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Social/RP/HUB proposal and Community Feedback
voicesdark
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
I have an idea for some changes to a few of the social zones and hubs. Some will probably think this is more geared towards a niche group of the playerbase, but in actuality these changes would really affect everyone in one way or another. Because of the Possible effects this could have on the general community, this is the best forum section for this.
Backstory: Recently there have been several discussions on here regarding roleplaying, but also as always the players and their participation in foundry missions. In a way it also addresses people that don't want to be in a fleet, but don't want to use the established main hubs either.
For gameplay mechanics sake STO is split into 3 factions: Federation, Klingon, and Romulan. However there are also players interested in Roleplay, not being apart of a fleet, and not interested in being affiliated with the standard StarFleet, KDF, Romulan republic, etc organizations.
Please keep in mind that while these changes would greatly increase the possibilities for those interested in roleplay, this would go far beyond that.
Chat Options: Currently the only official options for general chat are the local and zone chats. These are simply not enough considering the diversity of needs in the game.
I propose that new official chat options be added specifically for Roleplaying, Trade, and Fleet Recruitment. Often times it can be very hard to follow a public conversation because of fleet recruitment messages, people looking to sell or trade items, roleplaying text all being done in the zone or local chat. The same can be said for those trying to quickly sell/buy an item and for those trying to recruit fleet members or roleplay.
It only makes sense that official channels be setup for the different types of chat that we need in-game. This would also help connect people with their specific needs at that exact moment without having to worry about trying to figure out private channels.
For example someone that is interested in roleplaying could have the option selected and once a map is finished loading they could instantly see the chat for roleplaying and jump right in without having to try to figure out where/if there is any going on.
I'm the owner of a fleet so when I'm walking around ESD I don't care about seeing that other fleets are recruiting or recruitment messages can interrupt trying to answer someones question, but perhaps someone else is walking around ESD specifically trying to find out what fleets are recruiting and could be having trouble following the recruitment messages because of my trying to answer that other players question.
It would actually reduce the need for so many private channels and would free up those resources for the chat server.
Roleplaying: For those interested in it STO could really be a great game for people to roleplay in. Maybe you're a civilian cargo captain and just managed to outrun a group of raiders trying to steal the medicine you're tying to get to Vega 3, Maybe your part of a civilian defense force that just helped Starfleet push back a Borg advance, maybe your ship was assigned as part of a fleet that just got done fighting on the front lines against the Klingons and you want to go relax and trade war stories with your buddies that just got done fighting the Undine. The point is in STO the options are limitless, but there really aren't any completely non-aligned starbases and planet-side social maps/hubs for this. Drozana is the closest match for this, but I'm sure as many would agree the blue flicker lights can become annoying after a short time, and it isn't really fully functional either.
Social/RP zones: Having zones specifically only for RP would be a waste of resources, however, because of foundry map population limitations that isn't a viable solution either.
Risa:
hotel/casino building: Transfers to interior map and includes casino floor (dabo tables, poker (mini game to be added), holodecks (including a new target practice mini-game shooter mode inforced). Second floor consisting of hotel rooms.
An outdoor bar/nightclub: Inclusion of day/night cycle. Night club lights and music at night, "tropical" themed music during the day.
Alien ruins: used for a few archeological/data sample mini-missions. Utilizing Dilithium mining mini-game, Radiation mini-game, and data sample mini-game. Perhaps completion results in a doff mission to correspond with this as well. IE beam archeological samples to ship for further analysis.
all of which had multiple foundry mission access points.
Vendors would only allow access to tailor, bartender to food and drink appropriate for location, and EC souvenir store (see GPL conversion below) prizes including new "Vacation" outfits and some new "souvenir" ship trophies.
Civilian Starbase: Not everyone wants to be in a fleet, but they also don't want to play their endgame solely as a Starfleet, KDF or Romulan Republic Officer either. These Distinctions may be necessary for the actual game mechanics, but not for the ever day wondering around the universe either.
This would be a fully generic, fully function hub with everything a player needs without and obvious cardassian,starfleet,KDF tech. There are plenty of Generic Civilian parts in the foundry so this shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. This would be accessible to ALL factions.
Deck 1:
Section 1:
Lobby teleporters, Lounge (more Starfleet Academy style than ESD club), Casino (includes everything from Risa casino), Holodeck, Turbo lift up to Hotel rooms, tailor
Section 2:
Trade Floor (Exchange, Mail, Commodity Brokers - All commodities except ultra rare ones)
Deck 2:
Section 1:
promenade: Vendors for the various space and ground equipment
Section 2:
Shipwright: Ship selection, ship customization, Ship repair
Deck 3: Administration
Again like with the proposed Risa changes the starbase would have multiple foundry access points scatter throughout the base.
For the Klingons:
I'll be honest, between the old Red UI, the layout of the First City, and the monotonous back and forth of the first few Klingon missions that was more than enough for me to quit playing as a Klingon right there. With all the changes they are making with the LOR expansion I might give it another try, but as is I don't have enough knowledge of the Klingon Faction side of things to really propose any type of changes.
GPL/Lobi Stores:
I can fully understand the inclusion of GPL in the game considering the importance it places in DS9 with Quarks and all that. Having EC, Dilithium, and GPL as the three main currency isn't a big deal. However for some reason Cryptic decided to add Lobi Crystals as well. For those not familiar with Lobi Crystals in the actual TV shows, Lobi crystals were mentioned once or twice in DS9, and were stated to be common and worthless.
The reason why Cryptic added them wasn't because they thought there weren't enough currencies, but because players had massive amounts of GPL and they knew adding items to the GPL store would prevent a successful monetization, so hence lobis were born.
My proposal is to do what Cryptic should have done in the first place, and would involve a few steps.
Step 1: Put a Freeze on earning GPL. Release conversion crates exchanging a players GPL for EC.
Step 2: Remove the ability to win/play with GPL on Dabo and replace it with only playing/winning EC. GPL store items would be purchasable via EC instead.
Step 3: Convert Lobi to GPL and remove Lobi crystal altogether.
Not only would this remove one of the countless currencies currently in the game, but it would also solve the issue of GPL stockpiles.
Reputation marks/Fleet marks:
Cryptic has attempted to expand the types of endgame content players are participating in my introducing different reputation systems. While this may somewhat correct the problem it has completely created/expanding another issue. I have two main characters I use, a Tac and an Eng. This is down from the 8 or so I used to have. The main reason why I downgraded to only two characters was the removal of the STF store and the introduction of the Rep System.
I'm not a huge fan of the Nukara ground adventure, and you can only play the STFS so many times over before they get boring as hell. The reason question is why should I be forced to play content I don't like, just because I want the gear from a certain part of the rep system?
My proposal is to completely reduce the amount of "marks" down to 2: Reputation Marks and Fleet Marks. It should be pretty obvious fleet marks are for fleet events only and reputation marks are for the rep system.
Play the content you want, earn your marks and buy what you want all the while making "friends" with whoever you want....why is that such a difficult concept?
Everything in this proposal is designed to streamline the player experience, open up new possibilities for general gameplay, give players with limited time more time to do what they have to and then get to what they want to do, and give us more ability to socialize as we want to without interfering with other players.
MOST importantly I want other players and the Devs to add this, discuss why something might or might not be a good idea. We are a community of many players and many play styles, it's important we all come together with ideas and objections for making things better for the community as a whole and not just specific niche groups.
Backstory: Recently there have been several discussions on here regarding roleplaying, but also as always the players and their participation in foundry missions. In a way it also addresses people that don't want to be in a fleet, but don't want to use the established main hubs either.
For gameplay mechanics sake STO is split into 3 factions: Federation, Klingon, and Romulan. However there are also players interested in Roleplay, not being apart of a fleet, and not interested in being affiliated with the standard StarFleet, KDF, Romulan republic, etc organizations.
Please keep in mind that while these changes would greatly increase the possibilities for those interested in roleplay, this would go far beyond that.
Chat Options: Currently the only official options for general chat are the local and zone chats. These are simply not enough considering the diversity of needs in the game.
I propose that new official chat options be added specifically for Roleplaying, Trade, and Fleet Recruitment. Often times it can be very hard to follow a public conversation because of fleet recruitment messages, people looking to sell or trade items, roleplaying text all being done in the zone or local chat. The same can be said for those trying to quickly sell/buy an item and for those trying to recruit fleet members or roleplay.
It only makes sense that official channels be setup for the different types of chat that we need in-game. This would also help connect people with their specific needs at that exact moment without having to worry about trying to figure out private channels.
