Season 8 Dev Blog #36

pwebranflakes

Designer Jesse Heinig reveals details about the updates coming to many of the Federation's "Klingon War" story arc episodes in this entry of the Season 8 News Dev Blog series.


Link to the blog.

thay8472

Yay... we're going to war!

dalolorn

f2pdrakron wrote: »

Oh, I dont recognize that place ... new stuff?

Regulus embassy, I believe.

blassreiterus

Having tried the missions on Tribble, I have got to say that the revamped missions are awesome. I especially loved the Kuvah'Magh ground portion and the Federation Embassy interior.

Great job on updating the missions. I'm truly happy with what is coming in Season 8.5.

f2pdrakron wrote: »

Oh, I dont recognize that place ... new stuff?

It's the new Federation Embassy on Regulus. It's the lobby of the building.

ashkrik23

Can't wait.

palpha2clearance

those early episodes needed a facelift....good to hear

suaveks

But when you reach the goal of your mission, you?d better be prepared for a tough enemy captain who?s trying to stop you!

Hahahaha...

You really have to try hard to die in STO at this point, even on Elite difficulty. The only thing we've got to be prepared for are gamebreaking bugs...


On a serious note, it's nice to see more revamped story missions, but I'm not kidding when I say the game is so easy you barely need to pay any attention to what you're doing to beat all story content. Pitty that seems to be a design decission, to accommodate more casual players.


Also, I still would like to know why War is Good for Business is being removed.

roguegamer23

so this Klingon update is coming on the 30 of this month?

thomaselkins

Any chance something similar will be done to the "Romulan Mystery" someday? I like the updates to the playable Klingon campaign that included interactions with the Romulan Republic. It would be nice to have the Republic somehow added to "Romulan Mystery" as well.

jkirk13

Will there be any new rewards like the Data Recorder in Diplomatic Orders or the Freighter call in Stranded in Space? If not it might be tough for players who have played the missions several times just to go back and look at the pretty changes.

blassreiterus

roguegamer23 wrote: »

so this Klingon update is coming on the 30 of this month?

Yep, as part of the 4th Anniversary event.

orangeitis

suaveks wrote: »

Pitty that seems to be a design decission, to accommodate more casual players.

I smell a Stop Having Fun guy...

kagasensei

If you play a ship with a cloaking device, like an upgraded Defiant-class vessel or a Federation-allied Romulan ship, you?ll find that many of the missions are much more accommodating for use of your cloaking device.

Only that Romulans have their own storyline and canNOT play their ally's specific storymissions.

pwefail

how many times does the early stuff need re-mastering ?
c'mon make some new fe's.surely it takes less time to make a new mission than to re-hash the same missions over and over again.

thomaselkins

kagasensei wrote: »

Only that Romulans have their own storyline and canNOT play their ally's specific storymissions.

You can however join a Starfleet friend if they start one of their missions.

suaveks

orangeitis wrote: »

I smell a Stop Having Fun guy...

Air out your room then.

Challenge is fun. And an option to have a challenge is always appreciated. It's understandable that the devs would want to appeal primarily to the casual crowd, but it has come to the point where PvE missions became so easy people are basically solo-ing Elite STFs. Missions that were at least somewhat challenging a few years ago (like Pi Canis sorties optionals) can now be completed in seconds. It stopped being fun and became insta-win. Even no-win scenario is a grind fest for Fleet Marks nowadays.

This is also the reason I've stopped doing Foundry missions. Because unless the author throws 30 battleships at the player, there's no way one could create a new challenging enemy. As a result most PvE battles become tedious busywork, not a challenge or obstacle to deal with.

trek21

suaveks wrote: »

Air out your room then.

Challenge is fun. And an option to have a challenge is always appreciated. It's understandable that the devs would want to appeal primarily to the casual crowd, but it has come to the point where PvE missions became so easy people are basically solo-ing Elite STFs. Missions that were at least somewhat challenging a few years ago (like Pi Canis sorties optionals) can now be completed in seconds. It stopped being fun and became insta-win. Even no-win scenario is a grind fest for Fleet Marks nowadays.

This is also the reason I've stopped doing Foundry missions. Because unless the author throws 30 battleships at the player, there's no way one could create a new challenging enemy. As a result most PvE battles become tedious busywork, not a challenge or obstacle to deal with.

I don't think it was said challenge wasn't fun, just that challenge isn't everyone's cup of tea. For instance, I generally think easy is fun, because it gives a sense of power, which I like

But please note that I don't count insta-wins in that, and also that I do like challenge as much as most people; I just prefer easy most of the time, as an example

blassreiterus

kagasensei wrote: »

Only that Romulans have their own storyline and canNOT play their ally's specific storymissions.

Not true. if you are in a party with a Federation player, you are able to join them in their mission.

bitemepwe

So will more or new content be added so the WAR and the reason for it makes sense to the playerbase as per the Path to 2409?

rahmkota19

Is it just me, or is Season 8.5 turning out to be much better than Season 8?

seannewboy

Mr D'Angelo, tear apart this War!

lucho80

Now if they could only get Boldly They Rode revamped with 100% less Kirkland annoyance.

gatsie7

So is there or will there be a list of the new accolades ?

starfish1701

Very welcome changes to the early episodes. I think I will probably re-play them all, especially if they have new maps.

carasucia83

Great news, those early missions needed an update. The new mechanics changes look promising too. Steps in the right direction Cryptic, thank you, and I hope this type of attitude can later be applied to some of the end game content too.

leviathan99

This is great but I'd also suggest something similar to FE replay to point people to these missions. Similarly, I'd imagine many Klingons didn't notice the updated Dorn missions due to the holidays. And you might as well include Romulans.

