Some of my questions are about Season 8 features I've seen thusfar on Tribble. Some others are about mechanics, and future plans.
1: The Voth on TRIBBLE have a lot of unique abilities, I've noticed. In particular, I'm curious about the Voth Pallisade Frigate's "Photonic Compensation" ability. Could we get an explanation about some of the Voth's special abilities (i.e., the ability above, or the Ward Repair Ship's seeming ability to resurrect dead enemies)?
2: I've noticed the Voth use Transphasic Chroniton torpedoes. More a suggestion than a question, perhaps these could become Transphasic Quantum? The Chroniton Torpedo doesn't seem to fit in the rest of the Voth's ability sets, and Transphasic Chronitons would be more suited to the Krenim Imperium, if/when we encounter them (also, it'd make Voth torpedoes much more of a threat).
3: What exactly does the Phase Cloak DO on the Voth Pallisade frigates? I have no trouble seeing through it, even with little aux power and no skills buffing Perception.
4: Have you considered a space version of Shooter Mode ("Manual Targeting," I've taken to calling it) for those who enjoy the Ground version?
5: For a very long time, the notion of a Level Cap increase has been on the back burner. If we ever get to that point, how would you go about the business of Level 60 ships? A lot of people have paid a lot of money into the Tier 5 ships. Is it possible in the engine to make a sort of "personal upgrade" system when we get there, to let Admirals choose how they'd like their ships upgraded?
6: One word: Crafting. I'd love to see a Crafting revamp eventually. Where might it be on your timetables?
7: In the current state of the game, Single Cannons and Dual Cannons are basically useless, with those ships that can use Dual Cannons opting for Dual Heavy cannons (since they lack a significant drawback). Are there plans to make these weapons relevant again?
8: I know that at one time you were working out the kinks in the Galaxy-X Saucer Separation in anticipation of a Fleet Gal-X. As the Galaxy Dreadnought is very near and dear to my heart, I'd like to ask what the status is of this project.
Finally, I'd like to compliment you on the current status of Season 8. It's turning out beautifully. I'm enjoying the Voth rep, and LOVE that we're getting Fleet 1,000-Day Veteran ships (the 1,000-Day Vet ships were starting to seem sort of weak for a $200+ ship when compared to other, cheaper ones, especially the Scimitar). Keep up the good work, sir.
The free ship being given away on the featured episode being only described as "a full carrier"
Is it different to the standard 2 hanger carriers we have at the moment? If so how? (Don't think I'll get an answer to the 2nd part of that question) lol
It's nice that you've recently addressed some issues with space related Boff traits. When can we expect to see ground related Boff traits addressed? Traits such as Creative don't seem to actually work.
1. I second the question above, when do we get a Ferasan Ship? I would heavilly suggest using Larry Niven's original designs for the Kzinti ships as an inspiration, as the warlike Ferasan would have kept most of they're style.
2. When are the Federation Dreadnoughts going to get they're long overdue update, and please tell us it includes bonus to the damage of the Phaser Lance?
3. When do we get the Jupiter Class Dreadnoughts revamped for players. I would love to see a super hull heavy ship with higher power levels then other ships meant for Beam Builds, and Hull Tanking. (As of right now we don't really have any hull tank builds that are viable).
4. I will bring this up, and I know it will get a lot of flames, but, the Galaxy X, the Defiant, and now the Avenger all have access to the Cloaking Device, why would the ships from the far flung future, trying to hide and fix what is wrong with the past, not have access at least to the cloaking device, or in the case of the Mobius Time Destroyer, a battle cloak (as the far flung Mirror Universe would be all about that... seriously).
Given what we know about the mission of the Wells, and what we know of the mirror universe, I can't see why we don't have access to the Cloak for those ships, can you explain the reasoning?
Q: Why cannot I have full pitch control in space? It's an annoying aspect of this game, where I have to execute a "corkscrew" maneuver to reach points above or below me. It is particularly annoying, when trying to find an object indicated on the mini-map as being in close proximity, but is actually some distance away along my z-axis.
