Beyond Level 50

richr1986

I'm sure that there are many of you who have been playing this game for years who pretty much got to lvl 50 within weeks (or months depending on how much you play) and have maxed all the reputation systems and the like. I'm also pretty sure that the idea of increasing the level cap has been bludgeoned to death multiple times by now.

However I have a few suggestions that could be the basis for moving beyond lvl 50 :

Lvl 60: Admiral Lower class, acquire an 11 console ship, access to Admiral Lower ground and space arenas, Undine STF missions, unique class ability.

Lvl 70: Admiral Upper class, 12 console ship, Admiral Upper ground and space missions, access to new sector block (Xindi front) Xindi time war missions and STF, New Xindi Reputation tier.

Lvl 80 Fleet Admiral Lower, 13 console ship and special class specific ground ability, Possible story arc similar to the TOS episode 'Errand of Mercy' featuring the return of the Organians. Access to Classified Missions, these would be top secret missions accessible only to fleet Admirals who had completed a special mission (suggestions welcome)

Lvl 90 Fleet Admiral Upper: 14 console ship, Mobilize Fleet special space ability (only usable in PvE, not PvP) Access to highest tier Classified missions (better rewards, new universal console etc) plus access to Fleet Admiral station in home sector. This would give players access to end game equipment, bridge officers, new Duty Officer missions, new pvp arena and highest difficulty STF missions.

Obviously this is just a suggestion, and please feel free to add your own ideas/criticisms. Personally I feel that raising the level cap would bring more players in, those who have done everything in the game already and want a new challenge and those who want to try out this MMORG for the first time.

To be fair, this would take a huge effort to develop and implement, story lines to write and new stuff to add in, however I thought it would be a nice idea for a 5th/6th Year anniversary for STO.

Cheers.

rpuma83

I like it

aloishammer

richr1986 wrote: »

I'm sure that there are many of you who have been playing this game for years who pretty much got to lvl 50 within weeks (or months depending on how much you play)

Try days. What gets called "leveling" in STO is the punchline to a particularly weak joke. In other games, what's called "leveling" here is called a tutorial.

I'm not sure what another 2 weeks of laughable leveling would add other than more power creep. -shrug-

qjunior

rpuma83 wrote: »

I like it

Wanna buy all your ships over and over gain, complete with gear ? :P

noroblad

In a MMO, max level is everything. Adding 30 more levels means the devs have to build 30 levels of content on TOP of a new endgame, meaning the quality of all of it will be lower. Players will be annoyed --- at level 80, ALL their old gear that was so expensive, and the pricy ships, etc are now worthless.

Instead, try adding 1 or at most 5 levels for a year or 2, then increase again much later. Does not even need a true promotion, just a "2 star admiral" or some such. At 5 levels the old gear is usable but not the best, the grind to the new levels is short, and the focus can be on high quality endgame, new upgrades and sets, and so on. And 5 levels makes a new ship with a single fleet module or something upgrade reasonable, while 30 levels means at least 6 more ships per faction not including the end game ships. Lot of artwork there, lot of development, and what would they cost?? Zen or FMs? EC? Dil? Freebies that are better than $30 ships we have?? Everything looks bad from a player's investment side.

Its not that your idea is awful, its just that there are a limited # of devs and the amount of content needed vs quality of the content. 30 levels is an entire game's worth, it would more than double the existing content. Not a bad thing... except it would take YEARS to produce if we wanted any quality at all. A level or 5, all they have to make is 1 set of ships and some endgame gear and content (still a lot of work, but much less!).

wilbor2

i wont the lvl cap to hit 60 but only because i wont to have my 1st officer command one of my meny ships i dont use as for power creep there is nothing thats ever going to stop that

anothervisitor

Level XIII gear and beyond? No! Then all my dilithium on mk XII gear was a waste. Imagine if you got sets for all your boffs, and you grinded for all the space sets. And then the fleet consoles. All of it would be junk. All that dilithium would end up in the waste. You would make a lot of players angry with that. Lots of people have endgear grinded with dilithium.

kantazo1

We talked a little bit about this here

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=1008421&page=3

kolbrandr

No. Focus on producing more and better end game activities. Raising the level cap just adds a few more days before people end up doing that suff anyways.

I've never understood these people who whine about the current level cap. Adding more levels is about the worst thing you could add to this game at this point.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

edwardianed

anothervisitor wrote: »

Level XIII gear and beyond? No! Then all my dilithium on mk XII gear was a waste.

I have never understood this attitude, it's like saying "A microchip? No! Then all my money spent on vacuum tubes was a waste" or "The lightbulb? No! Then all my money spent on candles was a waste."

Time is fleeting, nothing lasts forever and progress marches on.

