Season 7 Dev Blog #8

pwebranflakes

Executive Producer Daniel Stahl shares details about the upcoming Task Force Omega Reputation System in this entry of the Season 7 News Dev Blog series.


Link to the blog.

malkarris

I have two simple questions about the following.

All types of these items will be immediately converted to Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors when the owning character logs in for the first time after Season 7 releases.

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

The storage device, called an Omega Conversion Crate, will denote how much of each item is stored for later retrieval and will remain locked until you achieve Tier 5 in the Omega Reputation System. Once unlocked, your character will be able to retrieve the Omega Marks and Borg Commodities that were converted along with a bonus amount of Dilithium Ore.

The Omega Marks (and Dilithium Ore) can then be used immediately to assist in purchasing any unlocked gear set rewards. After reviewing the data, the conversion rate for most players will allow for the purchase of a partial and in some case full set of their choosing. Or, if you?re already fully geared, an option will be available to convert surplus Omega Marks into additional Dilithium Ore.

1. Are you going to give us hard numbers at any point before season 7 hits?

2. If you are going to give us hard numbers, when will you give them?


To anyone besides the devs, and in my honest opinion at this point in time, unless you have a metric ton of stuff, either use it now, or convert it to dilithium, you'll probably be happier.

eulifdavis

Where's the information concerning the *EXACT* conversion rates that I seem to remember being promised? All that tells us is:

1. Everything will be converted (we already knew this!)
2. We won't have access to our converted currencies until we max out Omega reputation! :mad:

Please tell me these decisions aren't final!

starfish1701

I'm a bit confused. If I have some anti borg weapons on my ship that I bought from DS9, are they going to vanish from my ship when season 7 hits?

malkarris

Actually I have another question or two. Currently on the test server, the projects require such things like provisions and other things that can be had for EC. Is all that going away and being replaced with Borg Neural Processors?

Also, I believe that Borg Neural Processorcan be had already in the Deferia zone. Is this the same item, and if so, is anything being done to them? Or could someone farm them now and be better prepared when season 7 hits?

thay8472

so now I have to spend godo nly knows how long grinding borg doff TRIBBLE to get the xii stuff ?

lordmalak1

NOTE: All STF ?currency? items not spent before Season 7 launch will be converted to the new system!

There are 42 items that will be converted including:

* Encrypted Data Chips (EDCs)
* Marks of Requisition
* Recruit, Veteran, and Elite Requisitions
* Rare and Prototype Borg Salvage
* Common, Rare, and Prototype Tech

All types of these items will be immediately converted to Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors when the owning character logs in for the first time after Season 7 releases.

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

The storage device, called an Omega Conversion Crate, will denote how much of each item is stored for later retrieval and will remain locked until you achieve Tier 5 in the Omega Reputation System. Once unlocked, your character will be able to retrieve the Omega Marks and Borg Commodities that were converted along with a bonus amount of Dilithium Ore.

So basically CASH OUT !!!

You CANNOT use your pre-won converted assets UNTIL you achieve tier 5 in the new system.

...ALSO NO info in the conversion rate between the current edc/salvage and the omega marks (as feared).

canis36

I've heard no mention of "Borg Neural Processors" before now. Are these a new name for Elite Omega Marks or are they something entirely seperate from that? If they are not a new name for the Elite Omega Marks then are they random drops?

pwefail

medal of honor accolade ? elite commander accolade.
sigh.

brigadooom

"BOFFs now show visuals when wearing STF gear sets"

*tears of joy*

defalus

This locked out until Tier 5 business has me confused, it makes me want to convert all my tech to dilithium now but I can't help but have a sense that something is amiss here, we need to know more Cryptic.

To quote Han Solo, "I have a bad feeling about this".

walkincrow

No conversion chart, just the warning that our STF currencies are getting locked up until tier 5, what a joke!

If you really just wanted to eliminate the random drops, you could of just made it so if you ran a mission x amount of times, you got your mk xii drop.

