I'm afraid this is a step back from the "Sphere of influence" and "A Step Between Stars". Let me elaborate. Please do not consider me a hater or a troll. I like this game. This is just a feedback of a person who probably should not put this much thought to completing an MMO mission.
First - the good. Most of the mission's "epicness" comes from voiceovers done by Tim Russ. Hands down - he is the highlight of the whole thing. And I am not even a big Voyager fan. Also, cutscene quality has somehow gone up. I don't know, maybe because of new animations. Voyager bridge shots, undine reveal and transformation, conference holo-projector showing advancing Undine. All and all - cutscenes were great.
Now, the bad.
The mission reminded me of a Hollywood summer blockbuster flick and not in a good way. You know those movies in which script is an afterthought? At best they have a goal of bringing plot from point A to point B (regardless of how little this makes sense). At worst - a studio just has a title that must be kicked to screens. The result is little to no plot, stretched over a series of spontaneous events and characters without motivation (or a "character" for that matter). This is what "Surface Tension" looked to me.
The goal of the mission was to gracefully trash the whole idea of Federation-Klingon war, since it was not working out, I guess. Just like we were shoved "I am not afraid of Tal Shiar!" in our throats, we are now shaved "We are not at war, but we-are-not-at-peace-cross-faction-queues-shut-up!". I just don't like the idea of abandoning the war thing. I guess I am in the minority here. I have other feedback about the last FE and, alas, it is not positive.
The first bit that I didn't like is this. Very few new things. Most part of the mission consisted of existing maps with a few tweaks. There were new assets, but those were variations of what we seen before. When "Sphere of Influence" first released, "sphere" sets were completely new and fresh, there was that feel of discovery, a sense of entering a completely new ground. Now, quite frankly, these sets are starting to become monotone. We see those everywhere: Obelisk and Dyson science destroyer bridges, Joined Command HQ and Fleet Spire, both space adventure zone and ground battlezone, even in "A step between stars". Sphere sets are overused. Let's hope this is because all resources are engaged in awesome new expansion.
The second bit I dodn't like was dialogue. I had this problem with the "Second Wave" mission. As soon as the conference starts, people stop making sense altogether. I can't put my finger on it, but conference speeches do not even attempt to cover the fact that they are no more than filler. Ferengi spokesman and his idea of making a resort in a warzone is a great example. Ferengi's line had only one goal - to be interrupted in the middle. And that is my second issue with the dialogue - interrupted sentences. Despite how it may look on paper - it does not sound good. Star Trek Insurrection is full of those: starting with Worf explaining how he got to Enterprise and ending with Picard explaining why suddenly he starts singing "This is something that my...BOOM!". Similar situation with dialogue interruptions in STO. And since the interrupted line and the cause of interruption are recorded separately, it even worse than what we seen in Insurrection. Bottom line: dialogue filler is bad, sentences interrupted in the middle are bad.
Finally - plot holes. Where do I even start?
How could Undine get from Jenolan to Solanae sphere, then from Solanae to Tau Dewa, and then from Tau Dewa all the way to Sirius and Omega Leonis so fast? I guess they have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock" ability too. Otherwise, they had to tear through allied forces in Solanae sphere, then at Jouret gate, and all the way to Earth/ Qo'noS. And how did WE were able to chase them so fast? Again have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock"?
Why did Undine commander get into Tuvok's mid? Just to gloat? And there I thought that Undine were smart.
Why didn't the Undine impersonate Quinn? Egg has been nearby all the time, sure they had plenty of opportunities. Why did Egg spontaneously reveal himself? Wouldn't it be prudent for the Undine to keep an inside man in ESD?
Why did the Undine invade Qo'noS in the first place? Their attack was repelled with a handful of ships. Were those the main Undine forces? Then those are pretty weak for a race that rivaled the Borg. Was that a "planet killer rush"? Then why did the planet killer appear only after the undine fleet was repelled? Wouldn't it make sense to just warp the PK in, with massive escorts and just let it do its job?
Why did the Iconian show itself? He (she?) did kill whole high council, but it seemed like a random action. I guess, Iconians wanted Feds, Klingons, and insignificant faction of Romulan pacifists to form and alliance after all, because the appearance of the Iconian in the Council Chamber before all the high-ups of those factions did not achieve anything besides that.
I am confused: are the Undine a servitor race or where they tricked into this war (the borg unimatrix and the fed ships replicas in Undine space)?
