ranks would replace the ranks currently used:
Level 1: Ensign (Before you get a ship), becomes Cadet
Level 2: Lieutenant becomes Ensign (First ship)
Level 10: Lt. Commander becomes Lieutenant Jr. Grade.
Level 20: Commander becomes Full Lieutenant
Level 30: Captain becomes Lt. Commander
Level 40: Rear Admiral Lower becomes Commander
Level 45: Rear Admiral Upper dropped
Level 50: Vice Admiral becomes Captain
Problem solved! I mean, it should be a major undertaking to become a captain by rank! It should take work and dedication. To suggest a player can become a Vice Admiral after a few hours of play, just doesn't seem right.
Now - here's my new suggestion of getting a rank of Admiral - Fleet leaders, who've proved themselves. Then Admiral would mean something, it would carry weight. It would say "I can lead players, I can co-ordinate groups" - which is what an Admiral should be able to do.
I think I'm just dreaming though - I doubt this would be implemented in the game.
I would concur with this assessment.
I disagree with this statement , i have played far more entertaining Foundry missions, than STO truly enjoyable storyline content. The, borg, the undine, dooms day, a few time travel stories, and most, but not all of the featuted episodes and the stfs are some of the best storyline content, and alot of those are ripped off from tng, ds9, tos episodes.
The worst part is tne the cryptic missions that are bad, any of us could of built in the Foundry in like 1 or 2 hours, and I remember more of thoses than i should.
Than you.
What about this:
0-9 = Crewman
10-19 = Ensign
20-29 = Lieutenant
30-39 = Lieutenant Commander
40-49 = Commander
50 = Captain
"Critics who say that the optimistic utopia Star Trek depicted is now outmoded forget the cultural context that gave birth to it: Star Trek was not a manifestation of optimism when optimism was easy. Star Trek declared a hope for a future that nobody stuck in the present could believe in. For all our struggles today, we haven’t outgrown the need for stories like Star Trek. We need tales of optimism, of heroes, of courage and goodness now as much as we’ve ever needed them."
-Thomas Marrone
(UFP) Ragnar
Easy as pie - A captain's jacket - I.e. like Picards on TNG.
Frankly the name of titles such as VA and Captain are rhetorical. First off, the Admiralty ranks are only 5 levels long and can be extended to 10 each if they wanted to. Second off the title an NPC calls me in a mission that I have repeated for the 150th time doesn't matter. Content matters, Captain or VA at the top, if it gets boring, why play it?
The argument of topping off at Captain is a red herring, always has and always will be. Its like arguing in Star Wars Galaxies Mos Eisley cantina who shot first: Han or Greedo. Having Cryptic working to create new content (even if they were to hire work from Foundry creators) is paramount to people staying interested.
Would that be the "Type B Captain's Variant" on this link? http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Starfleet_uniform_%282350s-2370s%29
While I don't mind that TNG variant, I am still rather attached to my Vice Admiral longcoat. I guess a better phrasing of my question would be "How would you achieve the Vice Admiral jacket"?
(UFP) Ragnar
Ooh. Can of worms.
Han shooting--or not shooting--first is not a red herring because the answer to "Who shot first?" is actually integral to the story--and thus the experience of the content.
For those looking to be immersed in the universe of Star Trek, seeing a fleet of admirals does little to keep you engaged in the material. But then, with how things have developed over the last couple of years, immersion doesn't seem to be a high priority for the folks at Cryptic. Immersion apparently doesn't make money.
I have the exact same issue with the ranks, and even though I love this game I've been griping about this point since beta:
This game from start to finish, is a CAPTAIN'S game. Pretty much nothing else.
And there's nothing wrong with that, but they need to stop pretending it's anything else. As such, my solution is also probably "too radical to be implemented", but I honestly feel it's the most technically feasible with current technology already in-use.
Drop all the ranks. From level one through 50 (and whatever levels they expand to in the future) all players are the rank of CAPTAIN. Not just the role, but the actual rank. This would bring players more in-line to what they saw in Star Trek films and movies, playing the lead roles their familiar with, and they wouldn't have to change anything story or gameplay-wise for the game except maybe a minor tweak to the tutorial:
Have the tutorial start you out as a newly-promoted Commander reporting to his/her new command as a ship's XO. Since the player is new to being an XO, the NPC captain sends the players to familiarize themselves with the various departments of the ship before calling them to the bridge due to the emergency with the USS Khitomer. Once at the bridge, the CO has the player lead the efforts of the away teams being sent over to aid the Khitomer just as they do now, except now it makes sense because the player is supposed to be the first officer. Also just like the current tutorial, while on the Khitomer, the player's ship gets boarded and all the senior crew are killed off, leaving the player in command (which now makes sense, as the player was the new XO instead of the new raw Ensign). The rest of the tutorial (and the game) plays exactly the same. When the player returns to ESD to report to Admiral Quinn, they get officially promoted from Commander to Captain and CO of their ship (instead of placing a raw Ensign in command).
