I wonder that every time I watch the episode...probably B&B had a random name generator stashed away somewhere they fired up when they forgot a name they coul've used instead...like Tellarite for example.:)
Apprently the Ithenites DID show up in an episode of TOS(Journey to Babel)... as a random Federation member.
The idea that those Factions have a lot of items that can be sold to make money. A new Faction means at least 10 new ships: 5 free, 5 C-Store, 5 Fleet. It means new uniforms, new races, new Doff packs, etc. Factions are extremely easy to monetize and make your development money back.
This. The Romulans are bringing a crapload of money into Cryptic's coffers. The pre-release bundle sales were probably quite profitable as well, people eat that right up. Doing something similar with the Cardassians would probably net a considerable profit as well.
As for coming up with ship designs. . .half of what the Romulans have is Cryptic-designed, I think. The common theme is just the 'ship with wings' warbird design, everything else is open to original thinking. Something similar could be done with the Cardassians, making variations on the various ship types and coming up with new concepts entirely that match the general Cardassian design approach.
I think any species either currently featured or as yet not featured are worthy of becoming factions. in reality STO has barely scratched the surface of the ST Universe. There is way way more avenues to go down so STO does have the potentcial of becoming mega huge.
In a recent interview Dan Stahl gave he was reminded that NO ST TV show has ever gone beyond seven seasons. STO is about to embark on season 8.
STO is about to go further than any ST incarnation.
I really like the Xindi idea as it's been presented here. Wide-open history (no established canon for the last what, 250 years?) to do what they want to make them fit in STO, plus a history of both conflict and cooperation with the Federation. Four playable species come baked-in (Insectoids might take some work, but should be doable). A fifth species as DOffs/contacts only (possibly a new type of BOff that's not eligible for ground missions?). We've even got a sixth species that we could "rediscover" (both in the plot and with our credit cards in the C-Store), though there'd need to be some reason given that they can't fly (ostrich subspecies? :P). Distinct ship design lineages from the various species (Aquatic cruisers, Reptilian and Insectoid Escorts/Fighters, etc.).
The biggest obstacle I think would be the question of how popular would they be? They're certainly not as high-profile as the first three factions. Definitely there's some chunk of fans who didn't watch or didn't like Enterprise--I didn't get into it until this past year. That's certainly the biggest obstacle for the Xindi.
__________________ Ann Manistee Traverse - Human Science ~~ Oken Miquat - Saurian Tactical
Exin Jor - Joined Trill Engineer ~~ Vartox - Romulan Science Dn'Dok, son of Ladok - Klingon/Romulan Engineer ~~ Mosa M'ren-faa - Ferasan Tactical
Krushan Twinn - Orion Science
Cardassian's are the only other faction I'd want to see (and I very much want to see them). I have a liberated Borg Klingon, which I enjoy, but I'd never want a liberated Borg faction. It seems silly to me.
Cardassian's would take quite a bit of work since Cryptic would have to be popping out a bunch of non-canon ships of their creative work (Cardassian's have 3 canon ships, 1 of which would likely be a runabout), but since they aren't finishing the KDF, overhauling the UI, and overhauling the character creator, perhaps they could do it in as much time (it is also very likely that those are inconsequential points, since likely completely different staff are involved in those processes, but you never know, there might be a few jack-of-all-trades people running around their).
Thanks for the expansion that had "as much content as the last"
9 Episodes = 30+ episodes...?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
It's pronounced "S.T.O." "Stow" sounds idiotic! lol
Like others said, Cardassians are a good possibility. But to me, it makes me nervous of more rehashed Cardassian Sector missions.
Unimatrix Zero: People comment about Hugh's Group being liberated, they weren't really liberated since they were still part of a mini collective. But they sort of operate along the lines of Unimatrix Zero.
But like others commented on, adding Liberated Borg faction would step on the toes of Lifetimers.
Xindi is a great Possibility, since we could have a real expansion that adds new Territory to STO since Xindi Territory is far outside of Federation Space and you could build tons of stories off them.
Though my message to Cryptic, if they do decide to make another faction: Make it easy on people with multiple characters!
Many people overextended themselves when making Romulan characters and the grind to catch up is rather exhausting. So keep that in mind to make it easy on players so they could have fun and not feeling like they are drowning in "the grind".
I've already thought about a Liberated Borg faction. The logic follows that of Liberated Borg encountered in Voyager, where they command their own vessel and able to make their own decisions, and even had ranks.
So for the ships it would be something like this...
