Podcast UGC's Interview with CaptainGeko Airs Tonight on Trek Radio!

thehavraha

If you know Podcast UGC, you know it's a podcast on the lengthy side. Turns out that's good for you, because tonight, Tuesday evening 9pm EST 6pm PST, our nearly 4 hour long interview with STO Lead Designer Al Rivera (aka CaptainGeko) will air exclusively on TrekRadio.net.

Don't have the time to listen live? Download the podcast version that will be posted shortly afterward at www.podcastugc.com.

Although no answers will be available for any Romulans marching beneath raptor wings, there's 4 hours worth of questions, answers, and all around getting inside the head of CaptainGeko. What sort of things will be touched upon?

- March Beneath the Raptors Wha?
- Meeting Denise Crosby
- How Difficult is it to Get Star Trek Stars Involved in the Game?
- Which Star would Geko want to see doing voice work in the game most?
- T'Nae leaves aboard the Enterprise-C into the past: a mistake, or not so much?
- Is STO designed by committee? How much control does CBS demand?
- The original idea for Temporal Ambassador was quite different!
- CBS's Response to Canon: It's canon if enough people belief it? Is Ensign Helna canon!?
- CBS is far more concerned about what happens in STO than what happens in any book!
- You think J.J. Abrams blowing up Romulus was bad? If it wasn't for Cryptic, he would have destroyed a whole lot more!

SHIPS! SHIPS! SHIPS!
- Typhoon Class: Hav fights for it! But will it ever happen? ... ehhh...
- Stargazer: Deyvid inquires. Will it happen?
- Are there any ships left that need to be included? There are DUD ships!?
- 25th Century Ships Are the Future!
- Some older C-Store Ships aren't exactly up to par. Is it worth it to update them?
- Lethean Ships? Or does the KDF care more about a new Klingon vessels? Hear what the next Klingon ship shall be!
- Is the speed and cadence of ship releases lately the new normal? Is the decked-out quality of the Kumari now par for the course?
- Are bridges really worth it?
- 3-Ship Bundles are not the only ships coming, but more bundles are planned! Al reveals the next two he's thinking about!
- Suliban ships? Meh, maybe not.
- Let's talk the Kumari's survivability for a second ...
- Kamarag is pretty sciencey for a Klingon ship, ain't it!

- ROMULAN RIDGES ARE COMING HAV STAHP!

- Romulan Birds of Prey are 300 years old! Can we not get a new Bird of Prey for the 25th century please? Hav and Geko debate whether it's needed, because let's face it, it IS a sexy Bird of Prey already.
- Is the 3-Ship-Dynamic of Cruiser/Science/Escort broken, especially for PVP?

-Why do ships pop up in the C-Store more than costumes?
-C-Store Themed Bundles don't exactly have the best return. The problem? Ship interiors.

BREAK

The Next Update: User Interface?
- UI Update: What the heck is it?
- Character creator differences? What are they?
- Differences between Fed and Klingon UIs?

PVP
- PVP and Territory Control: Can we talk about it?
- PVE Elements Added to PVP???
- The 2 things needed to have a successful PVP game.
- There's only one thing more important than territory control: finishing Klingons! QAPLA'!

Foundry
- Should the Foundry be able to make PVP maps?
- The Foundry Civil War: What did Cryptic intend for Foundry Authors to make? Whose side is the right side?
- Why were the Fleet Marks removed from the Foundry exactly? Geko reveals the cause, and it's a cause with a capital C. C for Clickie.
- The Five Star Rating System - Is it good or bad? What would replace it?
- Hav reveals that if you hate the character stances, it's probably his fault. Although he digs them, personally.
- What's the greatest improvement to Star Trek Online in the past 2 years?
- What kind of content is coming for STO next?
- STO is so much on the rise that the press digs it and Al is famous again! MMOs don't grow, but STO is growing.

User Submitted Questions
- Doff System Crafted Items: should they get additional functionality to make them desirable again?
- Power and Shield Drain Damage in the combat log?
- Could we ever swap stats to different ships?
- Will we get to see Rademaker's Merian Class? https://twitter.com/Tobar26th/status/306856803344449538/photo/1 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CjnNWIfkwZQ/ThHtGDdhZCI/AAAAAAAACfY/D4BDUYYvq14/s1600/variant.jpg
- Can we fix the Defiant's name lighting please?
- Can Department Heads from DOFF be tied into the Foundry?
- Beam Boats drain too much power. Can they be fixed?
- I'm a carrier captain. How are science ships supposed to kick butt?
- Territory Control ideazzz?
- Should the Gateway be able to plan a skill tree?
- Will we ever get the ability for our ship to be taken over by an AI?
- How do you analyze your performance if you're a noob?

