Borticus, if I may, I think once we have more specializations, upping the secondaries to Two Active might be a smart move as it would allow for more synergy and encourage more people to try out the new trees even if they're happy with what they have now.
For the time being 1/1 is fine. But once we're at 2/4 and above I think 1/2 active would be perfectly balanced while providing an incentive.
Although, many are upgrades/additions to other Abilities, increases in Ranks, etc. It probably actually works out to less than half that many.
Example:
"Redundant Sensors I" is an Ability in the Intelligence Officer specialization which grants a 10% chance to immediately cleanse any Confuse or Placate effects you are hit by. But once you've purchased that one, you also open up the option of purchasing "Redundant Sensors II" which increases the chance to 20%.
Thanks, Bort...that stopped my wee brain spinning all over the place.
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised over a year ago?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised for Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised during Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Season 9.5?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Delta Rising?
Need I go on? Even Capt Harriman promised that things would arrive by Tuesday. It's been many Tuesday's since CaptGeko first announced Secondary Deflectors. Hasn't arrived yet.
For what it's worth, one of the T6 ships they posted yesterday (the Dauntless) explicitly mentioned having a secondary deflector slot in its description.
I think this will be good for STO. I am saddened that there is no science specific tree, but I can wait and am happy with what they are coming out with. To all of you naysayers out there, you should remember that the intelligence tree is canon. Every character on every Star Trek show has engaged in intelligence gathering, spy work, and general trickery. This primary specialization is perfect to be the first one offered. I can think of many episodes where the captains themselves were engaging in many clandestine activities.
As for the names of the piloting abilities, I think people need to remember the environment these pilots come from. They are trained on shuttlecraft and fighters both of which are very maneuverable, and lend themselves to fancy tricks. The names of these maneuvers are usually slang because it is the crazy pilots themselves who invent them. Thanks to the holodeck these crack pilots would have all grown up participating in dogfights in every major conflict since the dawn of flight. I think it is appropriate that the names have a 20th century flavor since this is the era where most flight maneuvers were discovered.
Each time the Captains Skill Point bar is filled, one Specialization Point will be added to the character, which can then be spent in any of their various Specializations.:eek: Although you will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50, all captains will keep earning them even after the character has reached level 60, allowing players to continue feeling a sense of progression long after they have stopped leveling up. Each time you fill the Skill Point Bar, you will earn another Specialization Point, which can then be spent to gain access to exciting new abilities and effects.
</snip>
Someone PLEASE slap the Unholy Kin of Cthulhu out of me...Right Now!!
WTF do they mean "...You will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50..."
O.K. collecting my thoughts here and looking for some encouragement from my peers please. What is the point of leveling up if you can't do the main thing you do when you level up; which is: SPEND SKILL POINTS and GET a NEW SHINY SHIP
for CeeZens
(oh yes I did now just create a new word for STO and/or all Cryptic games from now until doom oh clock)! Get it? C-Store Credits combined with Perfect World's Zen with wordplay on the word Seasons ground out hamburger patty CEEZENS!! Mine! Minted! FTW!
mishmashcalaboomimagonnamakeanewcoinedword:
CeeZens rhymes with Seasons!! HaHA!! Woot...um, oh...sorry. Where were we?
OH YES
Crapnations Skill Points are not going to be applied anymore to the captain's skill tree after level fifty please discussions!!
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised over a year ago?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised for Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised during Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Season 9.5?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Delta Rising?
Need I go on? Even Capt Harriman promised that things would arrive by Tuesday. It's been many Tuesday's since CaptGeko first announced Secondary Deflectors. Hasn't arrived yet.
feds wineing about not getting content promptly is adorable. tell it to pvpers and kdf players, good luck getting any sympathy.
its probably being put off until they introduce a new fleet holding, so they can have a unique item available there, giving it a reason to exist.
Yet again, the idea that buffing the amount of damage science can do is supporting the science playstyle...
It's SO ingrained!!!
there's more then 1 way to use a sci ship. and if you hadn't noticed, damage is all pve is good for, because npcs are too simple and numerous for single target debuffs to have any dramatic effect on.
so, the most useful thing for a sci outside of pvp got a huge buff, well better complain about it! some item that has very little impact based on what we see from the 2 that exist so far, is sooooo much more important then the doubleing of our sci ship's effective damage we just got! the devs have done less then nothing for sci!
