Hello. I'm Havraha from Podcast UGC, a podcast about the Foundry and Star Trek Online.
From the start of the announcement of the Legacy of Romulus faction and how the alien species will be limited to hybrids only and then placed behind a paywall, I found myself asking "Why?"
The official response I received was that Cryptic had a "history of pay-gating species we don't want there to be many of", but my question again is ... why?
These Romulans are CLEARLY not the xenophobic Romulans of the Tal Shiar as they try to help even the Remans and Klingons. So that excuse cannot be used.
Some developers have told me that the Romulan faction story is very Romulan specific. I have played very deeply into the Romulan faction and yes, although it is specific to the Romulan faction and the creation of New Romulus, it is NOT about you being a Romulan. It is about how important your friends are to you, and helping save lives and families from being destroyed by the Tal Shiar. Nothing in the story prevents you from being another race other than a Romulan, as I am sure was done on purpose to make sure things like Remans and the limited version of the alien generator that was planned wouldn't conflict.
But it makes ANY alien, ANY person living in Romulan space feel right at home. Your colony, your home was attacked. You're trying to save the lives of family and friends. This story doesn't care if you're a Romulan, a Reman, a Romulan hybrid, a Suliban, a Hirogen, a Human, or a full blown alien. This is a story for everyone.
Today on TTS, it was stated that more species would be coming to the Romulan faction at a later date by Daniel Stahl. More species that are clearly not Romulan.
So again, I ask you, why is the alien gen being limited to make "hybrids only" for Romulans? And why are they being locked off? For what reason is it being locked behind a pay wall of a $15 subscription other than to squeeze more money out of the player?
Even if players subscribed for a month, would they always access to that character? Or will you lock them away from it after they've stopped paying and gone silver again? Not only have we not received any explanation as to why we're trying a great feature of Cryptics games, the alien generator, differently for this one faction than we're doing for any other faction ... but we're also not getting any answers as to how this limited mechanic that we're supposed to be happy to subscribe for is planned to be implemented in the first place!
None of this makes since. Does Cryptic not realize they will get MORE players playing MORE content if they allow those players to play that content with the characters they want to play?
*points to Champions Online that has their freeform system paylocked*
They obviously do quite well with that type of situation as I see tons upon tons upon tons of players with freeform so obviously people are paying for that popular option, why wouldn't they here? Odds are if you drop the gold you lose the access to the character.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
All your rationals, will do nothing but crash head-first into this apparently Immovable Brick Wall.
It sucks, but it's what we're getting...
Perhaps it is time to let it go.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
All your rationals, will do nothing but crash head-first into this apparently Immovable Brick Wall.
It sucks, but it's what we're getting...
Perhaps it is time to let it go.
So what you say is "Your argument is completely rational and does not matter because this is what Cryptic has decided." But that is why Feedback forums exist. If you disagree profoundly enough and show WHY their arguments are incorrect, you present the greatest reasons for them to change the design.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] I am a Cheestah.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
I was going to go Alien rom... but looking at the Romulan traits... I think cryptic just changed my mind :O
A great argument in my favor, then!
Again, going full alien HARMS you playing Romulans, if anything. It is pure a cosmetic choice, so why not allow us to actually do it since the STORY arguments that the Romulan Republic is too xenophobic to put up with aliens is CLEARLY not the case all the Klingon, Suliban, and Federation support you're given.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] I am a Cheestah.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
*points to Champions Online that has their freeform system paylocked*
They obviously do quite well with that type of situation as I see tons upon tons upon tons of players with freeform so obviously people are paying for that popular option, why wouldn't they here? Odds are if you drop the gold you lose the access to the character.
Except that we have had devs admit that character species and costumes don't sell in the C-Store. It would appear to be a different crowd that plays STO than Champions.
Besides, this ignores the fact that it's taking a free feature for other factions and pay-gating it. That's not cool.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] I am a Cheestah.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
There are several plausible reasons why an "alien" might be living among the colonists and choose to take up arms with them. The planet was mostly abandoned after the cities burned and the people fled, you find that out at the beginning. The Romulans that were there were the few that survived and remained behind to try and rebuild. Who's to say that on a nearby part of the planet there weren't settlers from other places sharing the planet w/ the Romulans and coexisting? Throughout history there are many examples of strangers going to foreign lands and trying to settle and coexist with the natives.