So if you're interested, don't forget to check out TrekRadio.net later on tonight for the debut of the interview!

deyvidkdf

It was an honor to be a part of this interview. I had a great time chatting with Captain Geko along with Havraha and Teriylnn. While there was understandably a lot Captain Geko couldn't talk about just yet, it was still very informative and entertaining.

Thanks to Captain Geko for taking time out of his weekend to chat with us for so long, and thanks to Havraha and Terilynn for letting a Klingon crash the party.

QaplaꞋ!

dalnar83

And..did he tell you why does he hate Galaxy class so much ? :rolleyes:;)

havam

Gecko commented on PvP, huh? Now i m curious, even if it takes 4h. Then again his last comment about "everything has a counter" and people just don't spec into resists come to mind.

*sets up torches and forks street shop somewhere in CA*

idrona

Please add one of those Event Time Announcer links too.

I'll probably tune in.

pwebranflakes

It's a really great interview. I got a sneak advance listen :cool:

If you miss it on TR tonight, we'll also be posting about it on our frontpage and in the FNN later this week.


Cheers,

Brandon =/\=

midniteshadow7

I'm looking forward to hearing it

thegreendragoon1

Glad to see my question got in there. Don't think I'll listen live since it'll be well past midnight for me before it ends, but I'll definitely give it a listen tomorrow.

sunfrancks

Do all of the podcasters get a list of questions to ask? Most of those questions have been asked and answered on other podcasts.

Just interested to know....

sunfrancks

havam wrote: »

Gecko commented on PvP, huh? Now i m curious, even if it takes 4h. Then again his last comment about "everything has a counter" and people just don't spec into resists come to mind.

*sets up torches and forks street shop somewhere in CA*

Come on now, are you really surprised?

When has gecko ever given the slightest hint he actually knows what he is talking about

chalpen

You only have questions about kdf ships?
Not kdf marauding boff bug I year later?
Kdf plan?(lol I know it won't be answered)

zeuxidemus001

pwebranflakes wrote: »

It's a really great interview. I got a sneak advance listen :cool:

If you miss it on TR tonight, we'll also be posting about it on our frontpage and in the FNN later this week.


Cheers,

Brandon =/\=

I hope its not more stuff like "well we have a script so we cannot reveal anything until it gets closer" ?

*As far as KDF questions... I'm a big fan of KDF and most of my toons are KDF but I won't hold my breathe on it being expanded or developed anymore than it is atm*

thisisoverlord

Why is every single interview a puff piece?

sander233

thisisoverlord wrote: »

Why is every single interview a puff piece?

Maybe because we are talking about a video game.

What do you expect, Frost/Nixon?

dontdrunkimshoot

definitely some things i want to hear about

chalpen

sander233 wrote: »

Maybe because we are talking about a video game.

What do you expect, Frost/Nixon?

Oprah/Armstrong

leviathan99

thisisoverlord wrote: »

Why is every single interview a puff piece?

I wouldn't expect Woodward and Bernstein from any fan podcasts but my experience is that Podcast UGC interviews generally have a bit more meat and tension to them, which generally results in learning more things we wouldn't otherwise.

As opposed to many interviews, which tend to only have 1-2 things an avid forum poster wouldn't already know.

leviathan99

Thoughts:

Dorn: He's done MMOs before and worked alongside actors who are already in the game. (He was in WoW for example.)

Wesley: My advice is MIRROR Wesley Crusher. Wheaton is BIG on the idea of a bizarro tough guy Wesley Crusher. I think he'd be all about playing a goatee-wearing anti-Wesley.

I would love Felicia Day in the game and she'd be perfect for Barclay's daughter from the Foundry missions. (The whole protesting that she's not a hologram strikes me as very Felicia Day.)

My suggestion:

Look at bringing in Kargan, who was played by the late Chris Latta aka Christopher Collins (voice of Cobra Commander and Starscream, as well as Gargamel and Mr. Burns from The Simpsons). Since there are a number of actors who have inherited his voiced roles and he is an iconic voice, I'd like to see a Chris Latta-TYPE perhaps play some of the roles he played.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Christopher_Collins

psycoticvulcan

I don't suppose somebody would be willing to provide a transcript?

leviathan99

As for Riker, I'd like to see a Holo-Riker ECH who's married to Minuet. I think you'd get more use out of that.

