Why was there a major change made though? I would have preferred some work on DS9. There was nothing wrong with Drozana.
Exactly! The busy small areas made Drozana what it is currently on Holodeck and it still has the same layout as the TOS station but looked different. I think the revised Drozana station should be saved for another station somewhere else. Put the original Drozana back and leave things alone that aren't broken!
I also think there was nothing wrong with the old one, it had a cozy charm. The new one is sterile etc.
Also the blue flashes are now like 10 seconds long shifts and you can clearly see all the Devidians. hu? No mystery anymore, and why doesn't everybody evacuate after this? I thought it was supposed to be just a light flicker malfunction.
1) K'men is incorrectly represented by a Gorn character model.
2) No Ferengi banners. Would be very nice to have at least one or two Ferengi flags hanging somehwere.
3) No background sounds. Drozana needs some backgrounds sounds! That's what really adds to the general atmosphere!
I like it. The old version was like a tiny hut instead of a full space station.
I also noticed something interesting near the Dabo table. You have intelligence officers for various empires. There's one that can get in touch with Drake for you, and.... a Tal'Shiar commander. Very interesting.
As for the difference, I don't see it as an issue. The two points are over a century apart. All we need to do is say that the Ferengi rebuilt it.
Well there's no reason that it's mandatory that we're even in the same part of the station, technically.
However I like the revamp, and it meshes with the story for two reasons.
First, if you talk to the Ferengi and the way they describe getting the station and bringing it up to snuff to open, they say they cleaned it. And frankly the first thing I said when I stepped in was, FINALLY it looks like someone cleaned up in here.
Second, Comet Cocktails.
I'm serious, a major part of the Ferengi's business was going to be the bump that they got from everyone coming to see Driffen's Comet. Problem. The old Drozana Station had no windows to actually see Driffen's Comet from the bar where he planned on selling all of those Comet Cocktails. Conclusion, the place needed some windows.
I don't like it, its like someone did a rush job in the Foundry.
An insanely HUGE transporter pad, leading to thie small hallway that runs down a corridor to a huge.......empty room.
You have that old Cargo Level for the Second Devidian episode, meshed in with the same level, which makes the zone far less dynamic.
All the consoles and NPCs basicallly meshed together with NPCs with no value out in the middle of some lonely stretch.
Then you got the various things for people to go ape over and climb over everything.
I don't think it's that bad.
And I thought with the exception of the Odyssey bridge, ALL transporter pads were insanely HUGE. They should all be downsized, except for the one on Spacedock and K7, which have high volume.
DS9 actually needs to have you walk out of a Docking Ring port though.
As for he cargo level where the maintenance work is done the biggest logical problem I see is the fact that no business would have their maintenance area so open to the public.
As for the large area, that could be them just trying to have an open area so that their ears can pick up all of their customer's conversations.
My way of Revising Drozana:
I'll be honest, not sure what kind of zone they are planning to turn Drozana into. Something ravish like Club 47, something moderate dance club, or going Pub (which I doubt given these changes).
Anyhow, whomever tweeked Drozana should think like an entrepreneur.
The first thing you should see when you beam in, is this Thriving business or social area, not some dull walls. Redo the Transporter Pad (don't use that seriously oversized pad ever again) where the room empties into a GREATER ROOM. Like the transporter room is on a second level, looking down into the entertainment area. Or you see a grand staircase leading up into the social area.
The Second Floor has private stalls that overlook the crowds. Where there seperate stairways leading up. It's more quiet up there, where you could conduct your "business".
In the Middle of the Entertainment area, you got the bar (maybe something similar to the one on the Fed Starbases, but grander). Have bartenders being busy making drinks.
Put the Dance Floor off to the side with a dance-room drink counter.
Around the Bar, you have tables, have some tables empty (which have people able to sit down, which these do not). Other tables, with NPCs that are emoting conversation, not just crossing their arms and looking like they are about to start a fight. :rolleyes:)
Add more Pizzaz like neon lights and Ferengi advertisments. (Especially in the beam-in area, make it like you beamed in Downtown Las Vegas).
Put the Gambling casino in another part of the floor than DS9 style in the middle of the floor.
The NPC Vendors, don't have them all by their lonesome in some empty corridor that never will be used. Make a business area (add more advertisments) and give them items that people want to use, like a cheap rarity DOFF Vendor or with someone selling ship parts (like Warp Cores).
Move the consoles over to the business area (and don't put them side by side like they are now, that's just lazy).
AND ADD DOORS FOR FOUNDRY AUTHORS! Really there is only one way in and out, there are such things as Fire Hazzards. :rolleyes:
Then again, given what I said, this probably would've been gold for a Risa update.
None of this is actually a bad idea. Quark agrees.
"Come to Quark's, Quark's is fun, Come to Quark's Don't Walk, Run! "
Exactly right, that was part of the fun of the time Travel in seeing a newer Drozana vs a older, decrepit Drozana.
Alright now that is true. If they're going to revamp the present revamping the past is only logical.
And that would also solve the problem of aesthetics, as a Starfleet Military Installation would be less inclined to follow the laws of a good bar aesthetic, versus the needs and direct construction methods of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. The Ferengi would then just be working with what was there.