If aliengen should be locked off from ANY faction in game it should have been the Klingons. By nature the Klingons have always had a superiority complex and it seems far more likely that THEY wouldn't be so welcoming to other species. Hell, they even snob their own people, unless your from a noble family the odds are stacked against you as a Klingon. It's far more likely that a struggling Romulan colony TRYING desperately to survive would welcome like minded outsiders into their community.
Game story aside though. It's about what's fair and right. Is it fair to deny Romulan faction players the option to make an "alien" character? No, especially when you consider that Feds and KDF have this ability.
Is it fair to deny another player the option to make an "alien" because I personally might not feel he should be able to? No. It's not my place to tell a player that he/she can't make a particular type of toon because it "might" ruin my playstyle or immersion.
More options are better than less. Give people the CHOICE to be the character THEY want to be. Don't force them to be the character YOU want them to be.
Except that we have had devs admit that character species and costumes don't sell in the C-Store. It would appear to be a different crowd that plays STO than Champions.
Besides, this ignores the fact that it's taking a free feature for other factions and pay-gating it. That's not cool.
Costumes don't sell well? Hrm kinda wondering why there is tons of people with different outfits from the c-store everywhere then ... As for species i know they didn't do well because really not many people cared since they could do it all with alien gen anyways :P
If they locked out aliengen now to gold only and locked out all characters that had already created one when they went F2P the backlash would of been astronomical and worse than the first sale they had on STO 2 weeks after launch. Which is probably why they're doing it now. There can't be backlash if it's something that has been created for a new faction that no one even has a character on.
This will be used quite well I'm certain because people will pay for it. People like to have freedom to do these things and will go gold for it and the other perks as they have done in champs. It's quite a sound marketing strategy.
Yes, I'm that Askray@Batbayer in game. Yes, I still play. No, I don't care. Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker. Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
So you're argument is "the Romulans are racist, they just don't look like they are?" Wow. That's ... not exactly a compelling argument.
The word your looking for is xenophobia not racism romulans are not in the same species as sulbians,klingons,humans, etc.
Wow. such a great counter argument to a legitimate cultural and socially inbreed reason as to why aliens should be few and far between in the Romulan faction.. Its very hard to erase centuries of xenophobia, regardless of one leader's opinions. D'tan has little to do with the start to the Romulan story, which takes place on a romulan colony world before you join the more accepting Romulans.. Who were driven into a corner and desperately needed allies.
But actually romulans have been shown to be extremely racist(remen dilithium mining camps, watch star trek nemesis) though many people are become more adjusted to the idea that Remens being the same as Romulans, with the resulting destruction of both Remus and Romulus.
At the end of the day I think the desire to lift this restriction from Romulans boils down to trying to avoid a repeat of history (for me at least). At launch the devs were convinced that restricting PvE play to feds only would be a brilliant idea and if failed miserably. In-spite of all the feedback during beta asking them to reconsider and all the requests for PvE content for the KDF during the initial beta, the devs stuck by their plan and to this day the KDF is still suffering for it.
I doubt that restricting aliengen will have as huge an impact as restricting PvE content did but it will have an impact. I can guarantee that on day one of launch when new players start to pour in, the first angry threads that will be seen about Romulans will be about the lack of aliengen.
So what you say is "Your argument is completely rational and does not matter because this is what Cryptic has decided." But that is why Feedback forums exist. If you disagree profoundly enough and show WHY their arguments are incorrect, you present the greatest reasons for them to change the design.
As I said...
I have no problem with You, pounding your head against this particular brick wall...
Just don't expect too much in the long run.
And why do you expect US to agree with you?
You're fighting an up-hill battle, one that takes it's place, in a long line of decisions that Cryptic has made, and will probably NOT Reverse.
There's always going to be something that They do that annoys/pizzes-off somebody...
In this particular case, I don't believe this is a battle worth going ten rounds for.