O.K. collecting my thoughts here and looking for some encouragement from my peers please. What is the point of leveling up if you can't do the main thing you do when you level up; which is: SPEND SKILL POINTS and GET a NEW SHINY SHIP
You're still spending skill points, they just don't go into the original skill point tree. Which is just as well, honestly. Filling that thing out entirely would mean you'd never have to compromise on anything in your builds.
If the wafflemancer tree doesn't let me beat an Iconian to death with a waffle iron I will be extremely disappointed.
Anyway, God knows I've had a lot of issues with some of the things you guys have been putting out for delta rising, but this I'm almost entirely happy with. I'm especially glad to see starship traits in there, I had been worried that the only way to get them would be by either buying a tier 6 ship or getting them from a lockbox, hopefully there will be others way to get them as well. Since they're classified as an unlock rather than an ability, that means we can slot them even if the specialization they come from is set to inactive, right?
Also, just to clarify, we get to use every ability we've unlocked in our active specializations, correct?
Looking forward to seeing more specializations in the future.
If the wafflemancer tree doesn't let me beat an Iconian to death with a waffle iron I will be extremely disappointed.
Anyway, God knows I've had a lot of issues with some of the things you guys have been putting out for delta rising, but this I'm almost entirely happy with. I'm especially glad to see starship traits in there, I had been worried that the only way to get them would be by either buying a tier 6 ship or getting them from a lockbox, hopefully there will be others way to get them as well. Since they're classified as an unlock rather than an ability, that means we can slot them even if the specialization they come from is set to inactive, right?
Also, just to clarify, we get to use every ability we've unlocked in our active specializations, correct?
Looking forward to seeing more specializations in the future.
Agreed, this invention seems nice so far.
Let us wear Swimsuits on Foundry maps or bridges please! I would pay zen for that.
there's more then 1 way to use a sci ship. and if you hadn't noticed, damage is all pve is good for, because npcs are too simple and numerous for single target debuffs to have any dramatic effect on.
You just contradicted yourself.
You said there's more than 1 way to use a sci ship and then dismissed the idea of using a sci ship for anything but DPS.
so, the most useful thing for a sci outside of pvp got a huge buff, well better complain about it! some item that has very little impact based on what we see from the 2 that exist so far, is sooooo much more important then the doubleing of our sci ship's effective damage we just got! the devs have done less then nothing for sci!
The fact that "the most useful thing for a sci ship outside of pvp" is more damage is the problem!
Sci players shout "make our ships more useful" and the devs reply "okay, now they do more damage!"
Science as a role has been reduced to "a unique damage type."
Anyway, God knows I've had a lot of issues with some of the things you guys have been putting out for delta rising, but this I'm almost entirely happy with. I'm especially glad to see starship traits in there, I had been worried that the only way to get them would be by either buying a tier 6 ship or getting them from a lockbox, hopefully there will be others way to get them as well. Since they're classified as an unlock rather than an ability, that means we can slot them even if the specialization they come from is set to inactive, right?
Yes, unlocks remain available regardless of active/inactive.
Also, just to clarify, we get to use every ability we've unlocked in our active specializations, correct?
Yes, though many of these 'abilities' are passives or modify the function of an existing ability.
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised over a year ago?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised for Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised during Season 9?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Season 9.5?
Where's the Secondary Deflectors promised after Delta Rising?
Need I go on? Even Capt Harriman promised that things would arrive by Tuesday. It's been many Tuesday's since CaptGeko first announced Secondary Deflectors. Hasn't arrived yet.
Check the stats for the Dauntless. It has a secondary deflector slot.
Loving This, looking forward to these and future additions that may come
These are the Voyages on the STO forum, the final frontier. Our continuing mission: to explore Pretentious Posts, to seek out new Overreactions and Misinformation , to boldly experience Cynicism like no man has before.......
Overall, seems like an interesting system of sorts and I'm already plotting out what I'll be doing with each character.