It's too bad they couldn't set it up to require a playthrough before you see the new ESD revamp, because I love the way they worked it into the story line. Plus after 4 years, it's finally 2410 in game.
Overall a very well done FE. I do understand why they don't do a bunch at a time as - although this takes about an hour to run if you listen to all the dialogue and do the various missions; I'm sure it took the content team a couple of months to get this all done, tested, etc. Still I hope we get at least one of these per season. It was really well done, and it did feel like I was in the middle of a Star trek episode (which was nice.)
I will say, the Iconian popping out at the end DID seem a bit more 'comic book style' then Star Trek; but hey, it was fun.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
And did the Federation not investigate the Jenolan Sphere since the 2370s? There must have been informations about the solanae or Iconians if they built that thing.
A very good FE, although perhaps a bit heavy on the scripted stuff, and it moved a bit too fast. Fix that, and you've got a solid episode. Very enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to whatever the writers come up with next.
I actually wanted to cheer for Shon when that happened.
Shon was always stubborn and a bit of a self-righteous prick. That point showed real character growth for him, in a "Hold on a moment. We could try and justify, but it'll just bog us down and we won't move forward. Whatever. If we need to fess up, we'll fess up, and get things done."
Shon moved past those... and I respect him that much more for it. It's probably the moment I was finally sold on the Enterprise's new captain.
While I wouldn't go so far as to cheer for him, after today I'm starting to respect him. He's always seemed to me too much of a loose cannon to be a captain, especially of the Enterprise, but his performance in the new FE was worthy of a Starfleet officer. He's a long way from being a great captain, but he's showing progress.
Also, where is everyone seeing that it's finally 2410? Did I miss something?
even i admit this was a good bit of storyline telling, even an iconian at the end showing how dishonorable they are vaporizing those 6 klingon councillors from the looks of it. 3 things stood out;
1. during the fight over Qo'Nos but before the supposed rescue of the shipyard that gets one shotted, there is a fight that builds up and builds up, to me it was a bit much for yourself and several npc allies to handle, loose one or two ships from the 8472 line up but without sacraficing the overall idea of their strength.
2. was after the whole iconian warning, why cant starfleet ships goto qo'nos and beam their captains down? or klingons on new ESD? with hostilities terminated, i would of thought cooperation between the sides would start from these major hubs.
3. what happened to ESD after the attack? it looked completely unsalvagable and new ESD would and should of taken time to rebuild, instead you get new ESD right away.
oh and a complete negative point, Koren. does she ever stop pissing and moaning? i would of thought a warrior would enjoy a good fight with much honor to find.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Here I am reading these nice comments and NOBODY comments on the design of the Iconian NPC I for once says she looked awesome as in 10/10 whould bang :P
Posted on another thread about just how much I love this FE. I'm really looking forward to playing it again tomorrow.
It just felt right to me in every way. Not going to ramble but +many from me
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
The goal of the mission was to gracefully trash the whole idea of Federation-Klingon war, since it was not working out, I guess. Just like we were shoved "I am not afraid of Tal Shiar!" in our throats, we are now shaved "We are not at war, but we-are-not-at-peace-cross-faction-queues-shut-up!". I just don't like the idea of abandoning the war thing. I guess I am in the minority here. I have other feedback about the last FE and, alas, it is not positive.
That's an issue with the direction of the game as a whole, not with the mission itself.
How could Undine get from Jenolan to Solanae sphere, then from Solanae to Tau Dewa, and then from Tau Dewa all the way to Sirius and Omega Leonis so fast? I guess they have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock" ability too. Otherwise, they had to tear through allied forces in Solanae sphere, then at Jouret gate, and all the way to Earth/ Qo'noS. And how did WE were able to chase them so fast? Again have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock"?
For that matter, as pointed out by others vis-a-vis "A Step Between Stars", why do the Undine need the gates at all, when they can use fluidic space to move throughout the galaxy pretty much at will?
It's basic Uber-Villainy 101 stuff, really: The guy at the top is too obvious a target for replacement. See also DS9, where the Founders replaced Martok instead of Gowron; or TNG's "Conundrum" where the Sataaran spy passed himself off as the Enterprise's first officer instead of her captain.
Why did the Iconian show itself? He (she?) did kill whole high council, but it seemed like a random action. I guess, Iconians wanted Feds, Klingons, and insignificant faction of Romulan pacifists to form and alliance after all, because the appearance of the Iconian in the Council Chamber before all the high-ups of those factions did not achieve anything besides that.