(I also support rank and level being separate things)

neoakiraii

edwardianed wrote: »

I have never understood this attitude, it's like saying "A microchip? No! Then all my money spent on vacuum tubes was a waste" or "The lightbulb? No! Then all my money spent on candles was a waste."

Time is fleeting, nothing lasts forever and progress marches on.

LOL!!!!, wow really, comparing something like the evolution of technology, and Civilization, to leveling out of your gear, and throwing money at cash grabs LMAO!!!!

gogereaver

a new rank is coming its in the dev blogs you guys must fail at reading. allowing doffs to fly the extra ships you own is also on the idea chart so call fleet would actually be some of your very own ships. its been said they will not be going beyond xii gear at this time.

neoakiraii

gogereaver wrote: »

a new rank is coming its in the dev blogs you guys must fail at reading. allowing doffs to fly the extra ships you own is also on the idea chart so call fleet would actually be some of your very own ships.

You mean the dev blogs from 2010, 2011, 2012, or 2013 that have mention this over and over and over again????

edwardianed

neoakiraii wrote: »

LOL!!!!, wow really, comparing something like the evolution of technology, and Civilization, to leveling out of your gear, and throwing money at cash grabs LMAO!!!!

Although the example was extreme, it is still valid: a subjectively better thing is made, yet some still hold to the previous thing for economic concerns.

gogereaver

Hugh-like" liberated Borg as additional playable faction could theoretically be associated with Delta Quadrant. just epic. this has no timeline but hear. Level cap increase...
...to Admiral / General (level 60) [39][28][52]
Ability to command a task force of other starships captained by your bridge officers [20][16][39]
Revamped versions of Typhoon & Jupiter class dreadnoughts is a possibility [48][50]
...to Fleet Admiral / Dahar Master (will be maximum skillpoint cap; was in design as of February 2013, had originally been planned to happen by early 2014) [18][10][60][16][8][50][17]

most of this is planned for the expansion late this year but like most things it may get pushed back.

starkaos

With the reputation system, there is absolutely no point in increasing the level cap. Even an Admiral system could be put into the reputation system. An Admiral system would allow us to get to level 60, add Tier 6 ships, and still let us use our unused Tier 5 ships. The Admiral system would let you promote Bridge Officers to Captain where they can command one of your unused ships. These ships would form your own personal npc fleet that can fight with you in combat or send them on missions similar to the duty officer assignments. An Admiral is supposed to command a fleet of ships not just one ship. After all, how many C-Store and/or Lockbox ships do you have that are just gathering dust. However, with a level cap increase, there needs to be some method to trade in our Mk XII equipment and turn it into Mk XIV equipment.

So I figure level 60 for Admiral and that is the absolute maximum rank since Fleet Admiral is the most senior member of a naval organization. So the head of Starfleet Intelligence, Starfleet Medical, etc with the Commander-in-Chief being the head of Starfleet and only answerable to the Federation Council and the President.

gogereaver

yea i figure the same the leveling increase is just on paper with no set timeline so its just in may happen sometime probably not even this year. likely not at all.

talonxv

starkaos wrote: »

With the reputation system, there is absolutely no point in increasing the level cap. Even an Admiral system could be put into the reputation system. An Admiral system would allow us to get to level 60, add Tier 6 ships, and still let us use our unused Tier 5 ships. The Admiral system would let you promote Bridge Officers to Captain where they can command one of your unused ships. These ships would form your own personal npc fleet that can fight with you in combat or send them on missions similar to the duty officer assignments. An Admiral is supposed to command a fleet of ships not just one ship. After all, how many C-Store and/or Lockbox ships do you have that are just gathering dust. However, with a level cap increase, there needs to be some method to trade in our Mk XII equipment and turn it into Mk XIV equipment.

So I figure level 60 for Admiral and that is the absolute maximum rank since Fleet Admiral is the most senior member of a naval organization. So the head of Starfleet Intelligence, Starfleet Medical, etc with the Commander-in-Chief being the head of Starfleet and only answerable to the Federation Council and the President.

Great so instead of a bunch of vice admirals we'll all be admirals. And all of this happening within 1 year since this game has not moved past 2409.

Yeah really need to separate in game rank from level. It's insane that a brand new recruit would go from ensign to full ADMIRAL inside 1 year. Infact it's flatly insane and no navy imaginary or not would promote that fast, even in a war.

Hell prime Kirk wasn't even promoted that fast.

starkaos

talonxv wrote: »

Great so instead of a bunch of vice admirals we'll all be admirals. And all of this happening within 1 year since this game has not moved past 2409.