There was one thing of mild concern:
The blog stated that points spent will be permanent, however you can only have one Active Primary and Secondary.. and more Specializations will be released in the future..
If a new specialization comes along in the future that better suits a certain character.. all that time invested into the old tree will effectively become useless? Perhaps allowing the Starship Traits to be used even if that specialization is not currently active would be a fair compromise/compensation?
As it stands, I'm actually planning to AVOID investing in Intelligence on several characters so I can save those points for a Spec that actually suits the playstyle/theme of those characters.
Yes, though many of these 'abilities' are passives or modify the function of an existing ability.
It could be a wording thing, since there are abilities and unlocks...so the question they were asking may or may not have been the question answered - but Bort offered this reply not long ago.
Although, many are upgrades/additions to other Abilities, increases in Ranks, etc. It probably actually works out to less than half that many.
Example:
"Redundant Sensors I" is an Ability in the Intelligence Officer specialization which grants a 10% chance to immediately cleanse any Confuse or Placate effects you are hit by. But once you've purchased that one, you also open up the option of purchasing "Redundant Sensors II" which increases the chance to 20%.
Rock and Roll:
Your ship performs an animated roll maneuver, preventing all incoming damage for a short duration.
Dan Stahl must be rolling in his office right now...right out the frackin window.
Do I detect Z-Axis movement on ye olde horizon?
Disclaimer: TRUE Z axis movement is straight up and down while the object of said motion remains perfectly level with the artificial galactic horizon which is zeroed at the Sol system.
Pointing your ship's nose up to go up or the opposite to go down is NOT z axis movement! No exceptions, evar.
If a new specialization comes along in the future that better suits a certain character.. all that time invested into the old tree will effectively become useless? Perhaps allowing the Starship Traits to be used even if that specialization is not currently active...
Nothing is wasted, or becomes useless. Everything you purchase within a Specialization remains available, and can be used at any time by activating that Specialization.
Starship Traits are Unlocks. Meaning that once they are earned, you retain access to them regardless of which Specialization(s) are currently Active on that character.
Jeremy Randall
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Each time the Captains Skill Point bar is filled, one Specialization Point will be added to the character, which can then be spent in any of their various Specializations.:eek: Although you will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50, all captains will keep earning them even after the character has reached level 60, allowing players to continue feeling a sense of progression long after they have stopped leveling up. Each time you fill the Skill Point Bar, you will earn another Specialization Point, which can then be spent to gain access to exciting new abilities and effects.
</snip>
Someone PLEASE slap the Unholy Kin of Cthulhu out of me...Right Now!!
WTF do they mean "...You will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50..."
Your level 50 right? Can you spend skill points on your skill tree now? Nope. In other words nothing changes.
Once these specializations arrive, you get 1 point to spend each point unlocks one ability in the specialization. There is your progression.
Otherwise from reading this It looks like the Neverwinter feats abilities. Which is a simple enough system.
My question is how many of these abilities will we be able to slot?
The way Bort said some of these increase the effectivness of existing ones, and the total number of clickable Is half of it so one Primary and one Secondary is 45 Half is say 23.
At current endgame most of my toons have about 40 powers now, this would increase it to 63. :eek: thats a lot of clicks and hotkeys.
There are very few clickie abilities in these Specializations. In fact, I can only think of 3 off the top of my head. The rest are all Passives, Enhancements, Triggers - that sort of thing.
Jeremy Randall
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
There are very few clickie abilities in these Specializations. In fact, I can only think of 3 off the top of my head. The rest are all Passives, Enhancements, Triggers - that sort of thing.
Check the stats for the Dauntless. It has a secondary deflector slot.
Is that supposed to be the carrot on a very long stick? Secondary Deflectors were promised as a feature for ALL Science Vessels. Not just the "new shiny" that happens to be out this or that week. The last time (which was the first and ONLY time) we got a ship with Secondary Deflectors, was the Voth Science Vessels.
And dontdrunkimshoot, why assume I'm a Fed player, just because I mentioned Secondary Deflectors? There are Science ships for KDF as well, although they are few and far between. They do exist.
I want to see this barrel roll in action. Somebody link a video of this in this thread.
If they can animate barrel rolls, I have a suggestion...
