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Why an Int officer instead of a First Officer?

oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
I'm very sorry, Cryptic, to inform you of your error in vastly underestimating the passion many STO players have for their Captain and Starship.

T6 divides the game. It smells wrong in every sense of what Star Trek is about. Int officers remind me of the communist party officer Captain Marco Ramius killed in the Hunt for the Red October. That's fine for a Cold War Era spy thriller, but that is NOT Star Trek when compared to the importance of the First Officer.

To try to sell your bundle you are offering a laundry sniffing snoop with no business being on a Starfleet bridge.

You gave Int officer the power of NO to the nth degree in PvP. No to buffs, No to fighting back, No to even bothering equipping a shield.

This quest for cash will never see a nickel from me. Having the USS ANNE FRANK on my roster is a source of personal pride. A symbol to remember what is best about humanity. The dirt sniffing rats I will leave at spacedock.
Post edited by oridjerraa on
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  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Because Intelligence Officer provides a thematic basis for the new set of skills, like First Officer would not.

    And "Intelligence Officers" are not communist party officers or Warhammer 40K Imperial Commisars. They are not there to spy on you or control morale, but to provide you information (intelligence) over the various species and faction, and allow you to use this knowledge to your advantage.
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  • dalolorndalolorn Member Posts: 3,655 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    Having the USS ANNE FRANK on my roster is a source of personal pride. A symbol to remember what is best about humanity.

    I really can't take the combination of those two sentences seriously...

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  • grouchyotakugrouchyotaku Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    So I take it you want Cryptic to adapt the policy to FORCE THE CHOICE of first officer instead of leaving it to the players...
  • admiralcarteradmiralcarter Member Posts: 19 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Hello.

    Want to keep your First Officer? Simple.

    Dont buy new T6 Ship. Problem solved.
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  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~Bluegeek
  • annemarie30annemarie30 Member Posts: 2,662 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Because Intelligence Officer provides a thematic basis for the new set of skills, like First Officer would not.

    And "Intelligence Officers" are not communist party officers or Warhammer 40K Imperial Commisars. They are not there to spy on you or control morale, but to provide you information (intelligence) over the various species and faction, and allow you to use this knowledge to your advantage.

    although they called him a "Strategic operations" officer, Worf's role on DS9 was that of intelligence officer

    and I suspect that the whole shield penetration thing is gonna get a beatdown with the nerf bat
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  • dracounguisdracounguis Member Posts: 5,358 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    Int officers remind me of the communist party officer Captain Marco Ramius killed in the Hunt for the Red October

    Fingers crossed that one of the free Boffs in the Ops Pack is named "Ivan Putin" :D
    Sometimes I think I play STO just to have something to complain about on the forums.
  • dahminusdahminus Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    This post has been edited to remove content which violates the Perfect World Entertainment Community Rules and Policies . ~Bluegeek

    Down with the volkswagon.

    Seriously, can we refrain from using history as a reason for a game change?

    I'm not defending Hitler here. But it would be interesting to know the entire story
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  • annemarie30annemarie30 Member Posts: 2,662 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Fingers crossed that one of the free Boffs in the Ops Pack is named "Ivan Putin" :D

    or that you can rename them
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  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,980 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »

    T6 divides the game. It smells wrong in every sense of what Star Trek is about..

    *Remembers Commander Shelby [Tac/Intel] from Best of Both Worlds*

    Nope can't see what you're on about there. T'Pol would also probably qualify as a split Sci/Intel officer and Neelix's only useful function (besides being nice to people) was providing intelligence about newly encountered alien species and territory. Having people who know things and/or can find things out is very customary in the ST universe, its basically how at least two whole series operated.
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  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    *Remembers Commander Shelby [Tac/Intel] from Best of Both Worlds*

    Nope can't see what you're on about there. T'Pol would also probably qualify as a split Sci/Intel officer and Neelix's only useful function (besides being nice to people) was providing intelligence about newly encountered alien species and territory. Having people who know things and/or can find things out is very customary in the ST universe, its basically how at least two whole series operated.