Q: Why cannot I have some altitude/distance indicators on mini-map objects? Maybe their distance from the system ecliptic, expressed in +/- km? Or their distance and angle from my current position, expressed as a +/- degrees from my ecliptic?
eta: What would be great is the method used in the IP, expressed as degree of yaw and degree of pitch in relation to my current position and alignment. "Bearing 324.56. Mark. 047.33. Engage!"
Q: Why cannot I select targets from the mini-map? A mouse-over identifies the object. Why not allow it to be selected with a click, so as to provide a visual marker by which to navigate?
2. When are the Federation Dreadnoughts going to get they're long overdue update, and please tell us it includes bonus to the damage of the Phaser Lance?
Honestly, I would jump through hoops for the Lance just being somewhat accurate.
How will you fix the current imbalance caused by having introduced the Romulan superior operative boffs and the singularity abilities? The cruiser commands are a step in the right direction, but they're not enough. Will the KDF and Federation be getting better boffs? Also, will older tier 5 ships be getting a look over for some improvements?
Will the KDF ever see a revamp of some of their ships? A lot of them, most notably the bird of prey raiders have fallen far behind due to ships like the T'varo from the LOR. On that same note will the KDF ever see a ship with 5 fore weapons slots and 5 tact consoles?
It seems a little strange that the supposed aggressive imperialistic warrior race is the only faction that does not have access to a 5 fore weapon ship in some form.
Will there be more than one new ship or C store item for the KDF in the future, a lot of players on the KDF side have expressed a desire to have something to spend our money on but for many of the veteran players there is basically nothing that allows us to do that.
I have a couple of questions: the KDF ship that was in the pipeline has been delayed; is there a new date now determined for its release? Can you give us any more details, confirm/deny it is a refit for the Negh'var akin to the Regent is for the Sovereign, or some other design? A few weeks ago it was 'mostly designed and half-finished'. What is its status now?
Second question relates to the Spire holding and reports that it currently supports Fleet ships - why is this being considered and should this really be the new precedent for any future fleet holding? Especially considering how some fleets are small and are struggling to get their dilth mine to tier 3, and all the effort put into the regular starbase and its shipyard. For example the Fleet Ar'kif retrofit requires a Tier 3 Spire. That seems pretty excessive for a ship that just came out recently.
Third and final question: is there any chance of having older ships revisited as far as their stats go? Since LoR many new ships, including warbirds but now the recent Avenger as well, have shifted the power balance somewhat. Would some of the older ships that many people have spent money on have a balance pass to bring them more in line with the warbirds and stuff like the Avenger? A good example is the B'Rel, but it's not the only ship. I'd argue a few Federation ships need another look, like the Defiant lacking the 10% shield mod all other Fleet ships enjoy, especially all other 5 tac console ships. (i'd also love it if more ships had universal boff slots, just for flexibility's sake, the Romulans have a lot of ships with universal boff seats)
my question would be, if there are any plans on giving tac consoles some kind of diminishing return, so that stacking one type wouldn't be so important.
i see several improvements that would bring such a change with it: a)integration of torpedos would be more rewarding b)ships with less than 3 or 4 tac console slots would be considered competitive again. c)more option to put universal consoles onto your ship without dropping your maximum dps potential.
Herasay, flog and keel-hauling him
Seriously though, has any consideration been given to makings some of the currently NPC only ships, personal weapons, and uniforms available to players?
Specifically, the nausicaan ravager dreadnought, gorn cruisers, mek-leth, and nausicaan ground energy lance?
Can we please please have the ship tailor option to use the hull materials that are attached to some shield arrays as material choice in the ship tailor after we unlocked them by having obtained the shield?
There are just some combinations that look really nice, but forces us into using a certain shield that does not plays well with the rest of the ships build.
And no, PvP does not count, since people can just disable the visual and hide what type of shield they use anyway.
What aspects of pvp do you enjoy the most, what aspects would you like to see more of in STO?
What terms do you think best describe space pvp in STO, how would you explain these to a new player who just reached lvl cap?
Imagine you have a magic reset button and you could do it all over again knowing what you've come to learn over the games development of the past three years. How would STO pvp be different at release, how would it have progressed and how would it look now?