Space Trait: Death Blow
Get an enemy to low hull and deal extra damage at the very end which sends the enemy ship into two slow head over heels dead in the water flips, THEN it explodes. Flipping like the Valdore did in Nemesis.
STO: @AGNT009 Since Dec 2010
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
The fact that "the most useful thing for a sci ship outside of pvp" is more damage is the problem!
Sci players shout "make our ships more useful" and the devs reply "okay, now they do more damage!"
Science as a role has been reduced to "a unique damage type."
Escorts DPS like they do.
Cruisers A2B-BFAW
Science ships do exotic damage.
Yay, 3 distinct "roles" /rolleyes
#pvelogic
you asking for them to make them more useful over and over again IS the problem. became wile NPCs are the way they are, sci CANT be more useful, unless they are just dealing more damage. and that plays havok with pvp balance, so please stop.
if you want your sci ship to be more useful in pve, you need to join me in harping on the devs to DRAMATICALLY increase the complexity of npcs, wile reducing how many get thrown at you at once, so sci debuffs striping power and disabling them actually greatly impacts their base line performance. so a sci dealing less damage, but dealing harsh debuffs, can defeat enemies as fast as pure DPS can.
sci ships, sci captains, and sci debuff and control skills, with the exception of GW, are basically single target, yet npcs are thrown at you by the 10s. there's a good reason AOE skills, not single target skills, are what you use in pve. sci debuff effectiveness relys on how much abilities and power levels buff the target. a player ship running no abilities is 1/50th as powerful as one cycling EPtX skills, tac buffs, heals, clears and resists. they are totally propped up by these skills, you pull the rug out from them if you debuff that. NPCS are nothing like that, they just have huge hitpoints, and maybe 1 skill they can use every 2 minutes, but they wont survive even 20 seconds. on elite they survive longer, but the only difernence is more of your time is wasted, without the experience improved in any way.
if your mad sci sucks in pve, its long past time you all recognized WHY. harp on the devs to make npcs more like player ships. i cant do it alone, ive been trying for years. wouldn't just make sci better, it would force the DPS players to do more then bind FAW to space bar. it would make things like spike damage, and vapeing and single target focus as important as it is in pvp. this would train players how to actually use their ships to their potential, and make them competent enough to pvp, because there would be little difference between pvp and pve gameplay at that point.
Is that supposed to be the carrot on a very long stick? Secondary Deflectors were promised as a feature for ALL Science Vessels. Not just the "new shiny" that happens to be out this or that week. The last time (which was the first and ONLY time) we got a ship with Secondary Deflectors, was the Voth Science Vessels.
It's the first Science Vessel added to the game since the Dyson Science Destroyers were added for the anniversary (not to be confused with the Voth Palisade Science Vessel that came with the Voth Lock Box four months earlier). They're going to drop the Secondary Deflector on it now so they don't have to redo the ship later to add it.
But we all know we'll be getting the Secondary Deflectors around the time we get the PvP revamp.
Definitely have some of my characters who need to be Intel specialists
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
Comments
For the time being 1/1 is fine. But once we're at 2/4 and above I think 1/2 active would be perfectly balanced while providing an incentive.
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!
Thanks, Bort...that stopped my wee brain spinning all over the place.
For what it's worth, one of the T6 ships they posted yesterday (the Dauntless) explicitly mentioned having a secondary deflector slot in its description.
Thanks Bort, You're the BOSSSSSSSSSSsssssssSssss!....
I'm sorry to people who I, in the past, insulted, annoyed, etc.
Pilot specialization is going to finally make speed a real performance improvement to my escort Captain.
Nice work, Cryptic!
As for the names of the piloting abilities, I think people need to remember the environment these pilots come from. They are trained on shuttlecraft and fighters both of which are very maneuverable, and lend themselves to fancy tricks. The names of these maneuvers are usually slang because it is the crazy pilots themselves who invent them. Thanks to the holodeck these crack pilots would have all grown up participating in dogfights in every major conflict since the dawn of flight. I think it is appropriate that the names have a 20th century flavor since this is the era where most flight maneuvers were discovered.
I'm going to be very dissapointed if they don't follow through on this one. Mmmm, waffles!
