Ship class line-up revamp

cavalerius

Right, a current recap of the line up topic so far:

STO players are requesting a revamp for the current ship line up, but with different views. Their argument is that Star Trek online is set in the year 2409 , that's 30 years after the events of Nemesis. That's pretty much the difference between the Enterprise C being constructed and Voyager being constructed. So why is it that STO's Federation looks predominantly like it's still set in the 24th century?

Now I agree wholly on the current issue above. STO's federation has way too many ships that look like they belong to the TNG series, however you have to be practical and open eyed on the whole situation. STO attracts both hardcore fans of Star Trek, and gamers who just want to play a bloody game set in space with appealing options available, so you have to fix the issue with both parties happy with the outcome. That means:
1. Keeping a coherent and consistent structure for general gamers
2. Getting rid of classic ships is out of the question
3. Having a balanced and relativity style ship line-up
4. Having common sense

That last one is related to the whole storyline which everyone is forgetting. The Federation is at war with the Klingons, and every non-fed species is trying to TRIBBLE everyone else over. We know a drawn out war with the klingons will go badly simply from watching Yesterday's enterprise. That means the federation is going to require every available resource to stop themselves from being spread out too much. An increase in recruiting, increase in ships capable of taking some punishment and the need to return scrapped hulks back into working vessels to carry out the job of policing so the big ships can go to the front lines of the war. In some cases such as the C 130 example, the structural design is perfect for the job required, so only the inside stuff needs to change.
This scenario is very similar to the great wars of last century, so you can't say this is unrealistic.

Getting back on topic now that we've sorted out the classics etc. A redesign of the ship line-up is needed. As technology increases in development speed, so do the designs for some ships, and we see that in the variations of the canon ships Cryptic has made.

Or rather we don't.

Cryptic has bugged up the line-up variations for the ships. What we should have which I propose is a canon ship looking almost exactly like it did when it first rolled out, but with minor modifications to keep it up to date. Seen the refit constitution? It looks almost exactly the same, but it has phaser strips on them, and the hull plating texture is modern. That sort of minor adjustments.
Then we should have a variation that is more sleek, and coming from the time range between 2370 to 2395. They should be designed for their role with considerations thought about. An example of this is the galaxy class. They wanted a big ship. That means they would need a big warp core which needs big warp nacelles. That sort of commons sense TRIBBLE and an eye catching design leads to cool looking ships.

Instead we get trash. An example of this is the Intrepid variations. The intrepid looks good because considerations were thought about. The cochrane and Discovery however are rubbish. After Voyager discovered the Slipstream drive and it was the first to test it out, you'd think they would create a much more sleek design to work with the new federation type slipstream drive. WRONG. Instead we get the Cochrane which looks like a whale which would plow through space in the most inefficient way possible. In canon, I doubt it could even reach warp 9, let alone slipstream. The Discovery is a failed attempt at making something look futuristic as well. It isn't eye catching, its experimental designs are extremely inefficient practical wise, and it doesn't really look like a federation ship designed for long range exploration.

The final variation we should have for ships should originate from the time period between 2395 and 2409. They should be extremely sleek to save on fuel consumption and energy efficiency, a bit like a super-streamlined boat gliding across the water. The discovery, having supposedly been created in 2400 fails miserably in this regard. A slipstream capable design should also be considered because of the era it was designed in. This would also mean a cool looking deflector and not just a neon blue dinner plate.

Now the time they decided to launch STO in makes this difficult. Their fault. Designing ships before 2395 isn't difficult. Now, I don't propose Cryptic to copy off someone else for cool looking futuristic designs, but look around for inspiration. These ships from bridge commander, or some of their designs would look right at home in STO:


http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/95553/1
USS Arcadia, Vivace class starship, developed around the turn of the 25th entury.

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/111713/1
USS Kyoto, Kyoto class starship, developed during the final decade of the 24th century

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/73486/3
USS Voyager A, Intrepid refit, developed for transwarp tests during the final decade of the 24th century

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/96922/5
USS Juno, Outrider class, developed during the turn of the century to replace the nova

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/96921/2
USS Raptor, Leonidas class, developed around 2388

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/119380/2
USS Argonaut, Argonaut class, developed around 2406 as a carrier assault vessel with a slipstream drive

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/117861/2
USS Proteus, Proteus class, developed around 2403 as a testbed for the 3rd generation of the slipstream drive

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/117838/4
Stormcrow Runabout, designed to be carried on the USS Argonaut

http://bridgecommander.filefront.com/screenshots/File/112185/13
USS Australia, Commonwealth class, developed around the turn of the 25th century

Hopefully these ships should provide some insight on what future 24/25th century ships should look like. I don't expect any of these to go into the game, but it would be awesome if similar ships appeared around season 9 or something.

I also apologize for my slightly harsh wording above. It's just that so much common sense is missing which could make this game that much more enjoyable.

By the way, does Cryptic even look at these posts?

badname834854

TRIBBLE fanific ships from a mod for an older game are TRIBBLE.

I agree that there should be something doen to reduce the amount of alien ships taking up space for the two factions though.

The ship lineup should change, yes. Crusiers need a buff, Science needs a buff. What you're discussing is seemingly purely aesthetic and entirely subjective.

bridgern

Ok this is just stupid, I play Star Trek because of the ships I have seen in TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY. I don't play it because of 25th century designs that have nothing to do with real Star Trek.

I love the Constitution, Miranda, Oberth, Excelsior, Galaxy, Sovereign, Nova, Intrepid, Akira, Saber, Nebula, Steamrunner, Defiant, Norway, Constellation, Ambassador, Prometheus, Cheyenne, Centaur class, not to mention all the classic Klingon and Romulan ships, I have no problem to see new designs flying side by side with the originals, but never remove what was shown on screen in the last 47 years.

If you take those real canon trek ships away or make them less useful I and many others will be gone too.

angrytarg

bridgern wrote: »

Ok this is just stupid, I play Star Trek because of the ships I have seen in TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY. I don't play it because of 25th century designs that have nothing to do with real Star Trek.
(...)

This. +1


People argue about that topic as if STO had any consistency, rhyme or reason at all. What if I told you: That is not the case?

tinkerstorm

The ultimate solution would be to eliminate the tiers entirely, let everyone fly whatever ship they like, let every ship level up with the player character, and let everyone upgrade their ship as they choose.