This "new" system is just repackaging old content to make us grind for more marks and dilithium.

spencerelden

I was never too worried about the grind for getting complete sets, I was more worried about the extra grind for extra sets for your other ships on the same character.

You sell ship slots in the store, so that proves that I'm not the only one that uses more than one ship on one character, some have so many ship on one character, they need to buy new slots.

Moving gear from one ship to another is a pain for various reasons, not least of which that you need to rearrange your tray buttons if you change your weapons out due to the bug that resets your layout when changing ships.

Transferring the gear from one ship to another is quite a time waster and it's easier to have a full set for each ship, which takes a grind for each of your separate ships.

It would be nice if, once you've earned a full set, you could replicate other sets for your other ships that bind on pick-up to make sure that you don't pass them to other characters.

Just an idea that shouldn't be considered cheating the system in any way, or a problem for game mechanics. It would be nice if it was considered.

reginamala78

While I know its not an STF set, since the discussion here is largely a revamp of 'sets,' will is the Reman set getting changed to require marks and dilithium as well, or is the whole Vault thing being left alone?

darkenzedd

Oh, so you are nerfing all our current Mk12 Borg weapons as well?

I do hope our current borg weaponry gets updated to the newer types....

And another currency, (Borg Neural Processor) WTH???

kalani

Ive already spent over 1000 hrs unsuccessfully trying to get the XII MACO ground set and now that I have to wait till I hit T5 to get back the stuff that Ive already earned I have to ask why do I have to earn the whole thing again?

Ive already put the time in to earn this gear and now Im sick of STFs. Why do I now have the choice to give up and not get it or put even more time in to it?

allocater

Put we can still buy space weapons? I mean the tetryon, phaser, disruptor, antiproton and polaron beams, cannons, dual cannons and all torpedo types?

zeuxidemus001

The part I don't understand if you have toons with either one xii ground or two xii ground sets they start at tier 0? They should be tier 5 starting off those many months speaking of should have counted for something.

sway82

Why is the MK XII Omega/M.A.C.O./Honor Guard costume unlock tied to the damn Elite STF optionals Accolade with the upcomming changes? So i'm basically forced again to do ground STF's for the optionals, even if i hate ground ... same nonsense as before. *yawn*:rolleyes:

emperorandy

Transferring the gear from one ship to another is quite a time waster and it's easier to have a full set for each ship, which takes a grind for each of your separate ships.

It would be nice if, once you've earned a full set, you could replicate other sets for your other ships that bind on pick-up to make sure that you don't pass them to other characters.

YES. This please! If you did this, no one would mind the grind of your new system one bit.

sirsri

malkarris wrote: »

I have two simple questions about the following.




1. Are you going to give us hard numbers at any point before season 7 hits?

2. If you are going to give us hard numbers, when will you give them?


To anyone besides the devs, and in my honest opinion at this point in time, unless you have a metric ton of stuff, either use it now, or convert it to dilithium, you'll probably be happier.

A bird in the hand so to speak. Though I don't see the point in converting until questions 1 and 2 are answered, but converting first seems like it will be the sensible course of action.

The blog was, frankly, pile of useless waffle. Yes yes, it's being converted somehow. Anyone could figure that part out. The question is: At what exchange rates? If it's a 1:1 with current dilithium/part then, whatever, I understand putting in a locked box opening at T5 rep, some weird stuff could happen if it it opened before that and yet you couldn't use what you got or the like. If it is some other rate then we need to know that first.

If it was me, and, granted, it's not, I would think the conversion should be either slightly to the benefit of the player or exactly even. People who are inactive right now shouldn't come back to being completely gimped but they shouldn't come back to instant tier 5 free everything overnight.

jcsww

eulifdavis wrote: »

Where's the information concerning the *EXACT* conversion rates that I seem to remember being promised? All that tells us is:

1. Everything will be converted (we already knew this!)
2. We won't have access to our converted currencies until we max out Omega reputation! :mad:

Please tell me these decisions aren't final!