YMMV
<shrug>
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
At the end of the day I think the desire to lift this restriction from Romulans boils down to trying to avoid a repeat of history (for me at least). At launch the devs were convinced that restricting PvE play to feds only would be a brilliant idea and if failed miserably. In-spite of all the feedback during beta asking them to reconsider and all the requests for PvE content for the KDF during the initial beta, the devs stuck by their plan and to this day the KDF is still suffering for it.
I doubt that restricting aliengen will have as huge an impact as restricting PvE content did but it will have an impact. I can guarantee that on day one of launch when new players start to pour in, the first angry threads that will be seen about Romulans will be about the lack of aliengen.
You're leaving a very large and significant fact out of that particular history lesson...
They Ran Outta Time
Oh and Hav... you're ignoring a very basic law of business...
MONEY trumps LOGIC, pretty much all the time.
It's apparent that They felt this is a sound money making decision... I wish you good luck with yer logic.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
You're leaving a very large and significant fact out of that particular history lesson...
They Ran Outta Time
Oh and Hav... you're ignoring a very basic law of business...
MONEY trumps LOGIC, pretty much all the time.
It's apparent that They felt this is a sound money making decision... I wish you good luck with yer logic.
First of all restricting content was a bad idea to begin with. They conceived the KDF with restrictions in mind. Just like they are planning to do with Romulans.
Second, you seem to be forgetting one important thing. They weren't just beta testing for a weekend or even a month. They had MONTHS of player feedback telling them to reconsider their KDF restrictions and still they didn't. The excuse of "they ran out of time" is weak at best because it's not like they didn't have plenty of time to change it.
Third, there was another instance where restriction proved to be a fail and that was their time gated events. People were furious that content in a game that was starving for content was being restricted to specific times of the day. That got changed after people raged. So it's not like it's been an isolated incident in which their compulsion to restrict ends up enraging the community and backfiring.
First of all restricting content was a bad idea to begin with. They conceived the KDF with restrictions in mind. Just like they are planning to do with Romulans.
Second, you seem to be forgetting one important thing. They weren't just beta testing for a weekend or even a month. They had MONTHS of player feedback telling them to reconsider their KDF restrictions and still they didn't. The excuse of "they ran out of time" is weak at best because it's not like they didn't have plenty of time to change it.
Third, there was another instance where restriction proved to be a fail and that was their time gated events. People were furious that content in a game that was starving for content was being restricted to specific times of the day. That got changed after people raged. So it's not like it's been an isolated incident in which their compulsion to restrict ends up enraging the community and backfiring.
They didn't have time to build a PvE KDF and launch before the license got pulled, and no matter how much you try to say that wasn't the case, it was.
Fed PVE wasn't even a complete leveling experience to cap, I had to grind Cardassian and Borg DSEs to hit both caps, after already running all the missions and falling short, so I don't' know where you think they were going to get this magical time they would have needed to build KDF PvE content. Maybe from the time Fairy.
A PvP only second faction wasn't exactly a new idea either, other games have done it before. Sure it wasn't ideal, but probably better than no KDF at all.
And I don't know what STO you are playing with no time gated events, my STO calendar is full of them.
Romulans don't need aliens, and its perfectly fine to paygate a restricted version of them so that the faction doesn't become the Super Federation.
A limited form of custom Alien will be available at launch as a perk to anyone who is a Lifetime member or past/current subscriber.
We may unrestrict this further down the road, but at launch it is restricted.
Even then, custom aliens are intended to be more in line with "hybrids" than "make something completely non-Romulan looking".
If you would like to make a custom Romulan alien, you have a few options. You can either sub for a month or you can wait and see if it eventually unlocks for non-subscribing members at a later date.
You also have the option to not buy any of the other premium items we are putting into the Romulan faction, but we appreciate it when you do.
A limited form of custom Alien will be available at launch as a perk to anyone who is a Lifetime member or past/current subscriber.
We may unrestrict this further down the road, but at launch it is restricted.
Even then, custom aliens are intended to be more in line with "hybrids" than "make something completely non-Romulan looking".
If you would like to make a custom Romulan alien, you have a few options. You can either sub for a month or you can wait and see if it eventually unlocks for non-subscribing members at a later date.
You also have the option to not buy any of the other premium items we are putting into the Romulan faction, but we appreciate it when you do.
Like paying those pesky bills that come every month, I take it?
I wish I had an extra $125 hanging around...
... but I guess You'll appreciate me more when I buy all those new-fangled Romulan ships One-at-a-Time.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Like paying those pesky bills that come every month, I take it?
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
Welp... You can count on me to do my part...
It just might take a few months though.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
I sincerely hope that LoR is a large success in the end, because there is so much room still in this game for expanding the Star Trek universe. The Gamma and Delta quadrants. Never mind other known worlds like Betazed, Feringinar, the Gorn homeworld, and just fleshing out more already existing planets etc. And that's without even doing anything "new".
There could still be so much to come. So hopefully this is well supported.
"We are smart." - Grebnedlog
Member of Alliance Central Command/boq botlhra'ghom
I sincerely hope that LoR is a large success in the end, because there is so much room still in this game for expanding the Star Trek universe. The Gamma and Delta quadrants. Never mind other known worlds like Betazed, Feringinar, the Gorn homeworld, and just fleshing out more already existing planets etc. And that's without even doing anything "new".
There could still be so much to come. So hopefully this is well supported.
All signs point to full speed ahead. We are already looking to the future and share in the excitement that if Legacy of Romulus works, we can move on to other factions and other locations. We would love to see end-game expand into the Delta Quadrant. So much galaxy out there!
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Hello. I'm Havraha from Podcast UGC, a podcast about the Foundry and Star Trek Online.
From the start of the announcement of the Legacy of Romulus faction and how the alien species will be limited to hybrids only and then placed behind a paywall, I found myself asking "Why?"
The official response I received was that Cryptic had a "history of pay-gating species we don't want there to be many of", but my question again is ... why?
These Romulans are CLEARLY not the xenophobic Romulans of the Tal Shiar as they try to help even the Remans and Klingons. So that excuse cannot be used.
Some developers have told me that the Romulan faction story is very Romulan specific. I have played very deeply into the Romulan faction and yes, although it is specific to the Romulan faction and the creation of New Romulus, it is NOT about you being a Romulan. It is about how important your friends are to you, and helping save lives and families from being destroyed by the Tal Shiar. Nothing in the story prevents you from being another race other than a Romulan, as I am sure was done on purpose to make sure things like Remans and the limited version of the alien generator that was planned wouldn't conflict.
But it makes ANY alien, ANY person living in Romulan space feel right at home. Your colony, your home was attacked. You're trying to save the lives of family and friends. This story doesn't care if you're a Romulan, a Reman, a Romulan hybrid, a Suliban, a Hirogen, a Human, or a full blown alien. This is a story for everyone.
Today on TTS, it was stated that more species would be coming to the Romulan faction at a later date by Daniel Stahl. More species that are clearly not Romulan.
So again, I ask you, why is the alien gen being limited to make "hybrids only" for Romulans? And why are they being locked off? For what reason is it being locked behind a pay wall of a $15 subscription other than to squeeze more money out of the player?
Even if players subscribed for a month, would they always access to that character? Or will you lock them away from it after they've stopped paying and gone silver again? Not only have we not received any explanation as to why we're trying a great feature of Cryptics games, the alien generator, differently for this one faction than we're doing for any other faction ... but we're also not getting any answers as to how this limited mechanic that we're supposed to be happy to subscribe for is planned to be implemented in the first place!
None of this makes since. Does Cryptic not realize they will get MORE players playing MORE content if they allow those players to play that content with the characters they want to play?
All signs point to full speed ahead. We are already looking to the future and share in the excitement that if Legacy of Romulus works, we can move on to other factions and other locations. We would love to see end-game expand into the Delta Quadrant. So much galaxy out there!
And if you think you are going there on my credit card you can think again.
I sincerely hope that LoR is a large success in the end, because there is so much room still in this game for expanding the Star Trek universe. The Gamma and Delta quadrants. Never mind other known worlds like Betazed, Feringinar, the Gorn homeworld, and just fleshing out more already existing planets etc. And that's without even doing anything "new".
There could still be so much to come. So hopefully this is well supported.