By all appearances, the alliance was about to be renewed anyway, meaning the Iconians' original goal of setting them against each other was already a failure. Here, too, DS9 established the blueprint. Once it became clear that the Feds and Klingons were on to the Founders' attempts to weaken them from within, the Founders dropped that strategy and set out to conquer Alpha Quadrant the old-fashioned way. Now, the Iconians aren't quite that far along yet, but the message they sent by their appearance is unmistakable: War is coming.
Anyone having a problem with replay, I supposedly have it in progress, but it does not show up in my mission list, there is no one to hail, and I get no start mission at the sphere on transwarp.
New home of the Romulan Republic.
I have an idea for what Season 11 should be; Season 11: The Big Bug Fix.
I have not been able to read my bug tickets in over a year, not even the tickets about not being able to see my tickets.
I find the drama of your signature proof of your immaturity, this means you, DR whiners.
I was blown away by the truly epic scope of this featured episode. I just didn't expect it to be this good, and not only was the 'good' mark hit, but it went so far as 'epic'. i haven't felt that kind of excitement while experiencing a videogame since Mass Effect 2.
There was a twist. There was this ride until a very satisfying point I fully expected - given the mission pacing STO has lead me over the years to expect - to be the climax. But no - it kept going after that toward another even bigger climax and finally gave me an ending I hadn't expected.
We are now 2410. Whoo. It really feels like STO's storyline has moved forward.
There were two gameplay flaws in this featured episode:
- one was enemy spawns in ground combat ending up stuck inside walls. It's offputting to need to accomplish objectives when you can no longer fire had them.
- the other was the forced navigation in the last space battle. The setup for it was great, but the way the ship turnrate is frozen as it expeditely zips forward is sabotaged by the initial angle of the run being incorrect; we end up going too low and that eventually spoils the moment.
These are the only caveats I've found. Otherwise, the gameplay and my enjoyment of its was superb. The fights, especially the space ones, were rivetting and very well balanced/paced; making me feel lessons learned from the defense of New Romulus were successfully applied. Environments, both familiar, less familiar and new were excellent companions to this episode's great narrative.
Kudos to you, Devs. You've done an amazing job, and I'm very happy.
THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Insanely awesome mission. I have literally never had that much fun in a game.
I felt like Captain Picard. I felt like Captain Kirk in Wrath of Khan.
I laughed, I cried, I groaned (in a good way), I gasped, I shrieked.
It was unforgettable.
Unbelievably awesome.
Just unrealistically, unbelievably, incredibly awesome.
This is the Mahler 9 of MMO missions.
Edit to add:
--Tuvok mind-hacking UndineCooper: PURE. BADASS. AWESOME. Tim Russ is even better in this episode than he was in Step Between Stars. And UndineCooper's Skyward Scream was just plain fantastic...
--Shon, you glorious, magnificent TRIBBLE. You have earned my respect times ten. Admitting to being wrong, letting the Gorn rub it in, doing a suicide run at a planet killer to save Qo'noS, and even a witty quip after your dramatic escape. You almost stole my spotlight!
--Oh, man, for a moment there I thought the Devs had been reading fanfics in Ten Forward that feature UndineQuinn. But no, it was just a random Undine...it was ESD's chief researcher who was the impostor! How deliciously evil!
--Did I mention that Tuvok is on fire in this one? Mind-hacking an Undine psi-master, remembering "oh,yeah, we have a magic torpedo still lying around from that one really poorly-written episode", kicking major rear left and right. PLEASE bring Tim Russ back for more.
--And the ending...ICONIANS ARE OP. That thing spams no-save instakills!!!!! AND SO EVIL!!!! EVIL LIKE HAKEEV WAS EVIL!!! The fun-to-hate kind of evil!!!
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
** "Season 9: A New Accord" SPOILERS included within this post **
PROS:
Within "Surface Tension":
+ Like "Sphere of influence" and "A Step Between Stars", this felt like a real Star Trek episode.
+ Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice-overs during the introduction. Fantastic! (She is dearly missed. RIP Majel.)
+ It's finally the year 2410!
+ Tim Russ. Please find additional ways to bring Tim back for more voice-over work. Wow! (Same with Michael Dorn/Worf, should the opportunity arise.)
+ The character animations (facial gestures, body movements) were very well done.
+ The character textures (particularly Captain Shon) seemed slightly improved.
+ Cryptic/PWE appears to have shifted from releasing a series of mission episodes to a single Featured Episode (FE) with better production values (special guest voiceovers, expanded storytelling, more detailed model/graphics work). I'm actually preferring this.