Tier 1: Probes
Tier 2: Spheres
Tier 3: Cubes
Tier 4: Tactical Cubes
Tier 5: EVERYTHING 'retrofitted'
There can be science vessels in the form of "Nanite" versions of the aforementioned ships.
And to supplement their ship variety, they have a unique gameplay mechanic where upon destroying any vessel from another faction, there is a small small chance of a rare loot drop known as _____ Ship Wreckage. Where _____ would be filled in by the class of the ship destroyed.
Different tier ships probably have different chances of dropping a wreckage upon destruction... lower tier (like Mirandas) can be quite common and a top tier (like maybe Bortasque or Odyssey etc.) would be very rare. [Translate to exchange language, the former can be priced around a Mirror Universe ship in terms of EC, and the latter would be priced around a purple Lock Box ship)
The wreckage can be used in a DOFF assignment to build a whole ship, and success rate again depends on Tier level of the wreckage and resulting ship.
If cryptic wants some profit ideas, maybe they can add a Borg Assimilation Facilitation module to the C-store, that increases the odds of the DOFF assignment success. Add enough facilitation modules and you can get 100% success.. After the DOFF assignment is done, Borg Liberated captains may then enjoy their 'new' Assimilated Odyssey class (or whatever it is they were making).
And to make lifetimers happy, maybe throw in one or two Facilitation modules to their stipend.
I've already thought about a Liberated Borg faction. The logic follows that of Liberated Borg encountered in Voyager, where they command their own vessel and able to make their own decisions, and even had ranks.
So for the ships it would be something like this...
Tier 1: Probes
Tier 2: Spheres
Tier 3: Cubes
Tier 4: Tactical Cubes
Tier 5: EVERYTHING 'retrofitted'
There can be science vessels in the form of "Nanite" versions of the aforementioned ships.
And to supplement their ship variety, they have a unique gameplay mechanic where upon destroying any vessel from another faction, there is a small small chance of a rare loot drop known as _____ Ship Wreckage. Where _____ would be filled in by the class of the ship destroyed.
Different tier ships probably have different chances of dropping a wreckage upon destruction... lower tier (like Mirandas) can be quite common and a top tier (like maybe Bortasque or Odyssey etc.) would be very rare. [Translate to exchange language, the former can be priced around a Mirror Universe ship in terms of EC, and the latter would be priced around a purple Lock Box ship)
The wreckage can be used in a DOFF assignment to build a whole ship, and success rate again depends on Tier level of the wreckage and resulting ship.
If cryptic wants some profit ideas, maybe they can add a Borg Assimilation Facilitation module to the C-store, that increases the odds of the DOFF assignment success. Add enough facilitation modules and you can get 100% success.. After the DOFF assignment is done, Borg Liberated captains may then enjoy their 'new' Assimilated Odyssey class (or whatever it is they were making).
And to make lifetimers happy, maybe throw in one or two Facilitation modules to their stipend.
the equivalent of the Bortas and Scimitar would need to be a Diamond.
As for coming up with ship designs. . .half of what the Romulans have is Cryptic-designed, I think. The common theme is just the 'ship with wings' warbird design, everything else is open to original thinking. Something similar could be done with the Cardassians, making variations on the various ship types and coming up with new concepts entirely that match the general Cardassian design approach.
I'd love to see what they'd come up with for Cardassians - They did some brilliant work with the Rommies.
I really like the Xindi idea.....The biggest obstacle I think would be the question of how popular would they be? They're certainly not as high-profile as the first three factions. Definitely there's some chunk of fans who didn't watch or didn't like Enterprise--I didn't get into it until this past year. That's certainly the biggest obstacle for the Xindi.
They certainly seem to be quite popular around here - although I suppose that's because the people that don't like them don't feel the need to comment on it..
Cardassian's would take quite a bit of work since Cryptic would have to be popping out a bunch of non-canon ships of their creative work (Cardassian's have 3 canon ships, 1 of which would likely be a runabout
Romulans had T'Varo, T'liss, D'Deridex, Mogai, Scimitar and the Scout ship. 2 of those weren't included at release, and the T'liss is barely featured, That makes 3... That said, the T'varo isn't featured if you don't throw money or fleet stuff in...
Comments
My character Tsin'xing
This. The Romulans are bringing a crapload of money into Cryptic's coffers. The pre-release bundle sales were probably quite profitable as well, people eat that right up. Doing something similar with the Cardassians would probably net a considerable profit as well.