Regarding the books and getting away with stuff:

My understanding is that it helps to have a reset button.

So they can destroy the Borg under the understanding that they can bring them back. They can kill Janeway or Sela under the idea that it can be undone later.

The writer may not always be involved in that but just like Geko can get approval for ships by applying an explanation after the fact by thinking up an explanation for cool looking features., I think editors can get away with more if they have a hidden reset button. And they can get away with spending years or even decades... as long as they're prepared with a reset button when CBS asks for it.

That's my advice to Kestrel and Geko both, personally. You can do anything if you have a reset button and the reset button doesn't have to be at the end of the episode or the season... or maybe even ever. You just need to have it in a folder somewhere, ready to use.

Also, great interview so far.

mikefl

I would like to see in the future ship bundles to have the uniform for that group as either an add on or part of the bundle. The enterprise series uniform for Andorians or Vulcan uniforms for a Vulcan bundle, Xindi uniform and so on and so forth... etc.

leviathan99

Ships:

Yeah. I'm the guy who's a Yeager fan.

But here's my feeling:

Design it so that the parts that "match" better are not aligned together.

So you have the Yeager with its Intrepid caucer and then another ship with a sleek, winged body and a bulky fighter saucer, so it can be mixed and matched to have an all sleek, Intrepid-style escort or a bulky fighter gunner station.

That's generally how I'd handle some of the funkier kitbashes: pair them so that any parts that stand out can be swapped for an original element that fits more seemlessly.

That's also how I can see a T5 Connie-ish ship working, if you have a ship where none of the individual ships look Connie-like but each of them have different parts that are Connie inspired that people can bash together something very Connie like from. But none of the default costumes by itself would look Connie-like.

Themed Bundles and Ship Bundles:

I think Enterprise-A and Galaxy interiors would be easier to justify because every set used in the Enterprise-A interior is reused Galaxy sets.

And I realize work has been done on the Intrepid... and if you do the Intrepid, you can bash that with Enterprise-A assets and Prometheus bridge elements for an Excelsior bridge.

And I think that would be a good point to cut off interiors, aside from maybe recolors of the TOS for a Pike era pack and, CBS-willing, a TAS redeco for the Connie interior for a bundle. That last one should be really simple and could be used to build interest in an exotic TAS species or two.

Kumari:

I personally don't play it with any of the themed consoles. Went for a heavy plasma build. All damage focus. Eng consoles for universal damage consoles. Sci consoles with the experimental Romulan plasma procs. Crazy damage. very squishy. The biggest issue I can see is if people didn't use the sci consoles for damage, it might be too good all around.

mikefl

I know costumes don't sell but why not package it with a ship bundle... so you really don't have to attract a costume only buyer but a ship buyer gets a perk and a costume buyer ends up buying a ship to get the costume. You could throw in another perk and charge 6k zen for the 3 ship/costume/something else bundle. It's still a discount for three ships but it also throws in the uniform for that race and whatever other unique perk you can come up with.

leviathan99

Ground costumes:

My attitude is... Bundle them with weapons/kits.

Shirtless Sulu with fencing foil. Dixon Hill plus tommygun.

I think ships sell better, partly because they come with powers. If every costume came with a weapon that is as good as a ship weapon and cost 800-1200 ZEN, I think you'd sell MORE.

Also:

I'm a fan of the Defiant interior.

Longterm, I agree about inbetween ship interiors. I think you're totally on the ball, Geko.

I disagree with Deyvid about the sets because I feel like the Galaxy set doesn't look right oversized because the details are too sparse.

leviathan99

I'm a big fan of indirect PvP/competitive PvE.

I may work up a Foundry template. If I do, it will be hacky.

leviathan99

Geez. This is a MARATHON show. I have an idea on the ship visuals but I need to take a breather to write it up.

A lot of VERY sound advice, thank you SO MUCH, Al.

mikefl

This was very very informative... the best Q&A I've heard really since engineering reports used to come out. I like the straight shooter type of attitude when asked questions. I'm also glad that he buried the foundry purpose question too. We can all look forward to whats coming on the horizon and know why some decisions get made the way they do.

bareel

Informative, but not the information I wanted to hear.

Ships are considered balanced and if their is in fact a balance issue the solution is nerf hammer on DHCs.