Why was there a major change made though? I would have preferred some work on DS9. There was nothing wrong with Drozana.
You mean like placing the Bajoran Temple on the interior ring instead of along the outside wall of the Promenade? Altering the scale and temperature of the color so it's closer to the series? Leaving the door and windows to the promenade open in Quark's?
"Rise like Lions after slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake your chains to earth like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you-Ye are many they are few"
As the floorplan is currently, I just can't relate it to the exterior model. I actually couldn't with the original floorplan either. Both are too boxy to me.
I'd actually use a circular corridor. Not unlike ESD. But smaller in diameter like DS9's Promenade. I'd place the Transporter Room dead center with four corridors out to Drozana's circular Promenade. And simply place the terminals, vendors and seating around the perimeter's inner and outer walls. One quarter would be the Bar area. Place the bar itself to the inside wall. With booths to the outside wall. We simply enter it from either end. Leave the center line devoid of tables or chairs.
Place at least one door along the outer wall of, say, the Merchant's Quarter to suggest the arm that connects that section to the central hub of the space station. Letting Foundry authors speculate about whatever else the Ferengi have done with the space.
I have discovered something that is missing from the old Drozana.. The plaque that was on the wall, next to the door to the exchange area.
I can't find it anywhere on the new map.
Drozana was thought to be our faction neutral social zone. With planet Nimbus III not represented in the game, the plaque was homage to the failed attempt at a neutral colony operated by the three powers (Romulan, Federation, Klingons). Recent Dev talk has made mention of a planet Nimbus adventure zone incoming. While the plaque was fun and timely then, it really won't be anymore.
(/\) Exploring Star Trek Online Since July 2008 (/\)
Are we talking about how the station itself looks from a ship's perspective or from a character inside the station perspective? I ask because I don't see anything different about it?! I went yesterday to see what the fuss was about but nothing has changed as far as I could see?!
:rolleyes:
"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa (2006)
Are we talking about how the station itself looks from a ship's perspective or from a character inside the station perspective? I ask because I don't see anything different about it?! I went yesterday to see what the fuss was about but nothing has changed as far as I could see?!
:rolleyes:
Beam down to interior of the station. You'll see the difference.
Fleet Admiral Joseph D. Ridgeway
The Armada
Original join date: Feb 5, 2010
Twitter: @davejl_99, & @STO_BBArmada
Beam down to interior of the station. You'll see the difference.
I did and went to the area by the bar and weapons depot. Saw nothing different?!? No big deal, just curious. Thks for response.
"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." - Rocky Balboa (2006)
I did and went to the area by the bar and weapons depot. Saw nothing different?!? No big deal, just curious. Thks for response.
Are you sure you were logged into tribble?
As the floorplan is currently, I just can't relate it to the exterior model. I actually couldn't with the original floorplan either. Both are too boxy to me.
My take is that this is one of the five pods of the station. If you look closely, one of them looks kinda.... uninhabitable from the outside.
Cool, obviously this is the next floor up on Drozana, adjoining the Davidian puzzle mission level. The old floor has been closed due to a massive spill of comet cocktails and a tribble infestation, along w/ a few Cardassian voles. That's cool. Umm, where's the Dabo table? I seem to have missed it on the new floor...
As the floorplan is currently, I just can't relate it to the exterior model. I actually couldn't with the original floorplan either. Both are too boxy to me.
I'd actually use a circular corridor. Not unlike ESD. But smaller in diameter like DS9's Promenade. I'd place the Transporter Room dead center with four corridors out to Drozana's circular Promenade. And simply place the terminals, vendors and seating around the perimeter's inner and outer walls. One quarter would be the Bar area. Place the bar itself to the inside wall. With booths to the outside wall. We simply enter it from either end. Leave the center line devoid of tables or chairs.
Place at least one door along the outer wall of, say, the Merchant's Quarter to suggest the arm that connects that section to the central hub of the space station. Letting Foundry authors speculate about whatever else the Ferengi have done with the space.
I definitely agree with this. My first thoughts on entering the revamped Drozana was that, now that it had windows opening on to space, I should be able to figure out what part of the station it's in from its shape and what I can see from the exterior, and that's certainly not the case. I also do not like that there is no longer a connection between the main area now and to how it was in the past; considering that Drozana was made, as I recall, for the Devidian featured episode, I think that the revamp should not go forward without also updating the featured episode maps to match.
I've said as much in other posts, but I cannot understand why they thought it warranted Dev time to revamp Drozana. The new map is simply "meh", lacking any character or Ferengi-esque feel at all. If they really thought they needed more empty space, then why not just add on to the existing map rather than completely disposing of it? Heck, they could have just re-skinned the full map from "night of the comet" if they wanted a new mega-zone... wasted assets, wasted time, and missed opportunities.
It was a nice, quaint station before... now it's a bland, lifeless, oversized zone with no sense of style or individuality. That all may sound like harsh criticism, but that's my opinion. It seems like the man-hours that went into that could have been better spent elsewhere.