    She was an expert on the Borg. Starships are home to many types of experts. Being an expert dose not make someone an Int Officer. Data was not an Int officer, yet his station, Operations Management, allowed him to observe and react to any situation, internal or external, aboard the Enterprise.
  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,980 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    She was an expert on the Borg. Starships are home to many types of experts. Being an expert dose not make someone an Int Officer. Data was not an Int officer, yet his station, Operations Management, allowed him to observe and react to any situation, internal or external, aboard the Enterprise.

    Her function in being deployed on the enterprise was to apply that experience to the fight against the borg much like how Neelix was brought aboard voyager for his expertise in the local region of space (and you can bet that if we do get a special intel boff from a new FE it's going to be a plucky Talaxian who just knows this area like the back of his hand.)

    You are absolutely splitting hairs about this, intelligence officers deal in intel, intel is simply information. If your specialty is in supplying that information you can damn well be labeled an "intel officer." No, it wouldn't be what you'd call an "intelligence officer" in the parlence of James Bond or modern intelligence agencies, but its appropriate for Star Trek (and particularly an STO boff type which has to be a bit more broad in character than a set of 00's).
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  • loonyeclipseloonyeclipse Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    T6 divides the game. It smells wrong in every sense of what Star Trek is about. Int officers remind me of the communist party officer Captain Marco Ramius killed in the Hunt for the Red October. That's fine for a Cold War Era spy thriller, but that is NOT Star Trek when compared to the importance of the First Officer.

    .

    Correct me if I'm wrong here but two things:

    1) First Officer is a position, not a specialization. A first officer is simply the second in command of a starship- they could have come up through tactical, sciences, operations...any of a number of specializations. As such, giving a simple 'First officer' BOFF is redundant, as you already have one: whichever BOFF you want to call your first officer.

    2) What you're referring to from Red October is a POLITICAL officer, not an Intelligence Officer. Political officers in the USSR were focused on making sure everyone on board were good communists and followed the party directorates.
    An Intelligence officer is concerned with gathering/processing intelligence (ie: information relevant to) your mission- troop movements, political realities within the region of space, notable persons of interest, etc. Their stock and trade is provide clear and concise information and recommendations based on this information to the people who need it- be it ship captains, department heads, whatever.
    They have entirely different functions.

    The former, I agree, has no place on a Federation starship (On an Imperial Romulan starship, however, they're a perfect fit). The latter absolutely fits on a Fed ship, as it's no more malevolent an activity as say....security or tactical.
  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Her function in being deployed on the enterprise was to apply that experience to the fight against the borg much like how Neelix was brought aboard voyager for his expertise in the local region of space (and you can bet that if we do get a special intel boff from a new FE it's going to be a plucky Talaxian who just knows this area like the back of his hand.)

    You are absolutely splitting hairs about this, intelligence officers deal in intel, intel is simply information. If your specialty is in supplying that information you can damn well be labeled an "intel officer." No, it wouldn't be what you'd call an "intelligence officer" in the parlence of James Bond or modern intelligence agencies, but its appropriate for Star Trek (and particularly an STO boff type which has to be a bit more broad in character than a set of 00's).

    By acknowledging those split hairs the dilemma is real.
  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Correct me if I'm wrong here but two things:

    1) First Officer is a position, not a specialization. A first officer is simply the second in command of a Starship- they could have come up through tactical, sciences, operations...any of a number of specializations. As such, giving a simple 'First officer' BOFF is redundant, as you already have one...whichever BOFF you want to call your first officer.

    2) What you're referring to from Red October is a POLITICAL officer, not an Intelligence Officer. Political officers in the USSR were focused on making sure everyone on board were good communists and followed the party directorates.
    An Intelligence officer is concerned with gathering/processing intelligence (ie: information relevant to) your mission- troop movements, political realities within the region of space, notable persons of interest, etc. Their stock and trade is provide clear and concise information and recommendations based on this information to the people who need it- be it ship captains, department heads, whatever. They have entirely different functions.