Experience Levels can mean exactly what they are supposed to represent: amount of experience. Nub Captains are still nubs after all, and have to work their way up to gain standing amongst the other Captains. Not everyone is a Jean-Luc Picard as soon as they put on that 4th pip. You can also think of the current level brackets (1-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-44, 45-50) as "Security Clearance levels". Each one grants you access to the appropriate ships and gear as they do now. So fresh Captains get Light Cruiser commands, while the most experienced Captains get to command the flagships like the Odyssey.
But what about the current Admirals and Generals? Bust them back down to Captain. Personally, I feel that this is a sacrifice that has to be made for the betterment of the game. Save the Flag Officer ranks for whenever we get gameplay content befitting of a Flag Officer (and also make it an option that players can go back and forth from). We currently don't have that. Being a Flag Officer is a MUCH DIFFERENT role than being a ship captain. If they needed Flag Officers to command individual ships, they wouldn't promote them to Flag Officers in the first place.
Raptr profile
I like your thinking a lot -
Your rank only changes from Commander to Captain!
Unlink levelling up with rank - Levelling up could give you, the starfleet equivalent of medals of service, thus giving you permission to buy a better ship.
I like it a lot.
Think about it - when they say the shard is coming down they make the alert "To all captains"
The game even mentions in it's promotional material, "Be your own captain"
Thats what the game should be about - Being a captain.
Agreed, even though this wouldn't fix that, it would be nice to choose what rank you're at. (Didn't they have that at launch?
The only practical reason to craft is to munch them for EC's, and to get Aegis Set. And even that gets obsolete pretty quickly.
That's one option. Another would be to let people keep whatever they already have, give PLENTY of advance notice on the change (like, four months. A season's notice, basically), and then make it so that after that, the Admiral jacket, pips, and rank title become unlocked via duty officer system.
The idea being that an Admiral is a Captain who also does a lot of extra paperwork.
Max out any two DOff categories and get "Rear Admiral, Lower Half" unlocked.
Max out four and get "Rear Admiral, Upper Half."
Max out six get "Fleet Admiral."
Max out eight and get "Vice Admiral."
Max out ten and get "Admiral."
Max out twelve and get "Fleet Admiral."
New DOff categories would be added that give other options from canon like "Colonel," "Deputy Director," or "Commodore" (the last being for an ALL TOS expansion of the DOff program, with TOS themed categories).
ALL of these would be lateral to Captain.
Sort of... I think you should be able to choose what you are. Picard did. Riker did. Kirk wished he did. :P
Ideally I would have it where you could even remain an ensign and have the "Captain" be one of your boffs. That would open up all kinds of roleplay possibilities!
Personally though, I would enjoy being a Rear Fleet Admiral cause then I could make everyone call me Commodore.
No.
/10char
Hmmm... I thought I read somewhere that they did...
Well they should have it!
Both ARE a red herring because they detract from they detract from the real problem at hand, content as a whole.
Nope, you still started at Ensign (same as beta as well).
When it comes down to it, the person in command of a naval vessel, no matter the ships size or their actual rank, is still regarded as "Captain".
And they are still usually the highest ranking officer on the ship. I think an Ensign captaining a ship is definitely a stretch, especially when I have Doffs (which I can immediately claim on a new character) who hold the rank of Lieutenant.
This is right on, but it begs the question "What happened to Lt. j.g.?" I mean it is an actual rank and everything, but it's overlooked in STO.
Easily added, too, by making it effectively "Lieutenant, Lower Half".
Wow, I really like this suggestion and the whole "paperwork on top of Captain duties" of it all.
(UFP) Ragnar
Quite a few ranks are overlooked.
Ha! Funny.
Not sure what I'm looking at here...uniforms?
And ranks. Sorry, Ex-Astris doesn't allow hotlinking. :P
If you are referring to the non-commissioned ranks then yes, Star Trek has always revolved around commissioned officers. Non-commissioned officers would never be command of a ship and although they are an integral part of any unit, are subordinate to commissioned officers. There is a difference between enlisted troops, non-commissioned officers, and commissioned officers.
Hmm...Geordi and Worf in TNG...Bashir and Ezri Dax in DS9...Paris and Torres in VOY (although Torres was provisional)...there are a bunch of Lt. j.g. but by the end of the series they always get promoted, which is a logical progression. The higher up you go in rank, the longer you serve at that rank.