I knew something was bugging me about Tovan Khev's background... Virinat was supposed to be an already established agricultural colony around 2387 and not colonized post-Hobus supernova.
companion style boffs are a welcome addition though, especially if they get VO as well.
Would be nice to see the Feds and Klingons get one somehow? Perhaps in a future FE series somehow?
I'm not sure how I feel about this , and I'm even more unsure how I'd feel if this was intorduced into my Fed-Kdf play .
I mean I already have First Officers ... some whom I have chosen , some that are 'just there' .
This is an attempt at SWTOR , and frankly I'd like more STF/PVP content then messing up my game time even more .
Plus I can certaiunly understand the Rommy fans who have planned out their bridge crews in advance who may not welcome playing out 40 levels of Tovan Khev's adventures .
But hey , that's nothing if Cryptic can pat themselfs on the back and say : "Look , we've gone & done SWTOR at the fraction of the cost/manpower ! Yey us !"
Big whoop .
This is a nice addition, and it adds to the story of the romulan side missions.
It may not be a story for all the people, but it sure beats the "Admiral X : Go here, shoot this" stories.
As for TOR, Neverwinter has the same crafting system. Just your neverwinter characters have more health and deal more damage.
Still, over all this is a good idea.
However.... could we change Tovan Khev's outfit? I'm totally fine with his face and hairstyle being un-alterable, but it would be nice if we could give him an upgraded uniform , which makes sense storywise, as I think he joins the Republic with you.
I don't see D'Tan going : Here are your uniforms...no, not you Khev. You are not getting a uniform. Just wear that ragged refugee outfit!
Let us wear Swimsuits on Foundry maps or bridges please! I would pay zen for that.
I knew something was bugging me about Tovan Khev's background... Virinat was supposed to be an already established agricultural colony around 2387 and not colonized post-Hobus supernova.
After Hobus event many refugees came to Virinat, more than the planet could sustain. Soon fighting started, all the cities got destroyed and eventually most people left the planet. The colony we see in game was created after those events. This backstory is in the game, you have to use a console to read about it or talk to the keeper of lore (barmaid), I'm not sure, but it is explained somewhere.
[SIGPIC]Join Date: August 2009[/SIGPIC] I live in an alternate universe, where j.j. abrams and cryptic never existed,
where R.S.E. is what it always should be.
Or better yet, a story dictated parting (not death TRIBBLE, just yknow he has his own ship and own stuff to do).
I'll just IDIC him out of my chara's history.
or if Cryptic could be bothered to do the system properly, unlikely, give us a selection of 'storied' BOFFs in the tutorial...
A world to defend
A city to protect
innocents to save
"Why?" They ask "they hate you"
We're heroes it's what we do.
*patiently waiting on Paragon City*
For those who dont know Toren Khev is a purple boff you get first and as soem kind of story thing going on he also as a very good skill set. I do however prefer to make my own crew with their own back stories, I do not wish to have any "forced" upon me.
At the moment you can't dismisss him, you can't rename him or change his appearance and as I have said he does have skills, so why would I , so it kinds feels hes been forced onto me.
Despite being limited time rewards, I deleted the jem'hadar, breen and reman BOFFs about three weeks after getting them purely because I can't customize them. So please, PLEASE let us customize Gary Stu here, if nothing else.
I don't see D'Tan going : Here are your uniforms...no, not you Khev. You are not getting a uniform. Just wear that ragged refugee outfit!
On the other hand, I can totally see him saying 'Here are your uniforms...no, not you Khev, at least not until you learn to recognise who's the captain and follow orders, then you can wear grown up clothes'.
Really? Really they are going to recreate the problems that made SWTOR so boring?
As someone said, one of the great things about STO was this is my story. I don't want my First Officer determined for me. I want to choose and customize who my crew is. Maybe I can get a refund on my Legacy pack...
Something I was just thinking about. After a Dev Blog is posted there is always lots of discussion going on, just like here. The difference is that BranFlakes and other devs (sometimes even Dan) respond a lot. Yet, none have commented in this discussion. Interesting, very interesting.
Something I was just thinking about. After a Dev Blog is posted there is always lots of discussion going on, just like here. The difference is that BranFlakes and other devs (sometimes even Dan) respond a lot. Yet, none have commented in this discussion. Interesting, very interesting.
Well in Brans defense he did have a late night last night with the servers going down and all.
But I would like someone to speak to as to why they are forcing non-customizable BO's on us.
Something I was just thinking about. After a Dev Blog is posted there is always lots of discussion going on, just like here. The difference is that BranFlakes and other devs (sometimes even Dan) respond a lot. Yet, none have commented in this discussion. Interesting, very interesting.
There's very little to say. Cryptic opted to go for a character focused approach to bringing the Romulan storyline to life. Some people clearly can't handle that.
They're not going to re-write and rewire the entire faction simply because a subset of players can't get over the fact that a structured game with a structured plot isn't 100% open ended.
There's very little to say. Cryptic opted to go for a character focused approach to bringing the Romulan storyline to life. Some people clearly can't handle that.
They're not going to re-write and rewire the entire faction simply because a subset of players can't get over the fact that a structured game with a structured plot isn't 100% open ended.
its not a faction... its a sub-species of Feds or KDFs with a few missions and ships. You might as well be an Andorian or Lethean.
There's very little to say. Cryptic opted to go for a character focused approach to bringing the Romulan storyline to life. Some people clearly can't handle that.
They're not going to re-write and rewire the entire faction simply because a subset of players can't get over the fact that a structured game with a structured plot isn't 100% open ended.
Actually there is a point in discussion. There is no reason this BO can't be made customizable. Yeah VO means Gender is stuck. Also the BO doesn't need to be our "First Officer". Fine he's a story driven element and I need him for the story, I get that, but don't force me to have him in my crew in a way I don't want.
That's not how STO works and it didn't even work for SWTOR. One of the biggest complaints people had was they needed to have X companion equipped, to complete X mission or for the healing, but they didn't like X companion. Giving people a story to enjoy is fine, forcing them to enjoy it one way is not a good game mechanic.
Actually there is a point in discussion. There is no reason this BO can't be made customizable. Yeah VO means Gender is stuck. Also the BO doesn't need to be our "First Officer". Fine he's a story driven element and I need him for the story, I get that, but don't force me to have him in my crew in a way I don't want.
There absolutely is a reason: Tovan appears as an NPC in multiple missions. That means there needs to be a set appearance, since as far as the game is concerned BOFF Torvan and NPC Torvan are two entirely different entities. STO cannot make on the fly changes to NPCs based on what you do to your BOFFs.
That's not how STO works and it didn't even work for SWTOR. One of the biggest complaints people had was they needed to have X companion equipped, to complete X mission or for the healing, but they didn't like X companion. Giving people a story to enjoy is fine, forcing them to enjoy it one way is not a good game mechanic.
The only times specific companions were mandatory in TOR were when they were needed for plot reasons. All of the solo content is easily completable regardless of which companion you bring along.
Secondly, if you play a story heavy game you need to accept the fact that that story is going to frame the way the game plays. If that's something you can't deal with, then rolling a Romulan isn't for you.
its not a faction... its a sub-species of Feds or KDFs with a few missions and ships. You might as well be an Andorian or Lethean.
I'm not getting into a semantic argument as to whether the RSR is or is not a faction. That discussion is entirely irrelevant to Romulan missions being considerably more character driven than the KDF or Feds.
There absolutely is a reason: Tovan appears as an NPC in multiple missions. That means there needs to be a set appearance, since as far as the game is concerned BOFF Torvan and NPC Torvan are two entirely different entities. STO cannot make on the fly changes to NPCs based on what you do to your BOFFs.
The only times specific companions were mandatory in TOR were when they were needed for plot reasons. All of the solo content is easily completable regardless of which companion you bring along.
Secondly, if you play a story heavy game you need to accept the fact that that story is going to frame the way the game plays. If that's something you can't deal with, then rolling a Romulan isn't for you.
Fine then make him BO, but don't make him take up a BO slot. He's forced on me, great, but don't make him take up BO space. I mean I have no desire for this guy even in my crew on my Reman ship, let alone for him as my first office, if I can relegate him to only story content I'll never play LoR and I can bet I'm not alone.
Obviously, I haven't played this content (I would love to, but I'm not in the Beta), but I know how I play games, I know how STO works having been here since alpha. Heck we had BO voice work back then and it was so annoying people complained about it and they turned it off.
In SWTOR, game mechanics meant you were better off having certain companions with you if you weren't in full party, I may have hated Gusso, but my soloing or duoing went much better with in in place. It was also what drove me and my guild away from the game. Once the Dev's story was told I had not desire to keep playing, I didn't have my own story to adventure through or even my own crew to feel attachment to. In STO I do. I have my all Klingon crew, my all Vulcan ship, my All Andorians (Thank you Devs for finally giving my a proper ship to man). I'm not going to change the way I play STO now because they threw in some story.
Fine then make him BO, but don't make him take up a BO slot. He's forced on me, great, but don't make him take up BO space. I mean I have no desire for this guy even in my crew on my Reman ship, let alone for him as my first office, if I can relegate him to only story content I'll never play LoR and I can bet I'm not alone.
Then don't play a Romulan. If a single BOFF is causing you this much pissyness, there's really nothing more to say on the subject.
In SWTOR, game mechanics meant you were better off having certain companions with you if you weren't in full party, I may have hated Gusso, but my soloing or duoing went much better with in in place. It was also what drove me and my guild away from the game. Once the Dev's story was told I had not desire to keep playing, I didn't have my own story to adventure through or even my own crew to feel attachment to. In STO I do. I have my all Klingon crew, my all Vulcan ship, my All Andorians (Thank you Devs for finally giving my a proper ship to man). I'm not going to change the way I play STO now because they threw in some story.
Incorrect. Running with a healer companion didn't make you better off, it just shifted time away from downtime into fighting. You don't need to heal as much, but you take longer to kill.
The only time a healer is a bonus is if you're running as a tank, and then solely because you don't have to cheese your way through Heroic 2+ and 4 missions to get them done solo. TOR's open world difficulty is not very high.
Then don't play a Romulan. If a single BOFF is causing you this much pissyness, there's really nothing more to say on the subject.
Incorrect. Running with a healer companion didn't make you better off, it just shifted time away from downtime into fighting. You don't need to heal as much, but you take longer to kill.
The only time a healer is a bonus is if you're running as a tank, and then solely because you don't have to cheese your way through Heroic 2+ and 4 missions to get them done solo. TOR's open world difficulty is not very high.
So you're saying I should stop spending money on STO? Come one let's be reasonable here. I've show no problem with having a BO that is required for story purposes. What I've suggested is it can be done without making that BO feel like a forced part of my crew.
As for your comments about SWTOR, I don't really care any more I stopped playing the game once I ran through all of the stories and haven't been back since, but I'm glad avoided the point. Mechanics made some companions better for gameplay purposes than others, and because the companions mechanics were pre-decided and forced on me I was left with playing with the characters I liked or playing with characters that were more synergistic to my build. STO has never been this way, STO has mostly been a cake and eat it too kind of game and it should continue that way.
I keep coming back to STO because I'm invested in my entire crews not just my single characters. I keep making new characters (and buying new slots) not because we have new careers or skills (which we really haven't for a long time), but because I can do new things with an entire ship full of characters I create and customize.
So you're saying I should stop spending money on STO? Come one let's be reasonable here. I've show no problem with having a BO that is required for story purposes. What I've suggested is it can be done without making that BO feel like a forced part of my crew.
Don't put words in my mouth. All I've said is that if you cannot handle a character driven story, then don't participate in the part of STO that is a character driven story.
Secondly, kindly explain how you intend to create a scenario where someone is an integral member of your crew, yet isn't actually an integral member of your crew.
As for your comments about SWTOR, I don't really care any more I stopped playing the game once I ran through all of the stories and haven't been back since, but I'm glad avoided the point. Mechanics made some companions better for gameplay purposes than others, and because the companions mechanics were pre-decided and forced on me I was left with playing with the characters I liked or playing with characters that were more synergistic to my build. STO has never been this way, STO has mostly been a cake and eat it too kind of game and it should continue that way.
Every TOR companion had it's niche. That means for certain setups one companion or another may be a better fit to a given player's playstyle. No companion was useless, nor was any companion mandatory.
Secondly, we're right back to "if you can't handle character driven stories, don't play a game focused on character driven stories". I honestly do not understand how you would think BioWare of all developers would create eight different plots based around an unending stream of faceless nobodies.
I keep coming back to STO because I'm invested in my entire crews not just my single characters. I keep making new characters (and buying new slots) not because we have new careers or skills (which we really haven't for a long time), but because I can do new things with an entire ship full of characters I create and customize.
Nothing in LoR is stopping you from continuing to do that as a Fed or KDF character.
Don't put words in my mouth. All I've said is that if you cannot handle a character driven story, then don't participate in the part of STO that is a character driven story.
Secondly, kindly explain how you intend to create a scenario where someone is an integral member of your crew, yet isn't actually an integral member of your crew.
He can be an integral part of the story without having to be an integral part of my crew. It's called imagination. I had to do it in SWTOR, alot, since so many of my supposed "choices" really were not choices and had little ramification for the next series of plot advancements.
I've used a lot of imagination in playing STO, I like it. I prefer it to being on rails.
Every TOR companion had it's niche. That means for certain setups one companion or another may be a better fit to a given player's playstyle. No companion was useless, nor was any companion mandatory.
Secondly, we're right back to "if you can't handle character driven stories, don't play a game focused on character driven stories". I honestly do not understand how you would think BioWare of all developers would create eight different plots based around an unending stream of faceless nobodies.
But my character was a faceless nobody in SWTOR. The only reason to force anything about how the character looked in SWTOR was for the romantic interest stories and even then that's debateable. My species choice meant nothing in the end, expect maybe for a few references here and there in the Sith Inquisitor story. My sex choice only prohibited who I could "woo" and even then that was an arbitrary choice to keep homosexuality off the table.
Few of the companion stories required a specific species and even those that did had no reason to prevent you from having unlimited control over how that companion looked.
Nothing in LoR is stopping you from continuing to do that as a Fed or KDF character.
But it keeps me from playing the Romulan content how I want. I'm fine with story, but don't tell me this guys place in my crew, there is no need to write a story like that for a game like STO. It wasn't even very effective for a game like SWTOR which for all it's good points was a tremendous failure.
He can be an integral part of the story without having to be an integral part of my crew. It's called imagination. I had to do it in SWTOR, alot, since so many of my supposed "choices" really were not choices and had little ramification for the next series of plot advancements.
I've used a lot of imagination in playing STO, I like it. I prefer it to being on rails.
For the third time: if you cannot deal with a character driven story, do not play a character driven story and then whine how you didn't like a character driven story. I really don't see why this is such a difficult concept for you to grasp.
But my character was a faceless nobody in SWTOR. The only reason to force anything about how the character looked in SWTOR was for the romantic interest stories and even then that's debateable. My species choice meant nothing in the end, expect maybe for a few references here and there in the Sith Inquisitor story. My sex choice only prohibited who I could "woo" and even then that was an arbitrary choice to keep homosexuality off the table.
Few of the companion stories required a specific species and even those that did had no reason to prevent you from having unlimited control over how that companion looked.
Every character class in TOR played a defined role in the galaxy's narrative. Each companion played a defined role within each class-specific narrative (and sometimes in a different classes narrative too). That's as far from a faceless nobody with no story framework as you can get.
But it keeps me from playing the Romulan content how I want. I'm fine with story, but don't tell me this guys place in my crew
You've just contradicted your own assertion. Either you're fine with Cryptic telling you a story, in which case you can dislike the Tovan character but accept the fact that he's a part of the story and therefore a part of your starting crew, or you're only fine with story on your specific terms doing what you want it to do. It doesn't go both ways.
It wasn't even very effective for a game like SWTOR which for all it's good points was a tremendous failure.
Considering TOR in a year and a half has put out more additional content (both fluff and concrete) than STO has ever had, and continues to retain a playerbase significantly greater than STOs, calling TOR a failure is extremely misguided.
But that's entirely irrelevant to your inability to deal with stories that don't do exactly what you want them to.
For the third time: if you cannot deal with a character driven story, do not play a character driven story and then whine how you didn't like a character driven story. I really don't see why this is such a difficult concept for you to grasp.
We'll just deal with this since you clearly want this to be about TOR and for the last few comments I think you should go play it, sounds like the game you want STO to be, which is not what others want STO to be.
PWE/Cryptic wants to shut up and take my money, so they want to give me an incentive to play their story driven content and spend money on it. There is no reason they can't use the cake and eat it too approach. Make this character a throw away BO for those who will just use him to play through the story. That's doesn't hurt anyone who wants to fall in love with him and hug him and call him George (well actually they can't call him that I guess if he can't be customized).
The reality is you're being short sighted. They have every incentive to not make this a "forced" situation like SWTOR companions and no reason to not provide that option to people. The game is already established as about freedom to play with the "look" I want from the ship I fly to the crew that flies it, why change that when they can accomplish the same thing without forcing the issue?
Legacy of Romulus, What A joke. Lousy Voice acting. On the planet the one at the farm sounds like a Ferengi. Also , Why even attempt to put in a story so we are stuck with that BO. This is why STO is hard up for cash is the bad content they keep releasing. And as for the Person above me on this page, I don't see where you get off tell people if they don't like it do not play a romulan. This is not SWTOR, so quit bringing it up. If you like that style game, go back to it.
We'll just deal with this since you clearly want this to be about TOR and for the last few comments I think you should go play it, sounds like the game you want STO to be, which is not what others want STO to be.
I wasn't the one to bring up TOR, nor am I the one who continues to bring it up as an example of "what you shouldn't do" because of the way it approaches its story. If you don't want to talk about TOR, don't bloody well talk about TOR.
PWE/Cryptic wants to shut up and take my money, so they want to give me an incentive to play their story driven content and spend money on it. There is no reason they can't use the cake and eat it too approach. Make this character a throw away BO for those who will just use him to play through the story. That's doesn't hurt anyone who wants to fall in love with him and hug him and call him George (well actually they can't call him that I guess if he can't be customized).
And now that we're finally back to the technical issue at hand, it still hasn't changed. The way the Tovan character appears in the storyline (as both a BOFF and an NPC) necessitates that he keep a static appearance. If and when the game can technically handle making on the fly NPC changes based on BOFF modification, that'll change.
The reality is you're being short sighted. They have every incentive to not make this a "forced" situation like SWTOR companions and no reason to not provide that option to people. The game is already established as about freedom to play with the "look" I want from the ship I fly to the crew that flies it, why change that when they can accomplish the same thing without forcing the issue?
You're the one demanding that an entire faction be rewritten and redesigned because you can't accept a character driven story...and I'm the one being short sighted?
Nothing is preventing you from running through (or even completely ignoring) the stock Cryptic plotline and roleplaying as whatever you damn well want your Romulan character to be. Except of course your unwillingness to accept that Cryptic made a creative decision to actually put some life into their plot for a change.
And as for the Person above me on this page, I don't see where you get off tell people if they don't like it do not play a romulan. This is not SWTOR, so quit bringing it up. If you like that style game, go back to it.
You need to actually read what has been written. If you know you're going to dislike a character driven story, you don't walk headfirst into a character driven story, then complain that you hated it. Instead, partake of the content setups that actually appeal to you.
It's completely analagous to someone who dislikes PvP going into a PvP scenario, and then complaining that PvP happened.
And now that we're finally back to the technical issue at hand, it still hasn't changed. The way the Tovan character appears in the storyline (as both a BOFF and an NPC) necessitates that he keep a static appearance. If and when the game can technically handle making on the fly NPC changes based on BOFF modification, that'll change.
And this is where you're not listening to me. Once you said he can't be customized I understood your reasons and said fine, but don't make him my first officer. You can't tell me they couldn't write a story where they didn't force a first office upon you. My understanding is that his uniform can't even be customized, you're telling me the immersion would be broken if I see him in the uniform I picked for him and then see him in a mission in the "default" outfit? Come on that's just lame.
I understand he needs to be there, I understand he can't change his species or his hair, face eyes, but certainly he didn't need to be my first officer for them to present a good story. Certainly he could wear the uniform I want him to for there to still be immersion?
I don't want the whole faction rewritten. I want the faction and story to be presented in a way the does not interfere with how I've played the game for three years now.
It's completely analagous to someone who dislikes PvP going into a PvP scenario, and then complaining that PvP happened.
I love this actually, because forcing the KDF into the PVP niche was what pissed so many people off in STO to begin with, not forcing the Roumlans into a "Story Driven" niche is repeating past mistakes.
I love this actually, because forcing the KDF into the PVP niche was what pissed so many people off in STO to begin with, not forcing the Roumlans into a "Story Driven" niche is repeating past mistakes.
I must have missed the part where Romulans won't have access to the Foundry, STFs, FEs or PvP.
I don't want the whole faction rewritten. I want the faction and story to be presented in a way the does not interfere with how I've played the game for three years now.
Normally I'd go paragraph by paragraph, but you've summed up your entire position so succinctly right here I don't have to. We're right back to "I want everything my way now".
For someone who claims to be at least something of a roleplayer, you're showing a marked inability to adapt and thrive in circumstances that aren't a 100% sandboxed story.
I must have missed the part where Romulans won't have access to the Foundry, STFs, FEs or PvP.
Oh. Right.
Did I claim that? You're saying the the Romulan faction fills the Story Driven niche correct? Then that means they are trying to force a certain play style out of it like they did for the KDF, who had access to PvE (nebula missions), PvP, and STF's FE's and Foundry once those launched. What people didn't like was being told you should play the KDF as a PvPer. Now you're saying that you should play the Romulans as a Story player. So the two are analogous.
Normally I'd go paragraph by paragraph, but you've summed up your entire position so succinctly right here I don't have to. We're right back to "I want everything my way now".
For someone who claims to be at least something of a roleplayer, you're showing a marked inability to adapt and thrive in circumstances that aren't a 100% sandboxed story.
I wish you would have gone paragraph by paragraph then you would have explained to me why he has to wear the same uniform through out, or has to be my first officer.
I don't want things my way, I want them 100% optional. Heck I'd even take 70% optional, make me use this guy for the story (which is the case I'm guessing), but don't make him have to wear their uniform for non-story play or be my first officer. I haven't played the content, I can't fully say, maybe I'm wrong on what I'm reading, but it appears the Dev's are the one's asking for things to be completely their way.
Comments
This is based on the Memory Beta on the Imperial Romulan State. Virinat is one of the planets claimed by Donatra.
I'm not sure how I feel about this , and I'm even more unsure how I'd feel if this was intorduced into my Fed-Kdf play .
I mean I already have First Officers ... some whom I have chosen , some that are 'just there' .
This is an attempt at SWTOR , and frankly I'd like more STF/PVP content then messing up my game time even more .
Plus I can certaiunly understand the Rommy fans who have planned out their bridge crews in advance who may not welcome playing out 40 levels of Tovan Khev's adventures .
But hey , that's nothing if Cryptic can pat themselfs on the back and say : "Look , we've gone & done SWTOR at the fraction of the cost/manpower ! Yey us !"
Big whoop .
It may not be a story for all the people, but it sure beats the "Admiral X : Go here, shoot this" stories.
As for TOR, Neverwinter has the same crafting system. Just your neverwinter characters have more health and deal more damage.
Still, over all this is a good idea.
However.... could we change Tovan Khev's outfit? I'm totally fine with his face and hairstyle being un-alterable, but it would be nice if we could give him an upgraded uniform , which makes sense storywise, as I think he joins the Republic with you.
I don't see D'Tan going : Here are your uniforms...no, not you Khev. You are not getting a uniform. Just wear that ragged refugee outfit!
Spoiler...
After Hobus event many refugees came to Virinat, more than the planet could sustain. Soon fighting started, all the cities got destroyed and eventually most people left the planet. The colony we see in game was created after those events. This backstory is in the game, you have to use a console to read about it or talk to the keeper of lore (barmaid), I'm not sure, but it is explained somewhere.
I live in an alternate universe, where j.j. abrams and cryptic never existed,
where R.S.E. is what it always should be.
or if Cryptic could be bothered to do the system properly, unlikely, give us a selection of 'storied' BOFFs in the tutorial...
A city to protect
innocents to save
"Why?" They ask "they hate you"
We're heroes it's what we do.
*patiently waiting on Paragon City*
At the moment you can't dismisss him, you can't rename him or change his appearance and as I have said he does have skills, so why would I , so it kinds feels hes been forced onto me.
On the other hand, I can totally see him saying 'Here are your uniforms...no, not you Khev, at least not until you learn to recognise who's the captain and follow orders, then you can wear grown up clothes'.
Really? Really they are going to recreate the problems that made SWTOR so boring?
As someone said, one of the great things about STO was this is my story. I don't want my First Officer determined for me. I want to choose and customize who my crew is. Maybe I can get a refund on my Legacy pack...
Well in Brans defense he did have a late night last night with the servers going down and all.
But I would like someone to speak to as to why they are forcing non-customizable BO's on us.
I agree.
/10char
Romulan Praetorian Guard
There's very little to say. Cryptic opted to go for a character focused approach to bringing the Romulan storyline to life. Some people clearly can't handle that.
They're not going to re-write and rewire the entire faction simply because a subset of players can't get over the fact that a structured game with a structured plot isn't 100% open ended.
But I have heard reports that you can not RETRAIN his skills and you are stuck with the ones he has.
Can anyone confirm or deny...
Granted it was about half a dozen tribble builds ago, but I was more than able to retrain him.
its not a faction... its a sub-species of Feds or KDFs with a few missions and ships. You might as well be an Andorian or Lethean.
Actually there is a point in discussion. There is no reason this BO can't be made customizable. Yeah VO means Gender is stuck. Also the BO doesn't need to be our "First Officer". Fine he's a story driven element and I need him for the story, I get that, but don't force me to have him in my crew in a way I don't want.
That's not how STO works and it didn't even work for SWTOR. One of the biggest complaints people had was they needed to have X companion equipped, to complete X mission or for the healing, but they didn't like X companion. Giving people a story to enjoy is fine, forcing them to enjoy it one way is not a good game mechanic.
There absolutely is a reason: Tovan appears as an NPC in multiple missions. That means there needs to be a set appearance, since as far as the game is concerned BOFF Torvan and NPC Torvan are two entirely different entities. STO cannot make on the fly changes to NPCs based on what you do to your BOFFs.
The only times specific companions were mandatory in TOR were when they were needed for plot reasons. All of the solo content is easily completable regardless of which companion you bring along.
Secondly, if you play a story heavy game you need to accept the fact that that story is going to frame the way the game plays. If that's something you can't deal with, then rolling a Romulan isn't for you.
I'm not getting into a semantic argument as to whether the RSR is or is not a faction. That discussion is entirely irrelevant to Romulan missions being considerably more character driven than the KDF or Feds.
Fine then make him BO, but don't make him take up a BO slot. He's forced on me, great, but don't make him take up BO space. I mean I have no desire for this guy even in my crew on my Reman ship, let alone for him as my first office, if I can relegate him to only story content I'll never play LoR and I can bet I'm not alone.
Obviously, I haven't played this content (I would love to, but I'm not in the Beta), but I know how I play games, I know how STO works having been here since alpha. Heck we had BO voice work back then and it was so annoying people complained about it and they turned it off.
In SWTOR, game mechanics meant you were better off having certain companions with you if you weren't in full party, I may have hated Gusso, but my soloing or duoing went much better with in in place. It was also what drove me and my guild away from the game. Once the Dev's story was told I had not desire to keep playing, I didn't have my own story to adventure through or even my own crew to feel attachment to. In STO I do. I have my all Klingon crew, my all Vulcan ship, my All Andorians (Thank you Devs for finally giving my a proper ship to man). I'm not going to change the way I play STO now because they threw in some story.
Then don't play a Romulan. If a single BOFF is causing you this much pissyness, there's really nothing more to say on the subject.
Incorrect. Running with a healer companion didn't make you better off, it just shifted time away from downtime into fighting. You don't need to heal as much, but you take longer to kill.
The only time a healer is a bonus is if you're running as a tank, and then solely because you don't have to cheese your way through Heroic 2+ and 4 missions to get them done solo. TOR's open world difficulty is not very high.
So you're saying I should stop spending money on STO? Come one let's be reasonable here. I've show no problem with having a BO that is required for story purposes. What I've suggested is it can be done without making that BO feel like a forced part of my crew.
As for your comments about SWTOR, I don't really care any more I stopped playing the game once I ran through all of the stories and haven't been back since, but I'm glad avoided the point. Mechanics made some companions better for gameplay purposes than others, and because the companions mechanics were pre-decided and forced on me I was left with playing with the characters I liked or playing with characters that were more synergistic to my build. STO has never been this way, STO has mostly been a cake and eat it too kind of game and it should continue that way.
I keep coming back to STO because I'm invested in my entire crews not just my single characters. I keep making new characters (and buying new slots) not because we have new careers or skills (which we really haven't for a long time), but because I can do new things with an entire ship full of characters I create and customize.
Don't put words in my mouth. All I've said is that if you cannot handle a character driven story, then don't participate in the part of STO that is a character driven story.
Secondly, kindly explain how you intend to create a scenario where someone is an integral member of your crew, yet isn't actually an integral member of your crew.
Every TOR companion had it's niche. That means for certain setups one companion or another may be a better fit to a given player's playstyle. No companion was useless, nor was any companion mandatory.
Secondly, we're right back to "if you can't handle character driven stories, don't play a game focused on character driven stories". I honestly do not understand how you would think BioWare of all developers would create eight different plots based around an unending stream of faceless nobodies.
Nothing in LoR is stopping you from continuing to do that as a Fed or KDF character.
He can be an integral part of the story without having to be an integral part of my crew. It's called imagination. I had to do it in SWTOR, alot, since so many of my supposed "choices" really were not choices and had little ramification for the next series of plot advancements.
I've used a lot of imagination in playing STO, I like it. I prefer it to being on rails.
But my character was a faceless nobody in SWTOR. The only reason to force anything about how the character looked in SWTOR was for the romantic interest stories and even then that's debateable. My species choice meant nothing in the end, expect maybe for a few references here and there in the Sith Inquisitor story. My sex choice only prohibited who I could "woo" and even then that was an arbitrary choice to keep homosexuality off the table.
Few of the companion stories required a specific species and even those that did had no reason to prevent you from having unlimited control over how that companion looked.
But it keeps me from playing the Romulan content how I want. I'm fine with story, but don't tell me this guys place in my crew, there is no need to write a story like that for a game like STO. It wasn't even very effective for a game like SWTOR which for all it's good points was a tremendous failure.