Each time the Captains Skill Point bar is filled, one Specialization Point will be added to the character, which can then be spent in any of their various Specializations. :eek: Although you will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50
</snip>
Someone PLEASE slap the Unholy Kin of Cthulhu out of me...Right Now!!
WTF do they mean "...You will no longer be able to spend Skill Points in existing skills once you have reached level 50..."
O.K. collecting my thoughts here and looking for some encouragement from my peers please. What is the point of leveling up if you can't do the main thing you do when you level up; which is: SPEND SKILL POINTS and GET a NEW SHINY SHIP
for CeeZens
(oh yes I did now just create a new word for STO and/or all Cryptic games from now until doom oh clock)! Get it? C-Store Credits combined with Perfect World's Zen with wordplay on the word Seasons ground out hamburger patty CEEZENS!! Mine! Minted! FTW!
mishmashcalaboomimagonnamakeanewcoinedword:
CeeZens rhymes with Seasons!! HaHA!! Woot...um, oh...sorry. Where were we?
OH YES
Crapnations Skill Points are not going to be applied anymore to the captain's skill tree after level fifty please discussions!!
feds wineing about not getting content promptly is adorable. tell it to pvpers and kdf players, good luck getting any sympathy.
its probably being put off until they introduce a new fleet holding, so they can have a unique item available there, giving it a reason to exist.
there's more then 1 way to use a sci ship. and if you hadn't noticed, damage is all pve is good for, because npcs are too simple and numerous for single target debuffs to have any dramatic effect on.
so, the most useful thing for a sci outside of pvp got a huge buff, well better complain about it! some item that has very little impact based on what we see from the 2 that exist so far, is sooooo much more important then the doubleing of our sci ship's effective damage we just got! the devs have done less then nothing for sci!
You're still spending skill points, they just don't go into the original skill point tree. Which is just as well, honestly. Filling that thing out entirely would mean you'd never have to compromise on anything in your builds.
Anyway, God knows I've had a lot of issues with some of the things you guys have been putting out for delta rising, but this I'm almost entirely happy with. I'm especially glad to see starship traits in there, I had been worried that the only way to get them would be by either buying a tier 6 ship or getting them from a lockbox, hopefully there will be others way to get them as well. Since they're classified as an unlock rather than an ability, that means we can slot them even if the specialization they come from is set to inactive, right?
Also, just to clarify, we get to use every ability we've unlocked in our active specializations, correct?
Looking forward to seeing more specializations in the future.
Agreed, this invention seems nice so far.
You just contradicted yourself.
You said there's more than 1 way to use a sci ship and then dismissed the idea of using a sci ship for anything but DPS.
The fact that "the most useful thing for a sci ship outside of pvp" is more damage is the problem!
Sci players shout "make our ships more useful" and the devs reply "okay, now they do more damage!"
Science as a role has been reduced to "a unique damage type."
Escorts DPS like they do.
Cruisers A2B-BFAW
Science ships do exotic damage.
Yay, 3 distinct "roles" /rolleyes
Yes, unlocks remain available regardless of active/inactive.
Yes, though many of these 'abilities' are passives or modify the function of an existing ability.
Check the stats for the Dauntless. It has a secondary deflector slot.
*insert barrel roll joke here* :P
There was one thing of mild concern:
The blog stated that points spent will be permanent, however you can only have one Active Primary and Secondary.. and more Specializations will be released in the future..
If a new specialization comes along in the future that better suits a certain character.. all that time invested into the old tree will effectively become useless? Perhaps allowing the Starship Traits to be used even if that specialization is not currently active would be a fair compromise/compensation?
As it stands, I'm actually planning to AVOID investing in Intelligence on several characters so I can save those points for a Spec that actually suits the playstyle/theme of those characters.
It could be a wording thing, since there are abilities and unlocks...so the question they were asking may or may not have been the question answered - but Bort offered this reply not long ago.
Dan Stahl must be rolling in his office right now...right out the frackin window.
Do I detect Z-Axis movement on ye olde horizon?
Disclaimer: TRUE Z axis movement is straight up and down while the object of said motion remains perfectly level with the artificial galactic horizon which is zeroed at the Sol system.
