Coammanding the ship you like

aurigas7

Once upon the time before Scimitars there was an idea... The idea was, to allow players to command a ship they like, and still remain competetive.
As a result of that great idea, we received fleet ships. We could pay a fee and get an upgrade to the ships we like.
One wonderful example was the fleet Tor'kaht. A great ship, yet I could give it a Vor'cha skin. It was perfect.
Fast forward to the next round of power creep. BFAW spam is the new cool, be it PvE or PvP. 5/3 setup is a must have to be somewhat competitive with cannons.
Now I could buy a Mogh (well, I already did to support my favourite faction...) but Q damn, that's not the ship I'm emotionally attached to.
So, what happened to the idea behind the fleet level ships ? I understand STO isn't a charity.
So, how about we give more power to the ship outfitter ? Moving around an ensign boff slot or a weapon hardpoint for some cash ? The currency is already in the game. Fleet ship modules ! The available modifications could be pre defined, to avoid unbalanced setups.

It could work like that: Go to Bekk D'vid, select a doff mission to modify the ship. Say turn the ens eng into an ens sci.

Requires the ship without any fitted modules and x fleet ship modules. After you complete the mission, you get your ship back. And the name should be the same as before. I really want the warm and fuzzy feeling to upgrade my favourite ship instead of dumping it for a new one.

This way I can keep my beloved Vor'cha, stay competitive and have spend some money. I would even buy ships I didn't buy yet because they have a bad layout. Galaxy, fleet B'rel I'm looking at you !

And no, I will neither buy the skeleton BoP nor a fleet B'rel with it's current consoles. The Hoh'sus has the desired console layout but it is so damn fugly...

johngazman

Why all the mention of competitiveness? Given that we're working together on things that actually matter.

Also; Won't happen - because people will start asking for a Doff mission to upgrade their T2 Fed Cruisers and then you end up in the argument about that again.

aurigas7

Yep teamwork. And a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. So, do you want to fail your team ? I for my part have some issues with cannon ships in storming the spire.

Therefore I would like to have a system put in place that allows me to improve my favourite ship to get the job done. Maybe the Dyson T2 torp will solve some of my issues with the swarmer spam.
But then I still can't "win" for example crystalline catastrophe with my Tor'kaht anymore. This would require a 5/3 layout.
So yeah, there is a bit pressure to be competitive PvE.

And what would be wrong about modifying a fed T2 cruiser ? I guess you are talking about the Conni. If you could trade the ens eng for an ens sci/tac this wouldn't turn it inta a T5 ship, just allow for some customization.

Basically I want an option to modify a hull I find aestetical pleasing.

stofsk

My understanding is that the starships are more or less set in stone. They can't be modified in the way that you describe.

I'd personally like to see old ships get revamped. Give most endgame T5 ships a universal ensign, that sort of thing.

ghyudt

Actually, I like this idea for ships like the galaxy that need a change. Instead of having 3 eng stations, I could just have the 2 and switch the ensign one to either a tac for TT or FAW, or a sci and use polarize hull or something else useful.

erei1

Cryptic should introduce a "costume" slot for ship, like those we have in other MMO (LOTRO, EQ2, Rift...). For example, you have a fed cruiser (let's say an excelsior), and unlocked the crappy galaxy X from C store. Then, you can slap the Galaxy X skin on the excelsior, basically flying a Galaxy X with Excelsior stats. OFC, it would be disabled for PvP, and limited to the same ship type (escort, cruiser, sci ship...), no Vo'quv looking like a Brel.
They could make a bit of money with that, selling skins ship on the c store, and the costume option through VIP/Cstore.

I know I would love to change how my Avenger look. Or change my "aliens" ships (Jem'hadar carrier for example) to something more canon.

ghyudt

I foresee problems with this. Just, no. The ships have certain stats, setups, and designs for a reason. Allowing players to use any ship they want, and then changing the skin to whatever they want, would essentially lead to everyone using the same ship and just changing the skin. And then there's the problem of having to program every skin for every weapon hardpoint setup, and somehow I don't see a constitution running around firing cannons and turrets, or a galaxy dreadnaught engaging a voth reflective shield.

thegalaxy31

The day Cryptic uses your idea is the day master keys are only 1 Zen each.

johngazman

aurigas7 wrote: »

But then I still can't "win" for example crystalline catastrophe with my Tor'kaht anymore. This would require a 5/3 layout.
So yeah, there is a bit pressure to be competitive PvE.

Again, what's the issue? All you get for "winning" is a big-TRIBBLE Trophy that no-one will ever see and some slightly better Mk X gear. As long as the CE dies, you win.

aurigas7 wrote: »

And what would be wrong about modifying a fed T2 cruiser ? I guess you are talking about the Conni. If you could trade the ens eng for an ens sci/tac this wouldn't turn it inta a T5 ship, just allow for some customization.

Yeah, I was referring to the Connie. Doing this would just bring Connie fans out of the woodwork asking for why they can't have their T5 Connie via this method.

Hence why I doubt Cryptic will do it.

thunderfoot

This idea has some merit. As a starting point. Adding new starship variants to STO, at the Fleet level or just new ships as part of the storyline progression is a worthy thing. However, it would probably be simpler, and cheaper, to add entire new ships rather than to add code giving every ship in the game whatever Boff layout and skin the player desired.

As to the Vor'cha/Tor'kaht - So, you're the other diehard Vor'cha/Tor'kaht pilot? Nice to meet you at last.

erei1

ghyudt wrote: »

I foresee problems with this. Just, no. The ships have certain stats, setups, and designs for a reason. Allowing players to use any ship they want, and then changing the skin to whatever they want, would essentially lead to everyone using the same ship and just changing the skin. And then there's the problem of having to program every skin for every weapon hardpoint setup, and somehow I don't see a constitution running around firing cannons and turrets, or a galaxy dreadnaught engaging a voth reflective shield.

As I said, limitations. And a Constitution can ALREADY use cannons and turrets (single cannons can be used by any ship).
As for the Galaxy using a voth reflective shield, it makes more sense than having Scimitar orbiting Earth, or the Federation using future ship (Temporal directive, anyone ?), and aliens ships ? You can use a Reman or a Romulan shield on a Constitution. But a Voth reflective shield on a Galaxy ? People that love canon will be able to use fed/KDF/Rom on Alien ships, and they will be happier.

As for player using the same ship, that simply not true. As you said, ships have various stats/setup. That's enough for them to use another one. The bugship is very popular, and it's not for the skin.

Hardpoints are already there. I don't really see a difference between a galaxy's phaser beam, and an odyssey's phaser beam. If you were using a galaxy, with an odyssey skin, you would shoot with the Galaxy hardpoints.
Some hardpoint are not even used, for example, the Marauder have cannons turrets, but they never shoot, even when you use single cannons and turrets.