For example someone that is interested in roleplaying could have the option selected and once a map is finished loading they could instantly see the chat for roleplaying and jump right in without having to try to figure out where/if there is any going on.
I'm the owner of a fleet so when I'm walking around ESD I don't care about seeing that other fleets are recruiting or recruitment messages can interrupt trying to answer someones question, but perhaps someone else is walking around ESD specifically trying to find out what fleets are recruiting and could be having trouble following the recruitment messages because of my trying to answer that other players question.
It would actually reduce the need for so many private channels and would free up those resources for the chat server.
Roleplaying: For those interested in it STO could really be a great game for people to roleplay in. Maybe you're a civilian cargo captain and just managed to outrun a group of raiders trying to steal the medicine you're tying to get to Vega 3, Maybe your part of a civilian defense force that just helped Starfleet push back a Borg advance, maybe your ship was assigned as part of a fleet that just got done fighting on the front lines against the Klingons and you want to go relax and trade war stories with your buddies that just got done fighting the Undine. The point is in STO the options are limitless, but there really aren't any completely non-aligned starbases and planet-side social maps/hubs for this. Drozana is the closest match for this, but I'm sure as many would agree the blue flicker lights can become annoying after a short time, and it isn't really fully functional either.
Social/RP zones: Having zones specifically only for RP would be a waste of resources, however, because of foundry map population limitations that isn't a viable solution either.
Risa:
hotel/casino building: Transfers to interior map and includes casino floor (dabo tables, poker (mini game to be added), holodecks (including a new target practice mini-game shooter mode inforced). Second floor consisting of hotel rooms.
An outdoor bar/nightclub: Inclusion of day/night cycle. Night club lights and music at night, "tropical" themed music during the day.
Alien ruins: used for a few archeological/data sample mini-missions. Utilizing Dilithium mining mini-game, Radiation mini-game, and data sample mini-game. Perhaps completion results in a doff mission to correspond with this as well. IE beam archeological samples to ship for further analysis.
all of which had multiple foundry mission access points.
Vendors would only allow access to tailor, bartender to food and drink appropriate for location, and EC souvenir store (see GPL conversion below) prizes including new "Vacation" outfits and some new "souvenir" ship trophies.
Civilian Starbase: Not everyone wants to be in a fleet, but they also don't want to play their endgame solely as a Starfleet, KDF or Romulan Republic Officer either. These Distinctions may be necessary for the actual game mechanics, but not for the ever day wondering around the universe either.
This would be a fully generic, fully function hub with everything a player needs without and obvious cardassian,starfleet,KDF tech. There are plenty of Generic Civilian parts in the foundry so this shouldn't be too hard to accomplish. This would be accessible to ALL factions.
Deck 1:
Section 1:
Lobby teleporters, Lounge (more Starfleet Academy style than ESD club), Casino (includes everything from Risa casino), Holodeck, Turbo lift up to Hotel rooms, tailor
Section 2:
Trade Floor (Exchange, Mail, Commodity Brokers - All commodities except ultra rare ones)
Deck 2:
Section 1:
promenade: Vendors for the various space and ground equipment
Section 2:
Shipwright: Ship selection, ship customization, Ship repair
Deck 3: Administration
Again like with the proposed Risa changes the starbase would have multiple foundry access points scatter throughout the base.
For the Klingons:
I'll be honest, between the old Red UI, the layout of the First City, and the monotonous back and forth of the first few Klingon missions that was more than enough for me to quit playing as a Klingon right there. With all the changes they are making with the LOR expansion I might give it another try, but as is I don't have enough knowledge of the Klingon Faction side of things to really propose any type of changes.
GPL/Lobi Stores:
I can fully understand the inclusion of GPL in the game considering the importance it places in DS9 with Quarks and all that. Having EC, Dilithium, and GPL as the three main currency isn't a big deal. However for some reason Cryptic decided to add Lobi Crystals as well. For those not familiar with Lobi Crystals in the actual TV shows, Lobi crystals were mentioned once or twice in DS9, and were stated to be common and worthless.
The reason why Cryptic added them wasn't because they thought there weren't enough currencies, but because players had massive amounts of GPL and they knew adding items to the GPL store would prevent a successful monetization, so hence lobis were born.
My proposal is to do what Cryptic should have done in the first place, and would involve a few steps.
Step 1: Put a Freeze on earning GPL. Release conversion crates exchanging a players GPL for EC.
Step 2: Remove the ability to win/play with GPL on Dabo and replace it with only playing/winning EC. GPL store items would be purchasable via EC instead.
Step 3: Convert Lobi to GPL and remove Lobi crystal altogether.
Not only would this remove one of the countless currencies currently in the game, but it would also solve the issue of GPL stockpiles.
Reputation marks/Fleet marks:
Cryptic has attempted to expand the types of endgame content players are participating in my introducing different reputation systems. While this may somewhat correct the problem it has completely created/expanding another issue. I have two main characters I use, a Tac and an Eng. This is down from the 8 or so I used to have. The main reason why I downgraded to only two characters was the removal of the STF store and the introduction of the Rep System.
I'm not a huge fan of the Nukara ground adventure, and you can only play the STFS so many times over before they get boring as hell. The reason question is why should I be forced to play content I don't like, just because I want the gear from a certain part of the rep system?
My proposal is to completely reduce the amount of "marks" down to 2: Reputation Marks and Fleet Marks. It should be pretty obvious fleet marks are for fleet events only and reputation marks are for the rep system.
Play the content you want, earn your marks and buy what you want all the while making "friends" with whoever you want....why is that such a difficult concept?
Everything in this proposal is designed to streamline the player experience, open up new possibilities for general gameplay, give players with limited time more time to do what they have to and then get to what they want to do, and give us more ability to socialize as we want to without interfering with other players.
MOST importantly I want other players and the Devs to add this, discuss why something might or might not be a good idea. We are a community of many players and many play styles, it's important we all come together with ideas and objections for making things better for the community as a whole and not just specific niche groups.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by voicesdark on
0
Comments
PVP:
The reintroduction of the Crystalline Entity Event proved Cryptic has the ability to expand the scope of the scoring system beyond simple damage dealt/ damage received.
Space PVP:
Space PVP suffers the most from 3 main things, 1 The DPS is king scoring system, and 2 being "The Corkscrew conspiracy", map size and player size limitations.
The DPS is king scoring system has already been proven that a most universal scoring is needed and as stated above the CE event proved it can be successful.
The Corkscrew Conspiracy: Prior to Digital effects studio models where limited on their movements because of their size and the control arms. With DS9 and specifically the Defiant we saw what a ship really could (and should be able to do) movement wise. However because of the long standing limitations of studio models it was decided inversions and the such would be too "confusing to players".
I've said it before and I'll say it again here, Going full inverted, barrel rolls, and other extreme maneuvers shouldn't ever be included in STO, but the vertical pitch angle needs to be seriously addressed.
The reason behind the Corkscrew Conspiracy nickname is because Cryptic has consistently said no to increasing the vertical pitch angle and I've seen excuses anywhere from CBS said no to we've already increased it, to just plain no answer at all.
If I've got to sit there for 5 minutes to corkscrew up to go after someone in a short distance and then do it all over again to go back down, why in the hell would I want to bother with PVP in the first place?
Map and player size limits:
5,10,20 player maps and huge "adventure zone maps" are all possible with the engine STO uses, we know we've seen it. PVP should be those big epic space battles we've always wanted. Sure we have them with some of the PVE, but hey guess what preprogrammed AI that can't think for itself and all pretty much standardized equipment is boring as hell. But in the same, 1v1 or 5v5 can get just as boring...we want we need Big epic seat of your pants battles....this is what space PVP should be, but like everything else even if it was put in today it would still suffer the corkscrew conspiracy issue
Ground PVP
this is gonna be way too simple
LOCK in shooter mode for ground pvp.
Why you ask? Simple it immerses you into the battle, give more of an adrenaline rush because you can't see all around you and don't know what to expect.
Duck n Cover: It seems like such a hugely simple concept that we've had in games for along time now, but for some reason this was completely glanced over when Cryptic created the ground combat for STO. This is the Biggest reason why ground combat and ground PVP in STO suffers so much.
Jump on Tribble, head to Nimbus III and check out Undying's as well as Paradise City. Think it meets all the qualifications I think provided they make Undying's a full social zone as well.
What Cryptic should consider before releasing anything.
Thanks for the info, will definitely check it out.