+ Superb QA work by Cryptic and the community before releasing this FE. While there were graphics issues after Season 9 was released this morning for some folks, I (personally) thought the rollout was smooth. I logged on with no problems, completed the first of the remastered Borg episodes ("Where Angels Fear to Tread" -- FAR better than its predecessor "The Return"), then played the FE. I didn't notice any obvious bugs.
+ I think this is the first time I haven't spotted any spelling errors.
+ Seeing a decimated Earth Space Dock (ESD). When the remodel was announced, I wondered how it would be explained within the game. Now I know. Exceptional work on the battle damage/gameplay!
+ Within the Jenolan Sphere: Presentation mode. You had my attention the minute I walked into the large room; the activation of the ceiling imagery was super-tasty icing on the cake!
+ I liked the return of Dr. Cooper (Undine imposter). And how Tuvok leveraged the encounter to his advantage. (Also loved the purple energy (psionic energies?) reaching towards Tuvok, then being pushed back on the Undine. Very creative work by the devs.)
+ Within ESD: "Me - OW!" = hilarious!
+ Within ESD: I now understand why we were missing Egg in the new ESD, as mentioned during the ESD/Tribble feedback thread.
CONS:
- Epic episode, almost TOO long, though...
- The FE end-of-episode reward. I wish it wasn't bound to my toon. (At minimum, an account lock would be fine. But restricted to one toon? Ouch.)
- BIG regrets over buying Master Keys, then using on Undine lockboxes. I made the purchase to support the fine work done on STO Season 9. Ironically, after opening 9 boxes with nothing but DOffs and 4-5 Lobi crystals, I wish I hadn't made the purchase. (I assumed there's a more balanced algorithm to award prizes. How wrong I was...)
- The Planet Killer scenario at Qo'noS. We've already had "The Doomsday Device" episode within STO -- and it was revamped at one point to include a stronger TOS "Doomsday Machine" homage. Admittedly, I did wonder if Cryptic was going to kill off Shon. (And almost wished you had made the bold move to do so.)
- The Undine armor. Sorry, but I find the glowing dreadlocks and armor to be supremely ridiculous.
- The Iconian appearance. I loved the character art/design, but I wasn't enamored with the appearance. (Yes, I know it sets up a future story arc. And it reinforces the reason why the KDF and Federation need to work together, beyond the Borg and Undine threats.)
MIXED:
- The Kits. I made the mistake of adding a kit to my toon during the middle of the episode. I realized I need more familiarization before I start using them. That's my bad.
How could Undine get from Jenolan to Solanae sphere, then from Solanae to Tau Dewa, and then from Tau Dewa all the way to Sirius and Omega Leonis so fast? I guess they have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock" ability too. Otherwise, they had to tear through allied forces in Solanae sphere, then at Jouret gate, and all the way to Earth/ Qo'noS. And how did WE were able to chase them so fast? Again have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock"?
They didn't, they used that Iconian gateway to jump directly to Earth. They did this openly so the alliance forces would see and follow them through, which was their plan all along to draw us all away from being anywhere near the Klingon homeworld.
I absolutely loved it. Great action, great atmosphere, and a very unexpected little twist at the end. I did kind of expect it to be pretty boring, but instead it's one of my favourite missions.
I absolutely loved it. Great action, great atmosphere, and a very unexpected little twist at the end. I did kind of expect it to be pretty boring, but instead it's one of my favourite missions.
Nice work Cryptic.
Nice work? More like holy crud that was incredible the whole way through!
...I bet Taco had fun working on the destroyed old ESD interior, too.
First greatest thing of this episode is the work Tim Russ did. When he said his thing in the beginning about being back on Voyager as being "acceptable" but with that slight hitch in his throat, you know Mr. Russ was trying to add just that little bit of emotion to Tovak without it being emotion.
Second, finally it's 2410. It's only 1 year, and I've gone from being an ensign on some rinky dinky starship, to (as far as the game is concerned) an Admiral in charge of one of the top of the line ships. In one year they've had more ships developed then in the entire rest of the history of Starfleet and the Klingon Empire combined. So it's about frackin' time we got another year.
At the rate this game is going, by the time we hit 2411, we'll be so advanced we'll have to start calling each other "Q".
To answer one of the "plot holes" they asked why didn't the Undine have to fight their way through the Solenae Sphere. They kind of mentioned it as a side note when you were talking to the Romulans. The gate sitting in Romulan space... it leads to both now directly somehow. No idea why the Undine needed to use it, but there it is.