Yeah really need to separate in game rank from level. It's insane that a brand new recruit would go from ensign to full ADMIRAL inside 1 year. Infact it's flatly insane and no navy imaginary or not would promote that fast, even in a war.

Hell prime Kirk wasn't even promoted that fast.

It is insane to get to Commander, Captain, or Vice Admiral in one year so getting to Admiral in less than a year makes perfect sense for the game. The only time that happens is with nepotism. Therefore, it is not 2409 no matter what the devs say. We all start at 2409 at level 1, but years have past since Vega Colony and reaching the Delta Quadrant. After all, it doesn't take 1 minute to get to Deep Space 9 from Earth, but more like a few hours or longer.

tenkari

um.... it was said there will never be anything higher than current fleet/10 console layout hsips, because to make all those purchases obsolete i think everyone would quit the game.

mirrorchaos

richr1986 wrote: »

I'm sure that there are many of you who have been playing this game for years who pretty much got to lvl 50 within weeks (or months depending on how much you play) and have maxed all the reputation systems and the like. I'm also pretty sure that the idea of increasing the level cap has been bludgeoned to death multiple times by now.

However I have a few suggestions that could be the basis for moving beyond lvl 50 :

Lvl 60: Admiral Lower class, acquire an 11 console ship, access to Admiral Lower ground and space arenas, Undine STF missions, unique class ability.

Lvl 70: Admiral Upper class, 12 console ship, Admiral Upper ground and space missions, access to new sector block (Xindi front) Xindi time war missions and STF, New Xindi Reputation tier.

Lvl 80 Fleet Admiral Lower, 13 console ship and special class specific ground ability, Possible story arc similar to the TOS episode 'Errand of Mercy' featuring the return of the Organians. Access to Classified Missions, these would be top secret missions accessible only to fleet Admirals who had completed a special mission (suggestions welcome)

Lvl 90 Fleet Admiral Upper: 14 console ship, Mobilize Fleet special space ability (only usable in PvE, not PvP) Access to highest tier Classified missions (better rewards, new universal console etc) plus access to Fleet Admiral station in home sector. This would give players access to end game equipment, bridge officers, new Duty Officer missions, new pvp arena and highest difficulty STF missions.

Obviously this is just a suggestion, and please feel free to add your own ideas/criticisms. Personally I feel that raising the level cap would bring more players in, those who have done everything in the game already and want a new challenge and those who want to try out this MMORG for the first time.

To be fair, this would take a huge effort to develop and implement, story lines to write and new stuff to add in, however I thought it would be a nice idea for a 5th/6th Year anniversary for STO.

Cheers.

power creep, power creep and yet more power creep. people ask for more content and get it, they get bored of it then ask for more content, then get bored of it... so on. at some point it gets boring by itself and adding more stuff life this just makes even less sense at some point.

i have predicted almost year in advance of some things which other state exactly a year later on, because i know how the system works and a company like PWE i have seen before. im not gonna grab some cheese to go with that whine, but all that listed in the op quote is everything that is wrong with the idea.


then lets make an assumption (more often then not they are true in my case), what happens when you bring level 90's? the fleet system will be staggeringly expensive and completely prohibitive for big fleets (no less then 500 members minimum). just imagine the costs for a fleet elite warp core XVI at 500,000 fleet credits and 1,250,000 dilthium and 6 provisions? and thats just one piece. imagine what it would take to get a whole ship fitted out!

then the costs in the z-store for high level stuff would dramatically increase from 5000 z for the bundle to 15,000 z for a bundle and 7500 z for good ships from the store. the dil exchange would get ridiculously expensive where 8k a day would provide on an average of 130~ per z = 62 z per toon/day, imagine the costs going as high as 250~ per z = 32 z per toon/day. taking twice as long.

the exchange would also be a massacre and cap increases would be needed both player account/toons and the exchange itself. hyper inflated prices for very rare MK XV anti proton space weapons, getting into the region of 100m per weapon.

gogereaver

mirrorchaos wrote: »

power creep, power creep and yet more power creep. people ask for more content and get it, they get bored of it then ask for more content, then get bored of it... so on. at some point it gets boring by itself and adding more stuff life this just makes even less sense at some point.

i have predicted almost year in advance of some things which other state exactly a year later on, because i know how the system works and a company like PWE i have seen before. im not gonna grab some cheese to go with that whine, but all that listed in the op quote is everything that is wrong with the idea.


then lets make an assumption (more often then not they are true in my case), what happens when you bring level 90's? the fleet system will be staggeringly expensive and completely prohibitive for big fleets (no less then 500 members minimum). just imagine the costs for a fleet elite warp core XVI at 500,000 fleet credits and 1,250,000 dilthium and 6 provisions? and thats just one piece. imagine what it would take to get a whole ship fitted out!