    The former, I agree, has no place on a Federation starship (On an Imperial Romulan starship, however, they're a perfect fit). The latter absolutely fits on a Fed ship, as it's no more malevolent an activity as say....security or tactical.


    Came here to say this, but it has been said.
  • bernatkbernatk Member Posts: 1,089 Bug Hunter
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    T6 divides the game. It smells wrong in every sense of what Star Trek is about. Int officers remind me of the communist party officer Captain Marco Ramius killed in the Hunt for the Red October. That's fine for a Cold War Era spy thriller, but that is NOT Star Trek when compared to the importance of the First Officer.

    Then just imagine it's an NSA, CIA, DIA or whatnot you have in the USA (you have too many to remember lol...) agent on board.
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  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Correct me if I'm wrong here but two things:

    1) First Officer is a position, not a specialization. A first officer is simply the second in command of a starship- they could have come up through tactical, sciences, operations...any of a number of specializations. As such, giving a simple 'First officer' BOFF is redundant, as you already have one: whichever BOFF you want to call your first officer.

    2) What you're referring to from Red October is a POLITICAL officer, not an Intelligence Officer. Political officers in the USSR were focused on making sure everyone on board were good communists and followed the party directorates.
    An Intelligence officer is concerned with gathering/processing intelligence (ie: information relevant to) your mission- troop movements, political realities within the region of space, notable persons of interest, etc. Their stock and trade is provide clear and concise information and recommendations based on this information to the people who need it- be it ship captains, department heads, whatever.
    They have entirely different functions.

    The former, I agree, has no place on a Federation starship (On an Imperial Romulan starship, however, they're a perfect fit). The latter absolutely fits on a Fed ship, as it's no more malevolent an activity as say....security or tactical.

    Just how dose that "political Officer" do his job? Crystal Ball? Tarot Cards? Palm Reading?
  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,980 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    By acknowledging those split hairs the dilemma is real.

    But its not significant. See. hairs.
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  • crusader2007crusader2007 Member Posts: 1,882 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Come guys...lighten up! This is just a game and NOT real life. Although IMO would prefer a first officer than intelligence officers...don't mind them a bit. Its a way out of reality and no need to be uptight about it.:D
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  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    Just how dose that "political Officer" do his job? Crystal Ball? Tarot Cards? Palm Reading?

    He did his job by having full access to everything in the unit (be it ship, base, etc.) He went through the mail, he listened to conversations - including phone calls, and was privy to all records available on all the personnel under his watch. Had a brother who once purchased cigarettes off the black market? They probably knew. Had an uncle who was a priest in the Orthodox church or, Lenin forbid, Jewish? They knew. The USSR's intelligence operations were legendary, and not just for external politics.

    The Soviet Union was a place of extreme paranoia for a reason. It was insane.
  • bernatkbernatk Member Posts: 1,089 Bug Hunter
    edited September 2014
    Its a way out of reality and no need to be uptight about it.:D

    How so? Gestapo, STASI, KGB, MI:6, Mosad, Section 31, were or are all real (at least on TV).

    Intelligence officers are fine, leave them be. It's a great idea.
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  • loonyeclipseloonyeclipse Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    Just how dose that "political Officer" do his job? Crystal Ball? Tarot Cards? Palm Reading?

    ...you're being deliberately obtuse. I'm making the point that even in the Soviet Union, they were ENTIRELY DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

    A political officer's job was to ensure party/government loyalty, period. His job was internal- spying on his own crew members.

    An intel officer's job is to gather/analyze information so the ship can accomplish its goals. He sorts through the dorss so that the actual useful nuggets can be used. He's the expert on that region of space. He's the guy who you ask if you want to know what the enemy generla is likely to do given his situation.
    This could be as simple as saying 'Oh look, there's a plasma storm, so it's not likely that the patrol ships will be going through that sector of space'. It could be 'The government on Azuria 5 just got overthrown, so we should steer clear- the rebels are NOT Federation friendly', or it could be 'Gul Dukat has left Cardassia, now's our chance to apprehend him!'.
    The point is their focus is OUTWARD.