As for coming up with ship designs. . .half of what the Romulans have is Cryptic-designed, I think. The common theme is just the 'ship with wings' warbird design, everything else is open to original thinking. Something similar could be done with the Cardassians, making variations on the various ship types and coming up with new concepts entirely that match the general Cardassian design approach.
In a recent interview Dan Stahl gave he was reminded that NO ST TV show has ever gone beyond seven seasons. STO is about to embark on season 8.
STO is about to go further than any ST incarnation.
The biggest obstacle I think would be the question of how popular would they be? They're certainly not as high-profile as the first three factions. Definitely there's some chunk of fans who didn't watch or didn't like Enterprise--I didn't get into it until this past year. That's certainly the biggest obstacle for the Xindi.
Ann Manistee Traverse - Human Science ~~ Oken Miquat - Saurian Tactical
Exin Jor - Joined Trill Engineer ~~ Vartox - Romulan Science
Dn'Dok, son of Ladok - Klingon/Romulan Engineer ~~ Mosa M'ren-faa - Ferasan Tactical
Krushan Twinn - Orion Science
Cardassian's would take quite a bit of work since Cryptic would have to be popping out a bunch of non-canon ships of their creative work (Cardassian's have 3 canon ships, 1 of which would likely be a runabout), but since they aren't finishing the KDF, overhauling the UI, and overhauling the character creator, perhaps they could do it in as much time (it is also very likely that those are inconsequential points, since likely completely different staff are involved in those processes, but you never know, there might be a few jack-of-all-trades people running around their).
9 Episodes = 30+ episodes...?
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
It's pronounced "S.T.O." "Stow" sounds idiotic! lol
Unimatrix Zero: People comment about Hugh's Group being liberated, they weren't really liberated since they were still part of a mini collective. But they sort of operate along the lines of Unimatrix Zero.
But like others commented on, adding Liberated Borg faction would step on the toes of Lifetimers.
Xindi is a great Possibility, since we could have a real expansion that adds new Territory to STO since Xindi Territory is far outside of Federation Space and you could build tons of stories off them.
Though my message to Cryptic, if they do decide to make another faction: Make it easy on people with multiple characters!
Many people overextended themselves when making Romulan characters and the grind to catch up is rather exhausting. So keep that in mind to make it easy on players so they could have fun and not feeling like they are drowning in "the grind".
Disney can't legally own CBS, since they own ABC. :P
So for the ships it would be something like this...
Tier 1: Probes
Tier 2: Spheres
Tier 3: Cubes
Tier 4: Tactical Cubes
Tier 5: EVERYTHING 'retrofitted'
There can be science vessels in the form of "Nanite" versions of the aforementioned ships.
And to supplement their ship variety, they have a unique gameplay mechanic where upon destroying any vessel from another faction, there is a small small chance of a rare loot drop known as _____ Ship Wreckage. Where _____ would be filled in by the class of the ship destroyed.
Different tier ships probably have different chances of dropping a wreckage upon destruction... lower tier (like Mirandas) can be quite common and a top tier (like maybe Bortasque or Odyssey etc.) would be very rare. [Translate to exchange language, the former can be priced around a Mirror Universe ship in terms of EC, and the latter would be priced around a purple Lock Box ship)
The wreckage can be used in a DOFF assignment to build a whole ship, and success rate again depends on Tier level of the wreckage and resulting ship.
If cryptic wants some profit ideas, maybe they can add a Borg Assimilation Facilitation module to the C-store, that increases the odds of the DOFF assignment success. Add enough facilitation modules and you can get 100% success.. After the DOFF assignment is done, Borg Liberated captains may then enjoy their 'new' Assimilated Odyssey class (or whatever it is they were making).
And to make lifetimers happy, maybe throw in one or two Facilitation modules to their stipend.
My character Tsin'xing
Don't we already have ferengi?
There's not many ships, and there's only 5 Xindi species - less than 2 of the other faction.
I would definitely be throwing money at that
I'd love to see what they'd come up with for Cardassians - They did some brilliant work with the Rommies.
They certainly seem to be quite popular around here - although I suppose that's because the people that don't like them don't feel the need to comment on it..
Romulans had T'Varo, T'liss, D'Deridex, Mogai, Scimitar and the Scout ship. 2 of those weren't included at release, and the T'liss is barely featured, That makes 3... That said, the T'varo isn't featured if you don't throw money or fleet stuff in...
Please don't take this the wrong way, but that sounds like a really bad idea to me.
The day will not save them. And we own the night.