They may say they aren't final and are monitoring for feedback but history dictates Cryptic/PWE completely ignore player feedback for what they have already decided upon. Exactly conversion numbers would definitely be welcome or I will liquidate my stuff for DL before the Season 7 mess hits Holodeck!

brigadooom

NOTE: All STF ?currency? items not spent before Season 7 launch will be converted to the new system!

There are 42 items that will be converted including:

Encrypted Data Chips (EDCs)
Marks of Requisition
Recruit, Veteran, and Elite Requisitions
Rare and Prototype Borg Salvage
Common, Rare, and Prototype Tech

All types of these items will be immediately converted to Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors when the owning character logs in for the first time after Season 7 releases.

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

So you're holding my stuff hostage until I meet your "demands"? Stuff I rightfully earned while jumping through STF hoops countless times?

zeuxidemus001

brigadooom wrote: »

So you're holding my stuff hostage until I meet your "demands"? Stuff I rightfully earned while jumping through STF hoops countless times?

ROFL I didn't think of it that way but... yeah you must go on a covert mission before season 7 hits to rescue your precious's before they are kidnapped.

valenn1

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

......lol?

wesleycrasher

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

This is ridiculous. I already had to grind about a thousand STFs and now, if I want to see any benefit from that, I have to first grind another thousand STFs so I can finish the reputation chain? Just give us what we earned from the onset. Those who already have their mk xii gear can use the marks to help level up their reputation and those who don't have their gear will have to grind up extra marks for it at the end anyway. What's the point of making us re-grind the same stale content for a 7th season?

Either way we'll end up paying your dumb dilithium tax to rank it up, so why make it harder on us than you have to?

dastahl

Anwers to some of the questions:

- All existing gear unlocks you've obtained will remain in tact on your character

- If there are any existing items that are changing, those changes will be available for testing on Tribble, but for the most part, existing gear you've obtained should remain as is. Check Tribble during the next few weeks to see changes for yourself.

- The goal of the conversion is to retain "purchasing power" as close to what it was previously. We looked at the amount of items needed to obtain gear sets and set out to ensure that if you had enough items to get a specific gear piece or gear set, the conversion would be do its best to retain that purchasing power in the new system. Keep in mind that the way you obtain MACO/HONOR/OMEGA sets is going to be different because it will no longer be in a store, and will instead be via projects. So just having a conversion rate would not necessarily help you decide whether to cash out yet or not. The way you obtain dilithium and gear is changing in this system and you'll be able to see most of those changes on Tribble.

- The conversion will be different for everyone which is why we aren't posting a chart. When you get your crate, it will tell your character specifically how much Omega Marks, Borg Neural Processors, and Dilithium your items were converted to. If you are worried that the exchange may not be to your liking, then you'll have to make the call whether to spend or not. For the most part we are posting this blog to give you enough time to make that call for yourself.

- Due to the fact that some players have enough items being converted to max out the new system, we chose to withhold the conversion crate until the character hits tier 5 in Omega for a few reasons. We wanted player to have the choice at each tier how to spend their resources. We wanted players to be able to make choices about which captain power they want at each tier. We wanted to retain player's purchasing power by holding back the converted items until they can be spent on the Gear Sets. This prevents players from spending the resources they'd saved up for Omega Gear Sets on something else without realizing it.

- The time involved to rank up the Omega Fleet Rep will require a few months of projects, but the resources required should be easily obtainable within limits of standard game play. It also allows us to introduce the Reputation system without an entire subset of the game population skipping it via auto-completion - which isn't fun or in the nature of the design. This is about rebooting how the STFs should have worked in the first place, while giving players the purchasing power to be in similar footing when they finish it.

- There is a subset of players who will have one or two pieces that now have two choices. A) they have until early November to try to get the remaining pieces. wait until after Season 7 releases, and then level up the Omega Fleet and have a much clearer and easier path to getting the gear they are missing. Once again, we do not want some players "Skipping" the new Reputation system by getting a free pass because of the STF's they've run. Players will get a conversion crate, but we want all players to make choices at each tier about which powers they select.

- yes you will be able to earn Omega marks from other non-stf Borg missions such as the ones on Defera, Red Alerts, and perhaps even some of the Borg episodes and DOFF missions, so STFs will not be the only way to increase Omega rep.

zeuxidemus001

wesleycrasher wrote: »

This is ridiculous. I already had to grind about a thousand STFs and now, if I want to see any benefit from that, I have to first grind another thousand STFs so I can finish the reputation chain? Just give us what we earned from the onset. Those who already have their mk xii gear can use the marks to help level up their reputation and those who don't have their gear will have to grind up extra marks for it at the end anyway. What's the point of making us re-grind the same stale content for a 7th season?

Either way we'll end up paying your dumb dilithium tax to rank it up, so why make it harder on us than you have to?

To keep doing them to get lock boxes to open lol.

ltsmith

NOTE: All STF ?currency? items not spent before Season 7 launch will be converted to the new system!

There are 42 items that will be converted including:
?Encrypted Data Chips (EDCs)
?Marks of Requisition
?Recruit, Veteran, and Elite Requisitions
?Rare and Prototype Borg Salvage
?Common, Rare, and Prototype Tech

All types of these items will be immediately converted to Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors when the owning character logs in for the first time after Season 7 releases.

Any items converted this way will go into a storage device which cannot be retrieved until the character reaches Tier 5 in the Task Force Omega Reputation System.

Ok wow I do not like this post, all the grinding we did to get EDCs will only be converted after we hit T5 which is already a big grind. Great Job destroying the system and making people grind again. Not a happy camper.

Also what 42 items are you talking about? The only items I ever needed to get any STF armor or weapons were:
Item 1- EDCs
2 - Rare Borg Salvage
3 - Elite Tech Salvage
Then only a couple of different requisitions, but those were just purely a specific amount of EDCs used to purchase an item; which in turn those items could have just been able to be purchased by EDCs and Rare salvage instead of trading EDCs or Salvage for requisitions.

- Due to the fact that some players have enough items being converted to max out the new system, we chose to withhold the conversion crate until the character hits tier 5 in Omega for a few reasons. We wanted player to have the choice at each tier how to spend their resources. We wanted players to be able to make choices about which captain power they want at each tier. We wanted to retain player's purchasing power by holding back the converted items until they can be spent on the Gear Sets. This prevents players from spending the resources they'd saved up for Omega Gear Sets on something else without realizing it.

In no way does this help someone going through the grinding process which is required to buy the new gear, It only makes us grind for resources to advance through the tiers; and then receive a reward of the resources that should have been ours and "converted" resources are wasted because we already got the resources by the time we reach the final tier.

canis36

They're probably not going to change that and I myself won't mind running STFs to grind for the needed marks - I'll probably need the Dilithium for the grind anyway so I'd already planned for that. Just go turn your stuff in for Dilithium. The only thing I'm worried about is that this new "commodity" is going to be a random drop, something that completely defeats the stated purpose of the new advancement system.


Edit:

And to channel the forum's poisonous snark Dsthal ninja'd this post but completely ignored the quries about the Borg Neural thingy so for now I'll assume it's a random drop unique to Elite Ground missions because that's about the worst possible implementation I could think of for them.

Edit edit:

And then I got ninja'd again by brandon with good news. Thanks man!

pwebranflakes

canis36 wrote: »

I've heard no mention of "Borg Neural Processors" before now. Are these a new name for Elite Omega Marks or are they something entirely seperate from that? If they are not a new name for the Elite Omega Marks then are they random drops?

Yes; they are the new name

Cheers,

Brandon =/\=