then the costs in the z-store for high level stuff would dramatically increase from 5000 z for the bundle to 15,000 z for a bundle and 7500 z for good ships from the store. the dil exchange would get ridiculously expensive where 8k a day would provide on an average of 130~ per z = 62 z per toon/day, imagine the costs going as high as 250~ per z = 32 z per toon/day. taking twice as long.

the exchange would also be a massacre and cap increases would be needed both player account/toons and the exchange itself. hyper inflated prices for very rare MK XV anti proton space weapons, getting into the region of 100m per weapon.

dont give cryptic ideas lol.

talonxv

starkaos wrote: »

It is insane to get to Commander, Captain, or Vice Admiral in one year so getting to Admiral in less than a year makes perfect sense for the game. The only time that happens is with nepotism. Therefore, it is not 2409 no matter what the devs say. We all start at 2409 at level 1, but years have past since Vega Colony and reaching the Delta Quadrant. After all, it doesn't take 1 minute to get to Deep Space 9 from Earth, but more like a few hours or longer.

Actually the devs themselves have said the game year even at the latest episode is still the year 2409.

Time has not moved in this game in the slightest.

whitewinged7

Nonsense all of it!

There is no reason to not add new lvls of gear and ship equipment. Power creep lol power creep is a direct result of continuous end game content and NO LEVEL advancement. NOT the other way around lol.


If you continually make challenging and better end game content and gear you make the previous or first end game useless <-- thats power creep.

If you do that ^ for a couple years and switch to making the normal "fresh" endgame the previous TOP endgame and advance the difficulty and lvls farther then the power creep is reset.

The OP may not have the best IDEA or constructive thought on how to move forward but the fact remains that the only way we avoid power creep is to nullify endgame as it is and fold it into a new lvling process that at the end gives us a new endgame repeat and return.


I for one would LOVE to divorce the rank from lvl the level can go up and up and up for all I am concerned the percentages can be stretched pretty far if you think about it without upsetting balance as long as the min/max crew does their job right and so far as you have a above player level enemy at all times.

I wont get anyone all twisted up but, how can some of you possibly be mad if they make your precious gear obsolete? That is the purpose of moving forward not all of us want to sit still lol and the idea that you would be handed the next best thing in return for your old best thing ya ok im sure thats how it will work lol if that were the case you should turn your blues in for purples at lieutenant and just get everything for free.

starkaos

talonxv wrote: »

Actually the devs themselves have said the game year even at the latest episode is still the year 2409.

Time has not moved in this game in the slightest.

And you seemed to miss the point I was making. If it is commonly accepted that not even one year has passed and we have reached Captain, Rear Admiral, or Vice Admiral, then it is pointless to argue about getting to Admiral in less than a year since the other ranks are just as impossible. Therefore, it is not 2409, we are experiencing some weird temporal anomaly, or the Standard year has changed in 2408 and 2409 has more than 365 days with each day having 24 hour and each hour having 3600 seconds.

xsupersnailx

Well yeah lockbox ships would be low tier unless they're all updated

artan42

I want a tier ten Connie!

You knew it would be mentioned at some point .

thecosmic1

talonxv wrote: »

Actually the devs themselves have said the game year even at the latest episode is still the year 2409.

Time has not moved in this game in the slightest.

starkaos wrote: »

And you seemed to miss the point I was making. If it is commonly accepted that not even one year has passed and we have reached Captain, Rear Admiral, or Vice Admiral, then it is pointless to argue about getting to Admiral in less than a year since the other ranks are just as impossible. Therefore, it is not 2409, we are experiencing some weird temporal anomaly, or the Standard year has changed in 2408 and 2409 has more than 365 days with each day having 24 hour and each hour having 3600 seconds.

Some things need to be overlooked if you wish to play in an MMO with other players. It is mechanically difficult to explain why you cannot team with someone of lower Rank or at a lower point in the mission cycle simply because your Stardate is more advanced then theirs.

The original intent of the game was that you started in 2409 and your Stardates kept advancing as you did the missions so that by the time you are level 50 you are no longer in 2409. Cryptic decided to overlook all that precisely because of the teaming aspects.

It is simply a game trope you cannot really focus on - and not just in STO but in any MMO which keeps track of time and allows people over different levels to team.

starkaos

artan42 wrote: »

I want a tier ten Connie!

You knew it would be mentioned at some point .

Fine. Then I want a Tier 10 Phoenix.

whitewinged7

Well this is strange. Somehow Im a 2014 member even though my subscription days are in the hundreds and I have been lvl 50 since jan 2013?

Regardless time has indeed moved because otherwise the game takes place in what like a day? Month tops?