Maybe have some kind of fun reward added to the first 20 levels of content for all factions as part of the anniversary month?

Maybe have an accolade for playing/re-playing X number of spotlighted low level missions that awards a prize?

For Feds it would be these remastered missions. For Klingons it would be an equal number of missions, including the Dorn ones. For Romulans, an equal number of "quality" missions.

I'd suggest making it a Klingon Veteran "Defector" for Feds and vice versa for Klingons. It'd even be a good excuse to fix Marauding BOs if you reused the art from the Diplo/Marauding BOffs but with a veteran trait added.

azurianstar

Cloak-Friendly: If you play a ship with a cloaking device, like an upgraded Defiant-class vessel or a Federation-allied Romulan ship, you?ll find that many of the missions are much more accommodating for use of your cloaking device. You won?t be decloaked by most simple actions, and sometimes having your cloak active can change how other ships respond to you.

Who needs to cloak? :rolleyes:

New Art and Environments: We?ve updated some of our old maps with new art to make them more beautiful, more playable, and more distinctive. You?ll see this on missions such as ?Researcher Rescue? and ?The Kuvah?magh,? where the outdoor maps have been redone to take advantage of new terrain and vegetation, and in ?Hide and Seek? and ?Stop the Signal,? where the Klingon listening posts are now much more Klingon-themed. ?Task Force Hippocrates? boasts an entirely new interior map for its research hospital, ?The Kuvah?magh? has a new map for the Federation embassy on Regulus IV, and the maps for H?atoria in ?The Ultimate Klingon? likewise got an update ? including all of our latest tricks for the winter cold, where you?ll see the fog of your breath and slip on the black ice!

This is pretty much the best thing out of the revamp, IMHO.

I really do love the revamped Embassy (inside and out), though wish they modernized the surroundings so it felt like a ambassadorial site. What embassy has dirt roads? :P

The BoP on Regulus is just way too small, it's almost the true size of a To'Duj fighter. Taco needs to beef it at least 4x in size.

The new Hippocrates Science Center, nice it's inside. Though wish they made it feel Vulcan than human, since this is a Vulcan location.

The revamped Kassae research center, the worst of the changes. Closing off the rooms and making me wonder........where are the doors?

The new Kessae Swamp, pretty much is the best environment change. Actually feels like a swamp now. Though I really do miss those literal hundreds of Gorn soldiers marching around. Now players have to resort to the Foundry for Gorn killing.

Tightened and Improved Dialog: In many places we?ve tightened up the dialog for the mission, so that you can pick up the story with only a page or two of text. Also, we?ve made sure that your captain has a say in how missions progress; instead of being told what to do by your bridge officers, you?re giving orders while they look to you for leadership. Along with this, we?ve snuck in a few cases where your species or career can alter the dialog, and cases where your choice of dialog can affect the outcome of the mission.

I didn't see any changes, seemed the same as it was four years ago.

Career-specific Options and Accolades: We?ve added alternative paths for several mission goals based on your career. If you?re not playing a character of the appropriate career, fear not ? you can still team up with someone and follow the alternative path, and get credit for the new accolades that are included!

I saw some carrer options, but nothing that changed the story.

And the only carrer accolades was just Stranded in Space, which is <surprise> bugged. And this is content that was revamped two years ago and never fixed.

suaveks wrote: »

Hahahaha...

You really have to try hard to die in STO at this point, even on Elite difficulty. The only thing we've got to be prepared for are gamebreaking bugs...


On a serious note, it's nice to see more revamped story missions, but I'm not kidding when I say the game is so easy you barely need to pay any attention to what you're doing to beat all story content. Pity that seems to be a design decision, to accommodate more casual players.

So true.

suaveks wrote: »

Air out your room then.

Challenge is fun. And an option to have a challenge is always appreciated. It's understandable that the devs would want to appeal primarily to the casual crowd, but it has come to the point where PvE missions became so easy people are basically solo-ing Elite STFs. Missions that were at least somewhat challenging a few years ago (like Pi Canis sorties optionals) can now be completed in seconds. It stopped being fun and became insta-win. Even no-win scenario is a grind fest for Fleet Marks nowadays.

This is also the reason I've stopped doing Foundry missions. Because unless the author throws 30 battleships at the player, there's no way one could create a new challenging enemy. As a result most PvE battles become tedious busywork, not a challenge or obstacle to deal with.

Yeah this new revamp took out mobs and made you able to finish these missions in like 15 minutes. There is no challenge at all, the mobs are stupid easy even with a brand new character with nothing but common weapons. (Heck, I won't be surprised that you don't need armor or shields to do the content).

suaveks wrote: »

Also, I still would like to know why War is Good for Business is being removed.

I also like to hear as well as why they are removing content.

I hear all sorts of excuses from all sorts of people, but nothing legitimate. It's a decent story with how the Orions were still doing their underhanded dealings as their contribution to the Klingon alliance. And I even saw the bartender in Drozana even reference this mission.

So why Cryptic?

f8explorer

jkirk13 wrote: »

Will there be any new rewards like the Data Recorder in Diplomatic Orders or the Freighter call in Stranded in Space? If not it might be tough for players who have played the missions several times just to go back and look at the pretty changes.

Well ... With the hourly events going away ... Guess that means that Mirror Invasion is also disappearing ... so .... you will have to earn XP somehow.

majorsmoker420

pwefail wrote: »

how many times does the early stuff need re-mastering ?
c'mon make some new fe's.surely it takes less time to make a new mission than to re-hash the same missions over and over again.

Before this, when have they ever remastered any episodes? (Not including the tutorial remakes)

majorsmoker420

Im really excited about 8.5, a lot of good things are going to happen this year in the STOverse.

jimpa79

Yay new stuff... Looks promising, keep up the good work