Blah.

leviathan99

Okay. So here's the gist of the feedback:

I was thinking about how to deal with more customization without discouraging ship purchases and a piece of Treknology came to mind as the word for it, one that isn't used elsewhere in STO:

Cross-circuited Transtator Assemblies

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Transtator

BASHIR: Chief, you're supposed to be working
O'BRIEN: I'm afraid to touch anything. It's all cross-circuited and patched together. I can't make heads nor tails of it.
BASHIR: Sounds like one of your repair jobs. Well, there's no sign of Darvin in this section. I'm going to widen the scan radius. If I can figure out how.
O'BRIEN: Keep the scan field below twenty milliwatts, otherwise you'll set off the internal sensors.
BASHIR: Thank you, Chief. I was listening during the mission briefing.
ENGINEER: What are you two doing here? Scotty told me to do this.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you were going to do this?
ENGINEER: It's on the duty roster.
BASHIR: Must have been some mix-up.
ENGINEER: Isn't that a medical tricorder?
BASHIR: Yes. Yes, it is. I'm a doctor.
ENGINEER: Why do we need a doctor to repair a power relay?
BASHIR: You don't, obviously. No, I'm doing a study. It has to do with work-related stress.
ENGINEER: Oh.
BASHIR: Why don't you two go on? Pretend I'm not here.
ENGINEER: So, where should we start?
O'BRIEN: Well obviously the first thing we should do is to take this transtator here, and
(The lights go down)
O'BRIEN: And leave it exactly it is.

The idea is to let people "Scotty" their ship by wiring against type.

My core idea for them as gear in STO is that they provide corresponding buffs and nerfs that tailor ships more to player style.

So, for example:

Tactical Transtator Assembly
Reduces Shield Power by 5, Increases Weapon Power by 5
Decreases Hull by 5%, Increases Base Turnrate by 2

Now, you might be saying... How do you make sure these are balanced?

Here's my suggestion:

You have 3 slots for them on every ship.

Different transtator assemblies have different set bonuses, making them not unlike gem slotting.

My core idea is that you have 3 Transtator Assemblies. They are a part of 10 different sets.

Ie. 2 Tactical, 1 Engineering is a set. 2 Science, 1 Tactical is a set. 3 Tactical is a set.

The sets have what is effectively an added power of some kind that has a malfunction chance. Additionally, they may adjust which subsystem a class of abilities draws from, if possible. (Which might be why the TOS Enterprise used engine power for its weapons. I imagine this would be handled as a buff which triggers off self-initiated power drains to a system and then boosts that system while lowering another system. This is less of a core idea.)

Having 1 Transtator of each type is the most balanced approach and has the safest power/bonuses.

Having 3 Transtator Assemblies of any one type is the riskiest approach and may cause the potential for certain systems failing or provide an added flat drain to a system along with the set bonus which may BE something like 10% weapon damage.

There are 10 possible combos with just 3 Assembly types.

But say you love Escorts but love the look of Cruisers? Use 3 Tactical Transtator Assemblies.

As for how to get them?

My idea is to hit F2P and sub players both by having Transtator Assemblies sell for 2 Fleet Ship Modules AND be available in the loot table of lockboxes.

Additionally, you could have THEMATIC Transtator Assemblies like a 23rd Century Transtator Assembly that does something extra like turning phasers blue and provides a superior buff. Or a Cardassian Transtator that turns Disruptors yellow and adds a phaser proc. However, my idea here actually inverts the way standard MMO gear works because:

All standard (Sci/Tac/Eng) Transtators are part of 10 different item sets based on all the possible combinations.

Special/Thematic Transtators are not a part of any item set and so you forego set bonuses to use them. But they have more dramatic changes baked in. (And set bonuses only apply when you have 3/3 -- no 2/3 set bonuses.)

So in a weird way, this is similar to if standard Mark gear had overlapping set bonuses... and Omega Gear was more powerful but DIDN'T have set bonuses. Kindof an odd spin on that.

Summing up, in terms of UI, below power consoles on a ship screen, you have something like:

Cross Circuited Relay Panel

And then in the panel are three Transtator slots.

And you place up to 3 Transtators in, from the 3 types. Each kind applies a boost and a nerf, both to stats and power levels.

And any distinct combination of any 3 Transtators applies a set bonus with, say, a power, a major boost, and a drawback.

More transtators could be added in theory but would exponentially increase the variety of possible set bonuses.

commanderkassy

No talk of KDF ship bundles. Of course.

idrona

Me <

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fell asleep 2 hours in, will have to get the download to finish. lol