Pointing your ship's nose up to go up or the opposite to go down is NOT z axis movement! No exceptions, evar.
Nothing is wasted, or becomes useless. Everything you purchase within a Specialization remains available, and can be used at any time by activating that Specialization.
Starship Traits are Unlocks. Meaning that once they are earned, you retain access to them regardless of which Specialization(s) are currently Active on that character.
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Your level 50 right? Can you spend skill points on your skill tree now? Nope. In other words nothing changes.
Once these specializations arrive, you get 1 point to spend each point unlocks one ability in the specialization. There is your progression.
Otherwise from reading this It looks like the Neverwinter feats abilities. Which is a simple enough system.
My question is how many of these abilities will we be able to slot?
The way Bort said some of these increase the effectivness of existing ones, and the total number of clickable Is half of it so one Primary and one Secondary is 45 Half is say 23.
At current endgame most of my toons have about 40 powers now, this would increase it to 63. :eek: thats a lot of clicks and hotkeys.
Fleet leader Nova Elite
Fleet Leader House of Nova elite
@ren_larreck
Cryptic - Lead Systems Designer
"Play smart!"
Thanks Bort I was hoping you would say that.
Fleet leader Nova Elite
Fleet Leader House of Nova elite
@ren_larreck
Is that supposed to be the carrot on a very long stick? Secondary Deflectors were promised as a feature for ALL Science Vessels. Not just the "new shiny" that happens to be out this or that week. The last time (which was the first and ONLY time) we got a ship with Secondary Deflectors, was the Voth Science Vessels.
And dontdrunkimshoot, why assume I'm a Fed player, just because I mentioned Secondary Deflectors? There are Science ships for KDF as well, although they are few and far between. They do exist.
If they can animate barrel rolls, I have a suggestion...
Space Trait: Death Blow
Get an enemy to low hull and deal extra damage at the very end which sends the enemy ship into two slow head over heels dead in the water flips, THEN it explodes. Flipping like the Valdore did in Nemesis.
Capt. Will Conquest of the U.S.S. Crusader
ah, if all you do is pve, i can see why you would think that i did.
#pvelogic
you asking for them to make them more useful over and over again IS the problem. became wile NPCs are the way they are, sci CANT be more useful, unless they are just dealing more damage. and that plays havok with pvp balance, so please stop.
if you want your sci ship to be more useful in pve, you need to join me in harping on the devs to DRAMATICALLY increase the complexity of npcs, wile reducing how many get thrown at you at once, so sci debuffs striping power and disabling them actually greatly impacts their base line performance. so a sci dealing less damage, but dealing harsh debuffs, can defeat enemies as fast as pure DPS can.
sci ships, sci captains, and sci debuff and control skills, with the exception of GW, are basically single target, yet npcs are thrown at you by the 10s. there's a good reason AOE skills, not single target skills, are what you use in pve. sci debuff effectiveness relys on how much abilities and power levels buff the target. a player ship running no abilities is 1/50th as powerful as one cycling EPtX skills, tac buffs, heals, clears and resists. they are totally propped up by these skills, you pull the rug out from them if you debuff that. NPCS are nothing like that, they just have huge hitpoints, and maybe 1 skill they can use every 2 minutes, but they wont survive even 20 seconds. on elite they survive longer, but the only difernence is more of your time is wasted, without the experience improved in any way.
if your mad sci sucks in pve, its long past time you all recognized WHY. harp on the devs to make npcs more like player ships. i cant do it alone, ive been trying for years. wouldn't just make sci better, it would force the DPS players to do more then bind FAW to space bar. it would make things like spike damage, and vapeing and single target focus as important as it is in pvp. this would train players how to actually use their ships to their potential, and make them competent enough to pvp, because there would be little difference between pvp and pve gameplay at that point.
It's the first Science Vessel added to the game since the Dyson Science Destroyers were added for the anniversary (not to be confused with the Voth Palisade Science Vessel that came with the Voth Lock Box four months earlier). They're going to drop the Secondary Deflector on it now so they don't have to redo the ship later to add it.
But we all know we'll be getting the Secondary Deflectors around the time we get the PvP revamp.
Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek