Confused About New Expansion

tiekosora

I admittedly do not read every dev blog, I do not follow them on Twitter, nor do I have time for live feeds. What I have seen from the various names at Cryptic is that if you play a Romulan, you have to choose Fed or KDF. However, according to this you can choose to play a separate Romulan faction as well. This page confirms that, wherein only Romulans of the Republic can pilot Romulan ships or play as a Reman.

I wouldn't mind having some of the shinys from the expansion packs, but I need confirmation on how it is really going to go down. If the ships are not useable unless you play Republic AND there is no Republic faction at all, then it makes no sense to even sell them, let alone buy them. So while I have read around for a good amount yesterday, I was unable to find anything that says yes, there is a full Romulan faction available, that would justify me purchasing anything.

mandoknight89

When you choose to play the Romulan faction (as a Romulan, Reman, or Alien), you choose to play as someone who joins the Romulan Republic. In doing so, since the Republic is a fledgling faction and gets aid from both the Federation and the Klingon Empire (which are technically still at war), you as a player and as a member of the Republic will need to choose which side of the Fed/KDF war you will ally with.

You'll still be primarily a member of the Republic, and you'll primarily fly its Warbirds, but you will have privileges from being an ally of whichever faction you choose... authorization to obtain lower-tier ships from the faction, ability to join that faction's fleets and visit its hubs, and the ability to requisition some exchange officers.

thecosmic1

The Romulans you will be playing in STO are members of the Romulan Republic. If you have an existing level 50 character in the game then you are aware of the Republic and the level 50 missions they offer you - through the Romulan Reputation system.

At level 10 your character will be asked to ally with either the Federation or Klingons. There is no Rom Faction that is not allied with either the Fed or KDF. If you do not choose at an alliance at level 10 your Romulan cannot advance - all you can do is replay the missions you've already played through.

The Legacy and Standard Packs are just C-Store bundles that you can purchase for your Romulan. Buying the pre-order Packs give you a 30% discount from buying the ships individually. Buying the Packs also give you access to various titles you cannot get elsewhere.

The ships in the Packs can be used by any Romulan, no matter what Faction your are allied with - as every Romulan is part of the Romulan Republic first, and their alliances to the Fed or KDF are secondary.

bohiap

Think of it like Kira on Deep Space Nine. She was an officer in the Bajoran Militia, allied to the Federation, and assigned to a Federation space station.
You'll start at as Romulan, be able to progress with your own gear, costumes, and ships.

After the first 10 or so missions you'll choose an ally. Once you've done that, in addition to being Romulan, you'll have access to your ally's starbases, Academy, DOFF system, and (once you level up) your allies version of the featured episodes. Once you hit Romulam (or Reman) Vice Admiral you will have access to Romulan/Reman Tier 5 ships, including fleet ships. You will NOT have access to your allies Tier 5 ships.

tiekosora

Ok thanks for the input, it wasn't very clear for some reason. I read it as you were forced to chose a faction - KDF or Starfleet - not choose an ALLIANCE. Ok, all clear now, thanks!