Before logging off in the wee hours of the 22nd, I switched to my very first character, and took one last stroll through the old ESD. I had a sentimental attachment to the old girl, having started my STO career there (getting my first real mission as a ship's captain). I figured that would be the last time I set foot in the old ESD.
The developers sure surprised the hell out of me. And in a good way.
One last romp through that wonderful old place, releasing many Undine scumbags from this mortal coil. It was GLORIOUS.
I would have never guessed in a thousand years who the Undine infiltrator was. Good job there, devs.
The battle above the heart and soul of the Empire was a thrill ride from start to finish. I got to bag me some more of them three legged TRIBBLE. And that charge at the planet killer? GLORIOUS.
It did feel weird being in the High Council chambers, and actually speaking to the Chancellor. He's a man of few words. I admire that. :P:D
The end was a shocker. I wasn't expecting an [redacted] to show up and instakill the entire [redacted]. I kind of got caught up in the moment, and uttered "F*** You" under my breath when that evil b***h vanished. That's how good this feature episode was. At least to me, it was. I'm looking forward to one day challenging them directly.
2410 is shaping up to be an interesting year in the STO universe.
A bit cheesy at times (especially the Undine Commander's 'KHAAAAAAN' moment ...) but overall a great FE. I'm looking forward to more missions of this quality
They didn't, they used that Iconian gateway to jump directly to Earth. They did this openly so the alliance forces would see and follow them through, which was their plan all along to draw us all away from being anywhere near the Klingon homeworld.
Whereas they could have just, you know, attacked Qo'nos secretly, while all 3 fleets were standing down, in the Jenolan sphere. Also a long way away from Qo'nos.
The planet killer would have destroyed the planet before anyone knew the Undine were around.
Also, the Undine commander invading Tuvoks mind, and Tuvok getting his whole plan.
Come on, is this a 60's cartoon?
Why didn't they just make the Undine a mustache twirling guy that sprouts his whole plan, then tells tuvok how to STOP this plan, and then let tuvok walk away.
Comments
WARNING: SPOILERS
=====================================
First - the good. Most of the mission's "epicness" comes from voiceovers done by Tim Russ. Hands down - he is the highlight of the whole thing. And I am not even a big Voyager fan. Also, cutscene quality has somehow gone up. I don't know, maybe because of new animations. Voyager bridge shots, undine reveal and transformation, conference holo-projector showing advancing Undine. All and all - cutscenes were great.
Now, the bad.
The mission reminded me of a Hollywood summer blockbuster flick and not in a good way. You know those movies in which script is an afterthought? At best they have a goal of bringing plot from point A to point B (regardless of how little this makes sense). At worst - a studio just has a title that must be kicked to screens. The result is little to no plot, stretched over a series of spontaneous events and characters without motivation (or a "character" for that matter). This is what "Surface Tension" looked to me.
The goal of the mission was to gracefully trash the whole idea of Federation-Klingon war, since it was not working out, I guess. Just like we were shoved "I am not afraid of Tal Shiar!" in our throats, we are now shaved "We are not at war, but we-are-not-at-peace-cross-faction-queues-shut-up!". I just don't like the idea of abandoning the war thing. I guess I am in the minority here. I have other feedback about the last FE and, alas, it is not positive.
The first bit that I didn't like is this. Very few new things. Most part of the mission consisted of existing maps with a few tweaks. There were new assets, but those were variations of what we seen before. When "Sphere of Influence" first released, "sphere" sets were completely new and fresh, there was that feel of discovery, a sense of entering a completely new ground. Now, quite frankly, these sets are starting to become monotone. We see those everywhere: Obelisk and Dyson science destroyer bridges, Joined Command HQ and Fleet Spire, both space adventure zone and ground battlezone, even in "A step between stars". Sphere sets are overused. Let's hope this is because all resources are engaged in awesome new expansion.
The second bit I dodn't like was dialogue. I had this problem with the "Second Wave" mission. As soon as the conference starts, people stop making sense altogether. I can't put my finger on it, but conference speeches do not even attempt to cover the fact that they are no more than filler. Ferengi spokesman and his idea of making a resort in a warzone is a great example. Ferengi's line had only one goal - to be interrupted in the middle. And that is my second issue with the dialogue - interrupted sentences. Despite how it may look on paper - it does not sound good. Star Trek Insurrection is full of those: starting with Worf explaining how he got to Enterprise and ending with Picard explaining why suddenly he starts singing "This is something that my...BOOM!". Similar situation with dialogue interruptions in STO. And since the interrupted line and the cause of interruption are recorded separately, it even worse than what we seen in Insurrection. Bottom line: dialogue filler is bad, sentences interrupted in the middle are bad.