It seems that pvp and pve balance is not possible, specifically because pve is made too easy by abilities that are just usable in pvp and some abilities are useless in pvp because they would be OP in pve if useful. Do you think balance in both pve and pvp is possible with the same skill tree? Has the possibility been considered to balance the skills natively to pve and have a special modifier to them for pvp so that tweaking can occur to increase the usefulness of more boff abilities in battles with other players?
Could a set number of space and ground points be established to the skill tree so that we could all have equal footing in both settings in pvp? The current system allows for specialization and destroys the competitiveness of those wanting to play both.
PvE Jem'Hadar motto:Participation Ribbonsare life.
Reading the season 8 dev blog about the Voth and the Dyson sphere really is exciting and I want to thank you and your crew for making Star Trek Online the best online gaming experience ever.
So my question is: In Season 8, is there a possibility that we might get introduced and encounter the Iconians and will we get to see Empress Sela return again?
Is there any consideration of making dedicated energy and kinetic weapons ports in each ship? Sometimes I would like to have both, but the status of torps are just too inferior for pvp play. While I would like to have them and it is true nothing trully prevents this, I feel obligated to field the best ship i can for my team or pug team.
What is seen for the future of engineers to make them more viable in pvp?
When it comes to pvp what aspects are being looked at: more situation pvp missions, rewards for different pvp missions that fluxes with average time completion similar to foundry dilithium reward (thus giving more reward for longer playing mission types such as cap and hold over arena), pvp or pve only skills and traits?
there is a lot of concern that new toons have too steep a task in leveling and maxing rep, what is expected as the ideal time for a new player to have a maxed character? Is this expected to increase as the game progresses and new rep is introduced?
PvE Jem'Hadar motto:Participation Ribbonsare life.
This one is direct, but is it believed the rep system hurt the utilization of Romulan content and characters? I only ask this because after the LOR release there was finally indications of a move to lessen alt requirements for rep projects.
PvE Jem'Hadar motto:Participation Ribbonsare life.
It was said in previous interviews that season 8 would contain the biggest update/upgrade for the doffing system since it's release. Is this still on track? What spoilers can be given with regards to it's content?
There have been numerous requests/threads about the doff grinder and how people would like more flexibility with it (meaning grinding large amounts of doffs all at once instead of 1 by 1), is there anything in the works to make this happen?
There has also been interest expressed with regards to the grinder being unfriendly to Romulans. As a Romulan you can use faction doffs, as a Romulan to break down doffs you literally have to run from one corner of the map to the other.
Why does it seem that the only category that's really worth anything in this system is Diplomacy?
FDC voting rights ever going to have something done with it? If not why not just remove the npc and the text regarding it from the game?
Tholian boffs? Voth boffs? Undine boffs?
Will there be a way to get qol upgrades (exchange, bank, mail, etc) done to our ship interiors? I'd pay a lot for them.
To this, about selecting doffs:
Could doffs be sorted by specialty/career so that we could easily not select specific job types while we are mass clicking?
PvE Jem'Hadar motto:Participation Ribbonsare life.
2 - Currencies revamp, a market or conversion projects, can it happen?
I've 40,000 Omega marks and counting. Converting to dil ore isnt needed for me. Possible to convert/trade them in for something else? EC, FMs, FCs, GPL, Refined dil or other reps.
3 - New cruiser powers, why are Flight Deck Cruisers stuck with defensive powers only? Boxes them solely into a defensive/support role. At least let them zip around faster or hit harder too as an option.
4 - Will Boffs of all species get unique special space/ground traits to even out the romulans unfair advantage?
5 - Fleet project Doff input windows. Can we have a check/uncheck all button?
6 - Exchange email messages. Can you move them to an exchange log (like there's a log for fleet bank transactions) and only send emails that need to return expired items. That way we can still find out what sold without our emails being filling with spam and creating email management issues.
7 - Ship crews. Why do we need them? Is a revamp coming to make having 50 crew vs 2000 crew mean something substantial?