    And if they're on a starship- they're likely to be on the analysis side of things, not the 'spy' side of things. Much like the average intel officer in the modern-day military.
  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    bernatk wrote: »
    Then just imagine it's an NSA, CIA, DIA or whatnot you have in the USA (you have too many to remember lol...) agent on board.

    Why dose a starship need an agent openly operating on it's bridge no less? What happen to humanity working together for benefit of all? Kirk didn't have a Int officer. Picard didn't have an Int officer.
  • adverberoadverbero Member Posts: 2,045 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    Intelligence officers, the people who spy on people for money? Can never be trusted, I don't wan't one on my bridge so I'm glad I'm not getting one on my T5 ships

    Why? Principle, an intelligence officer is under their own chain of command, they answer directly to Starfleet Intelligence, who in the lore are not obliged to tell Captains in the field anything they would rather be kept under wraps.

    I mean its not all that far a stretch for them to put out Section-31 BOFFs next, and I don't want a Tal Shiar wannabe by another name on my vessel
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  • oridjerraaoridjerraa Member Posts: 313 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    ...you're being deliberately obtuse. I'm making the point that even in the Soviet Union, they were ENTIRELY DIFFERENT POSITIONS.

    A political officer's job was to ensure party/government loyalty, period. His job was internal- spying on his own crew members.

    An intel officer's job is to gathering analyze information so the ship can accomplish its goals. He sorts through the dorss so that the actual useful nuggets can be used. He's the expert on that region of space. He's the guy who you ask if you want to know what the enemy generla is likely to do given his situation.
    This could be as simple as saying 'Oh look, there's a plasma storm, so it's not likely that the patrol ships will be going through that sector of space'. It could be 'The government on Azuria 5 just got overthrown, so we should steer clear- the rebels are NOT Federation friendly', or it could be 'Gul Dukat has left Cardassia, now's our chance to apprehend him!'. The point is their focus is OUTWARD.

    Isn't that the function of the OPERATION MANAGE STATION? Here's a hint, Data sat there.
  • catjarrettcatjarrett Member Posts: 285 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    oridjerraa wrote: »
    Why dose a starship need an agent openly operating on it's bridge no less? What happen to humanity working together for benefit of all? Kirk didn't have a Int officer. Picard didn't have an Int officer.

    Now I don't know where you stand on the whole "this bit of Star Trek is better, this bit is trash" thing, but DS-9 used Intelligence Officers quite a bit.
  • thecosmic1thecosmic1 Member Posts: 9,365 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    As far as the Boffs, I love the idea of an Intelligence Class. It is not as if Picard did not use Troi's telepathy/empathy to spy in his adversaries.

    It also makes me wonder if Intel Boffs will be slotable in existing Universal Boff slots on T5U ships.
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  • assimilatedktarassimilatedktar Member Posts: 1,708 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    While I do think that it wasn't the most tasteful design decision given current RL events I do get it.

    1) Cryptic were always big fans of Section 31.
    2) First officer doffs are something you can do once. Hybrid class doffs are something you can do again and again with different flavors.
    3) Section 31, Starfleet Intelligence etc. are canon.

    What really annoys me is the idea of intelligence ships. At least one of the intelligence abilities was used on an Intrepid in the show.
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  • duncanidaho11duncanidaho11 Member Posts: 7,980 Arc User
    edited September 2014

    What really annoys me is the idea of intelligence ships. At least one of the intelligence abilities was used on an Intrepid in the show.

    Actually I love it. It seems to be finally developing that surprising knack starfleet showed in Insurrection at stealth and deception (their inability to handle a particular android not withstanding).
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  • omegaphallicomegaphallic Member Posts: 101 Arc User
    edited September 2014
    I'm confused why can't have intel ships have a first officer? Why would having intel boffs intefer with that?
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