Finally - plot holes. Where do I even start?
How could Undine get from Jenolan to Solanae sphere, then from Solanae to Tau Dewa, and then from Tau Dewa all the way to Sirius and Omega Leonis so fast? I guess they have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock" ability too. Otherwise, they had to tear through allied forces in Solanae sphere, then at Jouret gate, and all the way to Earth/ Qo'noS. And how did WE were able to chase them so fast? Again have "Transwarp to Earth Spacedock"?
Why did Undine commander get into Tuvok's mid? Just to gloat? And there I thought that Undine were smart.
Why didn't the Undine impersonate Quinn? Egg has been nearby all the time, sure they had plenty of opportunities. Why did Egg spontaneously reveal himself? Wouldn't it be prudent for the Undine to keep an inside man in ESD?
Why did the Undine invade Qo'noS in the first place? Their attack was repelled with a handful of ships. Were those the main Undine forces? Then those are pretty weak for a race that rivaled the Borg. Was that a "planet killer rush"? Then why did the planet killer appear only after the undine fleet was repelled? Wouldn't it make sense to just warp the PK in, with massive escorts and just let it do its job?
Why did the Iconian show itself? He (she?) did kill whole high council, but it seemed like a random action. I guess, Iconians wanted Feds, Klingons, and insignificant faction of Romulan pacifists to form and alliance after all, because the appearance of the Iconian in the Council Chamber before all the high-ups of those factions did not achieve anything besides that.
I am confused: are the Undine a servitor race or where they tricked into this war (the borg unimatrix and the fed ships replicas in Undine space)?
Overall a very well done FE. I do understand why they don't do a bunch at a time as - although this takes about an hour to run if you listen to all the dialogue and do the various missions; I'm sure it took the content team a couple of months to get this all done, tested, etc. Still I hope we get at least one of these per season. It was really well done, and it did feel like I was in the middle of a Star trek episode (which was nice.)
I will say, the Iconian popping out at the end DID seem a bit more 'comic book style' then Star Trek; but hey, it was fun.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
And did the Federation not investigate the Jenolan Sphere since the 2370s? There must have been informations about the solanae or Iconians if they built that thing.
While I wouldn't go so far as to cheer for him, after today I'm starting to respect him. He's always seemed to me too much of a loose cannon to be a captain, especially of the Enterprise, but his performance in the new FE was worthy of a Starfleet officer. He's a long way from being a great captain, but he's showing progress.
Also, where is everyone seeing that it's finally 2410? Did I miss something?
1. during the fight over Qo'Nos but before the supposed rescue of the shipyard that gets one shotted, there is a fight that builds up and builds up, to me it was a bit much for yourself and several npc allies to handle, loose one or two ships from the 8472 line up but without sacraficing the overall idea of their strength.
2. was after the whole iconian warning, why cant starfleet ships goto qo'nos and beam their captains down? or klingons on new ESD? with hostilities terminated, i would of thought cooperation between the sides would start from these major hubs.
3. what happened to ESD after the attack? it looked completely unsalvagable and new ESD would and should of taken time to rebuild, instead you get new ESD right away.
oh and a complete negative point, Koren. does she ever stop pissing and moaning? i would of thought a warrior would enjoy a good fight with much honor to find.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
replay the mission, at the beginning cutscene. you will see it went from 2409 to 2410.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
It just felt right to me in every way. Not going to ramble but +many from me
"If this will be our end, then I will have them make SUCH an end as to be worthy of rememberance! Out of torpedos you say?! Find me the ferengi!".
That's an issue with the direction of the game as a whole, not with the mission itself.
For that matter, as pointed out by others vis-a-vis "A Step Between Stars", why do the Undine need the gates at all, when they can use fluidic space to move throughout the galaxy pretty much at will?
It's basic Uber-Villainy 101 stuff, really: The guy at the top is too obvious a target for replacement. See also DS9, where the Founders replaced Martok instead of Gowron; or TNG's "Conundrum" where the Sataaran spy passed himself off as the Enterprise's first officer instead of her captain.
By all appearances, the alliance was about to be renewed anyway, meaning the Iconians' original goal of setting them against each other was already a failure. Here, too, DS9 established the blueprint. Once it became clear that the Feds and Klingons were on to the Founders' attempts to weaken them from within, the Founders dropped that strategy and set out to conquer Alpha Quadrant the old-fashioned way. Now, the Iconians aren't quite that far along yet, but the message they sent by their appearance is unmistakable: War is coming.