8 - Since LoR is out and had time to get the new players in, what is the factional proportion of players now? Has KDF shunk or grown since LoR release? Are KDF still at 18%? What percentage of population are Rom captains?
1) Will it ever be possible (like with a partnership with the new starships of star trek) to get Models of the ships we fly in game, or at least a 3d printing file? Would Love to have my Custom Carrier Escort sitting on my desk.
+1000
Exporting your ship as a file of some sort so we can get them 3D printed would be AMAZING!
1) What are you going to do about the insane Power Creep that is ruining STO? Especially with all these DPS heavy new ships?
2) What are you going to do to make Beam Weapons viable again? To compete against these new ships that are cannon equipable?
3) When will we ever see the remaining canonical ships?
4) If the remaining canonical kitbashes are added, could we possibly see them as part of a new ship crafting system, using the parts of original ships and turn them into the kitbashes? Like owning the Ambassador to create the Niagra or "Apollo", or owning the Galaxy to create the New Orleans?
5) Will Small Fleets ever the support they been asking for?
People leaving due to burnout due to having to grind for Fleet Marks, People leaving for large fleets. Large Fleets creating mule fleets to earn Fleet marks. Klingon Queues are dead.
What are you planning to do, to fix this?
6) When are we going to get some real endgame content and not more grinding?
Since the power creep is rather excessive lately where is the content hard enough to need all that?
Did you ever consider removing range dmg modifier? Cause newbies fail hard because of it and better players tend to fly in a not very stylish way to keep their cannons at minimum distance.
Shouldnt defence including all its boosts from rep/traits/boffs/... scale with flying speed instead lf having loads of boost to it such that my not moving tal shiar battle cruiser has loads more defence then a not well equipped repped .. Player in his escort...
sorry to bring a old one up but..
can we have more info regarding more KDF ships and upgrades to BoP's? and you said 'we where to busy to make KDF a ship'. A week later a Federation ship is released. Also, can you tell us why Customer support takes ages to respond, and when they do it's just some copy and past?
What sort of factors influence where you decide to put the 10th console on Fleet Ships? Why do some ships get consoles that emphasise and enhance the ship's strengths, while others get some that are of very little benefit in the ship's role (the B'rel is a case in point)?
Comments
1: The Voth on TRIBBLE have a lot of unique abilities, I've noticed. In particular, I'm curious about the Voth Pallisade Frigate's "Photonic Compensation" ability. Could we get an explanation about some of the Voth's special abilities (i.e., the ability above, or the Ward Repair Ship's seeming ability to resurrect dead enemies)?
2: I've noticed the Voth use Transphasic Chroniton torpedoes. More a suggestion than a question, perhaps these could become Transphasic Quantum? The Chroniton Torpedo doesn't seem to fit in the rest of the Voth's ability sets, and Transphasic Chronitons would be more suited to the Krenim Imperium, if/when we encounter them (also, it'd make Voth torpedoes much more of a threat).
3: What exactly does the Phase Cloak DO on the Voth Pallisade frigates? I have no trouble seeing through it, even with little aux power and no skills buffing Perception.
4: Have you considered a space version of Shooter Mode ("Manual Targeting," I've taken to calling it) for those who enjoy the Ground version?
5: For a very long time, the notion of a Level Cap increase has been on the back burner. If we ever get to that point, how would you go about the business of Level 60 ships? A lot of people have paid a lot of money into the Tier 5 ships. Is it possible in the engine to make a sort of "personal upgrade" system when we get there, to let Admirals choose how they'd like their ships upgraded?
6: One word: Crafting. I'd love to see a Crafting revamp eventually. Where might it be on your timetables?
7: In the current state of the game, Single Cannons and Dual Cannons are basically useless, with those ships that can use Dual Cannons opting for Dual Heavy cannons (since they lack a significant drawback). Are there plans to make these weapons relevant again?
8: I know that at one time you were working out the kinks in the Galaxy-X Saucer Separation in anticipation of a Fleet Gal-X. As the Galaxy Dreadnought is very near and dear to my heart, I'd like to ask what the status is of this project.