The problem is that May is not about the Romulans. May is all about how much can Cryptic TRIBBLE up the game. And the bottom line is: With the May update only the most dedicated basement dweller will continue to log in to this utter disaster.
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
On the subject of building to a higher bar... once this expansion is complete, it might be time for your team to revisit the Federation story-line missions. The ones the game launched with three years ago. They were created under enormous time pressure, but some of them are pretty bad in comparison to newer content like featured series episodes and especially the great Romulan episodes.
I really think this game would be more popular if those missions had been better. A couple of them were remastered, and they all deserve the same treatment. Especially the ones that don't make sense from a Federation/Star Trek point of view- like the one where you murder Romulan scientists even though it could not be more obvious the Admiral following you is an Undine.
The problem is that May is not about the Romulans. May is all about how much can Cryptic TRIBBLE up the game. And the bottom line is: With the May update only the most dedicated basement dweller will continue to log in to this utter disaster.
Seen this prediction before, pretty much with everything Cryptic has ever done.
There is a reason why people ignore the crazies who carry the "End is Near!" signs. :rolleyes:
There's probably ten others chompin'-at-the-bit to throw their money at the game.
Kinda silly to make empty threats that really aren't substantial.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I have to agree...after seeing the romulan stuff...it makes the fed stuff look meh. It needs a heavy polist to be in line with the new standards. dociap zones. ship interiors. and the random genisis look alike missions.
I have to agree...after seeing the romulan stuff...it makes the fed stuff look meh. It needs a heavy polist to be in line with the new standards. dociap zones. ship interiors. and the random genisis look alike missions.
Was giving a "tour" of my Rommie ship to a fleetmate on Tribble today and noticed how improved the setting was. Halls and rooms are all "normal size" other than the Singularity Core engine room, which is jaw-droppingly gorgeous...
There were several times where it was said by one, the other, or both... that the Feds and the KDF are *really* going to need updating.
So back near the beginning of this topic, you know before it degenerated into an "I can argue better then you" topic, people where going on about how the Romulan Republic is more open and welcoming of aliens then the Empire. Yes this is true, they have managed to work through most of the xenophobia their former leaders and spin doctors pumped out to the Romulan citizens and I was pleased that I was not calling every alien I bumped into an insulting name or showing veiled contempt.
The problem I am seeing here is that most of you are looking at this from the Republics point of view, but there is a problem with that. Since the Sundering nearly two thousand years previous, the Romulan leadership have earned their people a terrible reputation as backstabbers and liers.
So despite the Republic having evolved out of their xenophobia the populations of the rest of the quadrant at the very least distrust the Romulan people if not outright hating them. So what it boils down to is not the Romulans xenophobia but everyone elses Romuphobia. Would you join a group who had a reputation for jabbing sharp objects in your back?
Now I feel the same as some of you, the alien block is just....off and needs to be rethought. But from a story and canon point of view the current system makes sense.
Comments
They obviously do quite well with that type of situation as I see tons upon tons upon tons of players with freeform so obviously people are paying for that popular option, why wouldn't they here? Odds are if you drop the gold you lose the access to the character.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
This Is How Cryptic/PWE Decided To Do It.
All your rationals, will do nothing but crash head-first into this apparently Immovable Brick Wall.
It sucks, but it's what we're getting...
Perhaps it is time to let it go.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
So what you say is "Your argument is completely rational and does not matter because this is what Cryptic has decided." But that is why Feedback forums exist. If you disagree profoundly enough and show WHY their arguments are incorrect, you present the greatest reasons for them to change the design.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
A great argument in my favor, then!
Again, going full alien HARMS you playing Romulans, if anything. It is pure a cosmetic choice, so why not allow us to actually do it since the STORY arguments that the Romulan Republic is too xenophobic to put up with aliens is CLEARLY not the case all the Klingon, Suliban, and Federation support you're given.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
Except that we have had devs admit that character species and costumes don't sell in the C-Store. It would appear to be a different crowd that plays STO than Champions.
Besides, this ignores the fact that it's taking a free feature for other factions and pay-gating it. That's not cool.
Check out my Foundry missions
Fed: "To Helna and Back", "Rema Donna", "Animations with Helna", "Mudd's Weapons", "Waiting for Wednesday", "Monolith"
KDF: "Time the Enemy", "Time the Ally", "Time the Traitor"
If aliengen should be locked off from ANY faction in game it should have been the Klingons. By nature the Klingons have always had a superiority complex and it seems far more likely that THEY wouldn't be so welcoming to other species. Hell, they even snob their own people, unless your from a noble family the odds are stacked against you as a Klingon. It's far more likely that a struggling Romulan colony TRYING desperately to survive would welcome like minded outsiders into their community.
Game story aside though. It's about what's fair and right. Is it fair to deny Romulan faction players the option to make an "alien" character? No, especially when you consider that Feds and KDF have this ability.
Is it fair to deny another player the option to make an "alien" because I personally might not feel he should be able to? No. It's not my place to tell a player that he/she can't make a particular type of toon because it "might" ruin my playstyle or immersion.
More options are better than less. Give people the CHOICE to be the character THEY want to be. Don't force them to be the character YOU want them to be.
Costumes don't sell well? Hrm kinda wondering why there is tons of people with different outfits from the c-store everywhere then
If they locked out aliengen now to gold only and locked out all characters that had already created one when they went F2P the backlash would of been astronomical and worse than the first sale they had on STO 2 weeks after launch. Which is probably why they're doing it now. There can't be backlash if it's something that has been created for a new faction that no one even has a character on.
This will be used quite well I'm certain because people will pay for it. People like to have freedom to do these things and will go gold for it and the other perks as they have done in champs. It's quite a sound marketing strategy.
Former Community Moderator, Former SSR DJ, Now Full time father to two kids, Husband, Retail Worker.
Tiktok: @Askray Facebook: Askray113
Wow. such a great counter argument to a legitimate cultural and socially inbreed reason as to why aliens should be few and far between in the Romulan faction.. Its very hard to erase centuries of xenophobia, regardless of one leader's opinions. D'tan has little to do with the start to the Romulan story, which takes place on a romulan colony world before you join the more accepting Romulans.. Who were driven into a corner and desperately needed allies.
But actually romulans have been shown to be extremely racist(remen dilithium mining camps, watch star trek nemesis) though many people are become more adjusted to the idea that Remens being the same as Romulans, with the resulting destruction of both Remus and Romulus.
I doubt that restricting aliengen will have as huge an impact as restricting PvE content did but it will have an impact. I can guarantee that on day one of launch when new players start to pour in, the first angry threads that will be seen about Romulans will be about the lack of aliengen.
As I said...
I have no problem with You, pounding your head against this particular brick wall...
Just don't expect too much in the long run.
And why do you expect US to agree with you?
You're fighting an up-hill battle, one that takes it's place, in a long line of decisions that Cryptic has made, and will probably NOT Reverse.
There's always going to be something that They do that annoys/pizzes-off somebody...
In this particular case, I don't believe this is a battle worth going ten rounds for.
YMMV
<shrug>
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
You're leaving a very large and significant fact out of that particular history lesson...
They Ran Outta Time
Oh and Hav... you're ignoring a very basic law of business...
MONEY trumps LOGIC, pretty much all the time.
It's apparent that They felt this is a sound money making decision... I wish you good luck with yer logic.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
First of all restricting content was a bad idea to begin with. They conceived the KDF with restrictions in mind. Just like they are planning to do with Romulans.
Second, you seem to be forgetting one important thing. They weren't just beta testing for a weekend or even a month. They had MONTHS of player feedback telling them to reconsider their KDF restrictions and still they didn't. The excuse of "they ran out of time" is weak at best because it's not like they didn't have plenty of time to change it.
Third, there was another instance where restriction proved to be a fail and that was their time gated events. People were furious that content in a game that was starving for content was being restricted to specific times of the day. That got changed after people raged. So it's not like it's been an isolated incident in which their compulsion to restrict ends up enraging the community and backfiring.
They didn't have time to build a PvE KDF and launch before the license got pulled, and no matter how much you try to say that wasn't the case, it was.
Fed PVE wasn't even a complete leveling experience to cap, I had to grind Cardassian and Borg DSEs to hit both caps, after already running all the missions and falling short, so I don't' know where you think they were going to get this magical time they would have needed to build KDF PvE content. Maybe from the time Fairy.
A PvP only second faction wasn't exactly a new idea either, other games have done it before. Sure it wasn't ideal, but probably better than no KDF at all.
And I don't know what STO you are playing with no time gated events, my STO calendar is full of them.
Romulans don't need aliens, and its perfectly fine to paygate a restricted version of them so that the faction doesn't become the Super Federation.
A limited form of custom Alien will be available at launch as a perk to anyone who is a Lifetime member or past/current subscriber.
We may unrestrict this further down the road, but at launch it is restricted.
Even then, custom aliens are intended to be more in line with "hybrids" than "make something completely non-Romulan looking".
If you would like to make a custom Romulan alien, you have a few options. You can either sub for a month or you can wait and see if it eventually unlocks for non-subscribing members at a later date.
You also have the option to not buy any of the other premium items we are putting into the Romulan faction, but we appreciate it when you do.
Like paying those pesky bills that come every month, I take it?
I wish I had an extra $125 hanging around...
... but I guess You'll appreciate me more when I buy all those new-fangled Romulan ships One-at-a-Time.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Since this is our first, building a big Free Expansion is a bit of an unknown return on investment at this point, and yes they are extremely expensive to build. We have faith that if we build to a higher bar, even though it is free, it will pay off in a better game in the end. We are growing and learning and surviving in a very challenging time for the PC gaming market.
Welp... You can count on me to do my part...
It just might take a few months though.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
whatever ea does, do the opposite!
I sincerely hope that LoR is a large success in the end, because there is so much room still in this game for expanding the Star Trek universe. The Gamma and Delta quadrants. Never mind other known worlds like Betazed, Feringinar, the Gorn homeworld, and just fleshing out more already existing planets etc. And that's without even doing anything "new".
There could still be so much to come. So hopefully this is well supported.
"We are smart." - Grebnedlog
Member of Alliance Central Command/boq botlhra'ghom
All signs point to full speed ahead. We are already looking to the future and share in the excitement that if Legacy of Romulus works, we can move on to other factions and other locations. We would love to see end-game expand into the Delta Quadrant. So much galaxy out there!
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
On the subject of building to a higher bar... once this expansion is complete, it might be time for your team to revisit the Federation story-line missions. The ones the game launched with three years ago. They were created under enormous time pressure, but some of them are pretty bad in comparison to newer content like featured series episodes and especially the great Romulan episodes.
I really think this game would be more popular if those missions had been better. A couple of them were remastered, and they all deserve the same treatment. Especially the ones that don't make sense from a Federation/Star Trek point of view- like the one where you murder Romulan scientists even though it could not be more obvious the Admiral following you is an Undine.
Seen this prediction before, pretty much with everything Cryptic has ever done.
There is a reason why people ignore the crazies who carry the "End is Near!" signs. :rolleyes:
For everybody that says they won't pay a dime...
There's probably ten others chompin'-at-the-bit to throw their money at the game.
Kinda silly to make empty threats that really aren't substantial.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
Was giving a "tour" of my Rommie ship to a fleetmate on Tribble today and noticed how improved the setting was. Halls and rooms are all "normal size" other than the Singularity Core engine room, which is jaw-droppingly gorgeous...
There were several times where it was said by one, the other, or both... that the Feds and the KDF are *really* going to need updating.
Jolan'tru
The problem I am seeing here is that most of you are looking at this from the Republics point of view, but there is a problem with that. Since the Sundering nearly two thousand years previous, the Romulan leadership have earned their people a terrible reputation as backstabbers and liers.
So despite the Republic having evolved out of their xenophobia the populations of the rest of the quadrant at the very least distrust the Romulan people if not outright hating them. So what it boils down to is not the Romulans xenophobia but everyone elses Romuphobia. Would you join a group who had a reputation for jabbing sharp objects in your back?
Now I feel the same as some of you, the alien block is just....off and needs to be rethought. But from a story and canon point of view the current system makes sense.