They were tricked, but they are either still unaware they were tricked or they just don't care. Quite possibly both.
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I have an idea for what Season 11 should be; Season 11: The Big Bug Fix.
I have not been able to read my bug tickets in over a year, not even the tickets about not being able to see my tickets.
I find the drama of your signature proof of your immaturity, this means you, DR whiners.
Insanely awesome mission. I have literally never had that much fun in a game.
I felt like Captain Picard. I felt like Captain Kirk in Wrath of Khan.
I laughed, I cried, I groaned (in a good way), I gasped, I shrieked.
It was unforgettable.
Unbelievably awesome.
Just unrealistically, unbelievably, incredibly awesome.
This is the Mahler 9 of MMO missions.
Edit to add:
--Tuvok mind-hacking UndineCooper: PURE. BADASS. AWESOME. Tim Russ is even better in this episode than he was in Step Between Stars. And UndineCooper's Skyward Scream was just plain fantastic...
--Shon, you glorious, magnificent TRIBBLE. You have earned my respect times ten. Admitting to being wrong, letting the Gorn rub it in, doing a suicide run at a planet killer to save Qo'noS, and even a witty quip after your dramatic escape. You almost stole my spotlight!
--Oh, man, for a moment there I thought the Devs had been reading fanfics in Ten Forward that feature UndineQuinn. But no, it was just a random Undine...it was ESD's chief researcher who was the impostor! How deliciously evil!
--Did I mention that Tuvok is on fire in this one? Mind-hacking an Undine psi-master, remembering "oh,yeah, we have a magic torpedo still lying around from that one really poorly-written episode", kicking major rear left and right. PLEASE bring Tim Russ back for more.
--And the ending...ICONIANS ARE OP. That thing spams no-save instakills!!!!! AND SO EVIL!!!! EVIL LIKE HAKEEV WAS EVIL!!! The fun-to-hate kind of evil!!!
Nope. Saw that, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcKTbFbwrxE
Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!
http://forum.arcgames.com/startrekonline/discussion/1145998/star-trek-battles-channel-got-canon/p1
PROS:
Within "Surface Tension":
+ Like "Sphere of influence" and "A Step Between Stars", this felt like a real Star Trek episode.
+ Majel Barrett Roddenberry voice-overs during the introduction. Fantastic! (She is dearly missed. RIP Majel.)
+ It's finally the year 2410!
+ Tim Russ. Please find additional ways to bring Tim back for more voice-over work. Wow! (Same with Michael Dorn/Worf, should the opportunity arise.)
+ The character animations (facial gestures, body movements) were very well done.
+ The character textures (particularly Captain Shon) seemed slightly improved.
+ Cryptic/PWE appears to have shifted from releasing a series of mission episodes to a single Featured Episode (FE) with better production values (special guest voiceovers, expanded storytelling, more detailed model/graphics work). I'm actually preferring this.
+ Superb QA work by Cryptic and the community before releasing this FE. While there were graphics issues after Season 9 was released this morning for some folks, I (personally) thought the rollout was smooth. I logged on with no problems, completed the first of the remastered Borg episodes ("Where Angels Fear to Tread" -- FAR better than its predecessor "The Return"), then played the FE. I didn't notice any obvious bugs.
+ I think this is the first time I haven't spotted any spelling errors.
+ Seeing a decimated Earth Space Dock (ESD). When the remodel was announced, I wondered how it would be explained within the game. Now I know. Exceptional work on the battle damage/gameplay!
+ Within the Jenolan Sphere: Presentation mode. You had my attention the minute I walked into the large room; the activation of the ceiling imagery was super-tasty icing on the cake!
+ I liked the return of Dr. Cooper (Undine imposter). And how Tuvok leveraged the encounter to his advantage. (Also loved the purple energy (psionic energies?) reaching towards Tuvok, then being pushed back on the Undine. Very creative work by the devs.)
+ Within ESD: "Me - OW!" = hilarious!
+ Within ESD: I now understand why we were missing Egg in the new ESD, as mentioned during the ESD/Tribble feedback thread.
CONS:
- Epic episode, almost TOO long, though...
- The FE end-of-episode reward. I wish it wasn't bound to my toon. (At minimum, an account lock would be fine. But restricted to one toon? Ouch.)