Finally, I'd like to compliment you on the current status of Season 8. It's turning out beautifully. I'm enjoying the Voth rep, and LOVE that we're getting Fleet 1,000-Day Veteran ships (the 1,000-Day Vet ships were starting to seem sort of weak for a $200+ ship when compared to other, cheaper ones, especially the Scimitar). Keep up the good work, sir.
Is it different to the standard 2 hanger carriers we have at the moment? If so how? (Don't think I'll get an answer to the 2nd part of that question) lol
2. When are the Federation Dreadnoughts going to get they're long overdue update, and please tell us it includes bonus to the damage of the Phaser Lance?
3. When do we get the Jupiter Class Dreadnoughts revamped for players. I would love to see a super hull heavy ship with higher power levels then other ships meant for Beam Builds, and Hull Tanking. (As of right now we don't really have any hull tank builds that are viable).
4. I will bring this up, and I know it will get a lot of flames, but, the Galaxy X, the Defiant, and now the Avenger all have access to the Cloaking Device, why would the ships from the far flung future, trying to hide and fix what is wrong with the past, not have access at least to the cloaking device, or in the case of the Mobius Time Destroyer, a battle cloak (as the far flung Mirror Universe would be all about that... seriously).
Given what we know about the mission of the Wells, and what we know of the mirror universe, I can't see why we don't have access to the Cloak for those ships, can you explain the reasoning?
Thanks.
Q: Why cannot I have some altitude/distance indicators on mini-map objects? Maybe their distance from the system ecliptic, expressed in +/- km? Or their distance and angle from my current position, expressed as a +/- degrees from my ecliptic?
eta: What would be great is the method used in the IP, expressed as degree of yaw and degree of pitch in relation to my current position and alignment. "Bearing 324.56. Mark. 047.33. Engage!"
Q: Why cannot I select targets from the mini-map? A mouse-over identifies the object. Why not allow it to be selected with a click, so as to provide a visual marker by which to navigate?
Honestly, I would jump through hoops for the Lance just being somewhat accurate.
It seems a little strange that the supposed aggressive imperialistic warrior race is the only faction that does not have access to a 5 fore weapon ship in some form.
Will there be more than one new ship or C store item for the KDF in the future, a lot of players on the KDF side have expressed a desire to have something to spend our money on but for many of the veteran players there is basically nothing that allows us to do that.
2. Is PWE looking into the idea of having the Exeter at T5? (Not the Connie)
Will there be dinosaur mount that players can ride on? If you don't have that in a lockbox, you're losing a ton of money.
Second question relates to the Spire holding and reports that it currently supports Fleet ships - why is this being considered and should this really be the new precedent for any future fleet holding? Especially considering how some fleets are small and are struggling to get their dilth mine to tier 3, and all the effort put into the regular starbase and its shipyard. For example the Fleet Ar'kif retrofit requires a Tier 3 Spire. That seems pretty excessive for a ship that just came out recently.
Third and final question: is there any chance of having older ships revisited as far as their stats go? Since LoR many new ships, including warbirds but now the recent Avenger as well, have shifted the power balance somewhat. Would some of the older ships that many people have spent money on have a balance pass to bring them more in line with the warbirds and stuff like the Avenger? A good example is the B'Rel, but it's not the only ship. I'd argue a few Federation ships need another look, like the Defiant lacking the 10% shield mod all other Fleet ships enjoy, especially all other 5 tac console ships. (i'd also love it if more ships had universal boff slots, just for flexibility's sake, the Romulans have a lot of ships with universal boff seats)
Herasay, flog and keel-hauling him
Seriously though, has any consideration been given to makings some of the currently NPC only ships, personal weapons, and uniforms available to players?
Specifically, the nausicaan ravager dreadnought, gorn cruisers, mek-leth, and nausicaan ground energy lance?
There are just some combinations that look really nice, but forces us into using a certain shield that does not plays well with the rest of the ships build.
And no, PvP does not count, since people can just disable the visual and hide what type of shield they use anyway.
What terms do you think best describe space pvp in STO, how would you explain these to a new player who just reached lvl cap?
Imagine you have a magic reset button and you could do it all over again knowing what you've come to learn over the games development of the past three years. How would STO pvp be different at release, how would it have progressed and how would it look now?
a history of sto pvp: 2010 - 2011
a history of sto pvp: 2012 - 2013
Could a set number of space and ground points be established to the skill tree so that we could all have equal footing in both settings in pvp? The current system allows for specialization and destroys the competitiveness of those wanting to play both.
So my question is: In Season 8, is there a possibility that we might get introduced and encounter the Iconians and will we get to see Empress Sela return again?
Admiral Ben Noah
What is seen for the future of engineers to make them more viable in pvp?
When it comes to pvp what aspects are being looked at: more situation pvp missions, rewards for different pvp missions that fluxes with average time completion similar to foundry dilithium reward (thus giving more reward for longer playing mission types such as cap and hold over arena), pvp or pve only skills and traits?
there is a lot of concern that new toons have too steep a task in leveling and maxing rep, what is expected as the ideal time for a new player to have a maxed character? Is this expected to increase as the game progresses and new rep is introduced?
To this, about selecting doffs:
Could doffs be sorted by specialty/career so that we could easily not select specific job types while we are mass clicking?
2 - Currencies revamp, a market or conversion projects, can it happen?
I've 40,000 Omega marks and counting. Converting to dil ore isnt needed for me. Possible to convert/trade them in for something else? EC, FMs, FCs, GPL, Refined dil or other reps.
3 - New cruiser powers, why are Flight Deck Cruisers stuck with defensive powers only? Boxes them solely into a defensive/support role. At least let them zip around faster or hit harder too as an option.
4 - Will Boffs of all species get unique special space/ground traits to even out the romulans unfair advantage?
5 - Fleet project Doff input windows. Can we have a check/uncheck all button?
6 - Exchange email messages. Can you move them to an exchange log (like there's a log for fleet bank transactions) and only send emails that need to return expired items. That way we can still find out what sold without our emails being filling with spam and creating email management issues.
7 - Ship crews. Why do we need them? Is a revamp coming to make having 50 crew vs 2000 crew mean something substantial?
8 - Since LoR is out and had time to get the new players in, what is the factional proportion of players now? Has KDF shunk or grown since LoR release? Are KDF still at 18%? What percentage of population are Rom captains?
+1000
Exporting your ship as a file of some sort so we can get them 3D printed would be AMAZING!
2. How long until you guys can do a Steamrunner style pack for the KDF and the Roms?
3. Is there any chance of more Caitian and Gorn ships? Would also be nice for Gorn, Nausicaan and Orion Bridge packs.
1) What are you going to do about the insane Power Creep that is ruining STO? Especially with all these DPS heavy new ships?
2) What are you going to do to make Beam Weapons viable again? To compete against these new ships that are cannon equipable?
3) When will we ever see the remaining canonical ships?
4) If the remaining canonical kitbashes are added, could we possibly see them as part of a new ship crafting system, using the parts of original ships and turn them into the kitbashes? Like owning the Ambassador to create the Niagra or "Apollo", or owning the Galaxy to create the New Orleans?
5) Will Small Fleets ever the support they been asking for?
People leaving due to burnout due to having to grind for Fleet Marks, People leaving for large fleets. Large Fleets creating mule fleets to earn Fleet marks. Klingon Queues are dead.
What are you planning to do, to fix this?
6) When are we going to get some real endgame content and not more grinding?
Did you ever consider removing range dmg modifier? Cause newbies fail hard because of it and better players tend to fly in a not very stylish way to keep their cannons at minimum distance.
Shouldnt defence including all its boosts from rep/traits/boffs/... scale with flying speed instead lf having loads of boost to it such that my not moving tal shiar battle cruiser has loads more defence then a not well equipped repped .. Player in his escort...
can we have more info regarding more KDF ships and upgrades to BoP's? and you said 'we where to busy to make KDF a ship'. A week later a Federation ship is released. Also, can you tell us why Customer support takes ages to respond, and when they do it's just some copy and past?
You can't be serious. Highest dps ships you could see won't be a cannon build. Beam arrays are more than viable.