Ideas for end-game missions/stfs in science/riddle area and not fighting

asches1

In STO the game is mainly focused on fighting and overwhelming an enemy. I have nothing against that. You need the action.

BUT in Star Trek (canon) the main thing is, that's every time over and over repeated, the search for new worlds, new civilisations and knowledge. I don't know if there is a way or not, but it would be nice to make some endgame missions where you have to do some science and not fight. I thought about this topic, when i read that maybe R&D is going to disappear.
It would be interesting to think of new ways to make more research, first contact and other science missions. Yes, when you level, there are a lot of science missions. But not in the end-game area. Some missions where you have to solve a problem through real science, logic. Some riddles. Some really heavy thinking problems, which give you the same rewards like the fighting. Is it even possible?

Maybe somebody has some ideas. Do i have to look closer in the foundry missions?

It's just a thought.

centaurianalpha

Many IQ tests have a variety of problems to be solved, some involving pattern recognition, others intuitive/inductive reasoning, others mathematical. It should not be hard to incorporate some features like this into a Trek setting. There was an old DOS-based space game called StarCross, where the player had to deduce from text descriptions what was relevant in a location, and how to make use of the available objects to achieve a desired action.

For example, a mission directs the player to a remote location to investigate a rumor of some ancient installation, leading to solving how to get inside, react to possible security measures, overcome the entropy of the ages in order to make devices work again, etc. Many possibilities can be imagined for this type of scenario, among any number of others...

As idealistic as it sounds, incorporation of more of this type of gameplay could actually improve players' cognitive skills!

makbure

This is a good idea for solo missions. I wouldn't use this for a 5-man mission though.

jaegernl

Considering some people go onto this forum to complain about the "complexity" of the Isolinear Chip "puzzle" in stuff like Boldly They Rode, I don't think this will work. Most people don't even bother to read the clues in that Undine Infiltrator mission. The complainers are lazy. I mean, there was a topic about how bothersome the new way of triggering Sensor Analysis - a button - is.

Of course, I'd love to see more complex missions, more engaging enemies - that actually use abilities - but sadly, STO caters to people that would rather hit the spacebar with their head whilst having a TRIBBLE. Any content that requires more effort than that in a team setting is bound to die off.