- BIG regrets over buying Master Keys, then using on Undine lockboxes. I made the purchase to support the fine work done on STO Season 9. Ironically, after opening 9 boxes with nothing but DOffs and 4-5 Lobi crystals, I wish I hadn't made the purchase. (I assumed there's a more balanced algorithm to award prizes. How wrong I was...)
- The Planet Killer scenario at Qo'noS. We've already had "The Doomsday Device" episode within STO -- and it was revamped at one point to include a stronger TOS "Doomsday Machine" homage. Admittedly, I did wonder if Cryptic was going to kill off Shon. (And almost wished you had made the bold move to do so.)
- The Undine armor. Sorry, but I find the glowing dreadlocks and armor to be supremely ridiculous.
- The Iconian appearance. I loved the character art/design, but I wasn't enamored with the appearance. (Yes, I know it sets up a future story arc. And it reinforces the reason why the KDF and Federation need to work together, beyond the Borg and Undine threats.)
MIXED:
- The Kits. I made the mistake of adding a kit to my toon during the middle of the episode. I realized I need more familiarization before I start using them. That's my bad.
They didn't, they used that Iconian gateway to jump directly to Earth. They did this openly so the alliance forces would see and follow them through, which was their plan all along to draw us all away from being anywhere near the Klingon homeworld.
Commanding Officer: Captain Pyotr Ramonovich Amosov
Dedication Plaque: "Nil Intentatum Reliquit"
Nice work Cryptic.
My character Tsin'xing
Oh man, that last twist at the end. It actually got me to think "oh my god" in shock when that happened. I was NOT expecting that. At all.
Nice work? More like holy crud that was incredible the whole way through!
...I bet Taco had fun working on the destroyed old ESD interior, too.
My character Tsin'xing
Really glad to see the Xindi make an appearance. Loved the way the old ESD got one last goodbye too! The end was a surprise as well.
Second, finally it's 2410. It's only 1 year, and I've gone from being an ensign on some rinky dinky starship, to (as far as the game is concerned) an Admiral in charge of one of the top of the line ships. In one year they've had more ships developed then in the entire rest of the history of Starfleet and the Klingon Empire combined. So it's about frackin' time we got another year.
At the rate this game is going, by the time we hit 2411, we'll be so advanced we'll have to start calling each other "Q".
To answer one of the "plot holes" they asked why didn't the Undine have to fight their way through the Solenae Sphere. They kind of mentioned it as a side note when you were talking to the Romulans. The gate sitting in Romulan space... it leads to both now directly somehow. No idea why the Undine needed to use it, but there it is.
Third... not my Egghead!
So where do we go from here?
The developers sure surprised the hell out of me. And in a good way.
One last romp through that wonderful old place, releasing many Undine scumbags from this mortal coil. It was GLORIOUS.
I would have never guessed in a thousand years who the Undine infiltrator was. Good job there, devs.
The battle above the heart and soul of the Empire was a thrill ride from start to finish. I got to bag me some more of them three legged TRIBBLE. And that charge at the planet killer? GLORIOUS.
It did feel weird being in the High Council chambers, and actually speaking to the Chancellor. He's a man of few words. I admire that. :P:D
The end was a shocker. I wasn't expecting an [redacted] to show up and instakill the entire [redacted]. I kind of got caught up in the moment, and uttered "F*** You" under my breath when that evil b***h vanished. That's how good this feature episode was. At least to me, it was. I'm looking forward to one day challenging them directly.
2410 is shaping up to be an interesting year in the STO universe.
The space battles felt epic, an ode if you will to the old esd, the ending was stellar. I'm jacked about where this looks like it is leading.
The devs should be very proud of this effort (not that they are not proud of their other work).
Very well done guys.
I completely agree.
I, myself, am amazed at this episode. I actually got emotional at various parts during it.
Best episode in STO. Now the changes listed in the patch notes makes sense (specifically regarding PvP queues).
Please, Cryptic....
MOAR!!!!!:D
Whereas they could have just, you know, attacked Qo'nos secretly, while all 3 fleets were standing down, in the Jenolan sphere. Also a long way away from Qo'nos.
The planet killer would have destroyed the planet before anyone knew the Undine were around.
Also, the Undine commander invading Tuvoks mind, and Tuvok getting his whole plan.
Come on, is this a 60's cartoon?
Why didn't they just make the Undine a mustache twirling guy that sprouts his whole plan, then tells tuvok how to STOP this plan, and then let tuvok walk away.
I saw. That clears things up. Wouldn't be surprised if he enjoyed it anyway, though.