Comments
Exactly! The busy small areas made Drozana what it is currently on Holodeck and it still has the same layout as the TOS station but looked different. I think the revised Drozana station should be saved for another station somewhere else. Put the original Drozana back and leave things alone that aren't broken!
Also the blue flashes are now like 10 seconds long shifts and you can clearly see all the Devidians. hu? No mystery anymore, and why doesn't everybody evacuate after this? I thought it was supposed to be just a light flicker malfunction.
Some issues:
1) K'men is incorrectly represented by a Gorn character model.
2) No Ferengi banners. Would be very nice to have at least one or two Ferengi flags hanging somehwere.
3) No background sounds. Drozana needs some backgrounds sounds! That's what really adds to the general atmosphere!
STOWiki admin.
I've always avoided Drozana because the blue flashes don't agree with my retinas. The Devidians were visible before too, though not as much.
Anyway, longer blue flashes, off to K-7 it is. That stuff really shouldn't pop up at all if you aren't on the appropriate mission chain.
"We are smart." - Grebnedlog
Member of Alliance Central Command/boq botlhra'ghom
However I like the revamp, and it meshes with the story for two reasons.
First, if you talk to the Ferengi and the way they describe getting the station and bringing it up to snuff to open, they say they cleaned it. And frankly the first thing I said when I stepped in was, FINALLY it looks like someone cleaned up in here.
Second, Comet Cocktails.
I'm serious, a major part of the Ferengi's business was going to be the bump that they got from everyone coming to see Driffen's Comet. Problem. The old Drozana Station had no windows to actually see Driffen's Comet from the bar where he planned on selling all of those Comet Cocktails. Conclusion, the place needed some windows. I don't think it's that bad.
And I thought with the exception of the Odyssey bridge, ALL transporter pads were insanely HUGE. They should all be downsized, except for the one on Spacedock and K7, which have high volume.
DS9 actually needs to have you walk out of a Docking Ring port though.
As for he cargo level where the maintenance work is done the biggest logical problem I see is the fact that no business would have their maintenance area so open to the public.
As for the large area, that could be them just trying to have an open area so that their ears can pick up all of their customer's conversations. None of this is actually a bad idea. Quark agrees.
"Come to Quark's, Quark's is fun, Come to Quark's Don't Walk, Run!
Alright now that is true. If they're going to revamp the present revamping the past is only logical.
And that would also solve the problem of aesthetics, as a Starfleet Military Installation would be less inclined to follow the laws of a good bar aesthetic, versus the needs and direct construction methods of the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. The Ferengi would then just be working with what was there.
You mean like placing the Bajoran Temple on the interior ring instead of along the outside wall of the Promenade? Altering the scale and temperature of the color so it's closer to the series? Leaving the door and windows to the promenade open in Quark's?
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
You know the blue strobe and the Devidians floating past.
When this happens, make them target-able and argo.
Might make ti a bit more interesting when all hell breaks lose like a bar fight
I'd actually use a circular corridor. Not unlike ESD. But smaller in diameter like DS9's Promenade. I'd place the Transporter Room dead center with four corridors out to Drozana's circular Promenade. And simply place the terminals, vendors and seating around the perimeter's inner and outer walls. One quarter would be the Bar area. Place the bar itself to the inside wall. With booths to the outside wall. We simply enter it from either end. Leave the center line devoid of tables or chairs.
Place at least one door along the outer wall of, say, the Merchant's Quarter to suggest the arm that connects that section to the central hub of the space station. Letting Foundry authors speculate about whatever else the Ferengi have done with the space.
EDITED to add my image link:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q81/gkerr_album/STO/DrozanaIdea_zps21af47a9.jpg
I definitely noted this as well.
Drozana was thought to be our faction neutral social zone. With planet Nimbus III not represented in the game, the plaque was homage to the failed attempt at a neutral colony operated by the three powers (Romulan, Federation, Klingons). Recent Dev talk has made mention of a planet Nimbus adventure zone incoming. While the plaque was fun and timely then, it really won't be anymore.
:rolleyes:
Beam down to interior of the station. You'll see the difference.
The Armada
Original join date: Feb 5, 2010
Twitter: @davejl_99, & @STO_BBArmada
Not really seeing a problem with that.
I did and went to the area by the bar and weapons depot. Saw nothing different?!? No big deal, just curious. Thks for response.
My take is that this is one of the five pods of the station. If you look closely, one of them looks kinda.... uninhabitable from the outside.
My character Tsin'xing
I definitely agree with this. My first thoughts on entering the revamped Drozana was that, now that it had windows opening on to space, I should be able to figure out what part of the station it's in from its shape and what I can see from the exterior, and that's certainly not the case. I also do not like that there is no longer a connection between the main area now and to how it was in the past; considering that Drozana was made, as I recall, for the Devidian featured episode, I think that the revamp should not go forward without also updating the featured episode maps to match.
It was a nice, quaint station before... now it's a bland, lifeless, oversized zone with no sense of style or individuality. That all may sound like harsh criticism, but that's my opinion. It seems like the man-hours that went into that could have been better spent elsewhere.
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