For the third time: if you cannot deal with a character driven story, do not play a character driven story and then whine how you didn't like a character driven story. I really don't see why this is such a difficult concept for you to grasp.
Every character class in TOR played a defined role in the galaxy's narrative. Each companion played a defined role within each class-specific narrative (and sometimes in a different classes narrative too). That's as far from a faceless nobody with no story framework as you can get.
You've just contradicted your own assertion. Either you're fine with Cryptic telling you a story, in which case you can dislike the Tovan character but accept the fact that he's a part of the story and therefore a part of your starting crew, or you're only fine with story on your specific terms doing what you want it to do. It doesn't go both ways.
Considering TOR in a year and a half has put out more additional content (both fluff and concrete) than STO has ever had, and continues to retain a playerbase significantly greater than STOs, calling TOR a failure is extremely misguided.
But that's entirely irrelevant to your inability to deal with stories that don't do exactly what you want them to.
We'll just deal with this since you clearly want this to be about TOR and for the last few comments I think you should go play it, sounds like the game you want STO to be, which is not what others want STO to be.
PWE/Cryptic wants to shut up and take my money, so they want to give me an incentive to play their story driven content and spend money on it. There is no reason they can't use the cake and eat it too approach. Make this character a throw away BO for those who will just use him to play through the story. That's doesn't hurt anyone who wants to fall in love with him and hug him and call him George (well actually they can't call him that I guess if he can't be customized).
The reality is you're being short sighted. They have every incentive to not make this a "forced" situation like SWTOR companions and no reason to not provide that option to people. The game is already established as about freedom to play with the "look" I want from the ship I fly to the crew that flies it, why change that when they can accomplish the same thing without forcing the issue?
I wasn't the one to bring up TOR, nor am I the one who continues to bring it up as an example of "what you shouldn't do" because of the way it approaches its story. If you don't want to talk about TOR, don't bloody well talk about TOR.
And now that we're finally back to the technical issue at hand, it still hasn't changed. The way the Tovan character appears in the storyline (as both a BOFF and an NPC) necessitates that he keep a static appearance. If and when the game can technically handle making on the fly NPC changes based on BOFF modification, that'll change.
You're the one demanding that an entire faction be rewritten and redesigned because you can't accept a character driven story...and I'm the one being short sighted?
Nothing is preventing you from running through (or even completely ignoring) the stock Cryptic plotline and roleplaying as whatever you damn well want your Romulan character to be. Except of course your unwillingness to accept that Cryptic made a creative decision to actually put some life into their plot for a change.
You need to actually read what has been written. If you know you're going to dislike a character driven story, you don't walk headfirst into a character driven story, then complain that you hated it. Instead, partake of the content setups that actually appeal to you.
It's completely analagous to someone who dislikes PvP going into a PvP scenario, and then complaining that PvP happened.
And this is where you're not listening to me. Once you said he can't be customized I understood your reasons and said fine, but don't make him my first officer. You can't tell me they couldn't write a story where they didn't force a first office upon you. My understanding is that his uniform can't even be customized, you're telling me the immersion would be broken if I see him in the uniform I picked for him and then see him in a mission in the "default" outfit? Come on that's just lame.
I understand he needs to be there, I understand he can't change his species or his hair, face eyes, but certainly he didn't need to be my first officer for them to present a good story. Certainly he could wear the uniform I want him to for there to still be immersion?
I don't want the whole faction rewritten. I want the faction and story to be presented in a way the does not interfere with how I've played the game for three years now.
I love this actually, because forcing the KDF into the PVP niche was what pissed so many people off in STO to begin with, not forcing the Roumlans into a "Story Driven" niche is repeating past mistakes.
I must have missed the part where Romulans won't have access to the Foundry, STFs, FEs or PvP.
Oh. Right.
Normally I'd go paragraph by paragraph, but you've summed up your entire position so succinctly right here I don't have to. We're right back to "I want everything my way now".
For someone who claims to be at least something of a roleplayer, you're showing a marked inability to adapt and thrive in circumstances that aren't a 100% sandboxed story.
I wish you would have gone paragraph by paragraph then you would have explained to me why he has to wear the same uniform through out, or has to be my first officer.
I don't want things my way, I want them 100% optional. Heck I'd even take 70% optional, make me use this guy for the story (which is the case I'm guessing), but don't make him have to wear their uniform for non-story play or be my first officer. I haven't played the content, I can't fully say, maybe I'm wrong on what I'm reading, but it appears the Dev's are the one's asking for things to be completely their way.