It is far better to be controversial--to be actively loathed by some--than to be forgotten.
That, in my opinion, is the key thing to remember when dealing with the Kobali Ground Arc. There has been a lot of controversy on the forum about the Kobali, their customs, and the specific actions they have taken that play a role in their current conflict with the Vaadwaur, and even after things start to look up for them, and I think it's a good controversy and a good discussion to be having because it means that Cryptic succeeded in making something strong enough that even with the broken progression and other storylines, people remember, care, and want to debate it.
Because of the structure of the Kobali Ground Arc, I am not really going to be able to separate it out into separate missions--but fortunately when you are actually playing it, this is not really a big deal because each mission follows one clear, coherent arc (unlike the Space Patrols), and every one of them starts exactly where the other one left off both in terms of story and where you actually have to go on the map. Even if you hit a significant leveling gap, you're not going to forget where you were and exactly what is going on when you last fought there. At least for me, I found myself really anticipating each level's subsequent trip to Kobali. It was a blessed relief, especially after each patrol and each other slog I had to endure in order to gain the level I needed to enter.
As far as the actual combat, I really enjoyed the intensity of it--the risk of getting ganked by another mob at any time, the fact that the Vaadwaur AI takes more advantage of even the simple defenses of crouching and making an active attempt to flank the player. You have to stay on your toes, crouch when you can and be ready to move if you get ganked. Going in with an all-DPS kit is not going to do any good--you must be ready to heal yourself and possibly your BOFFs as well because sometimes you need them as a distraction while you go after one of their drones. And the offensive drones are--surprise--programmed as best as I can tell, to find your back and shoot at it. I've never played Call of Duty or anything, but as far as STO goes I think I can say that this is some of the most intense ground combat for the speed and the quick thinking on your feet that you will have to do. And that right there was enough sometimes to give me the idea not to bother with transporter destinations but to fight my way out to where I needed to go.
So that plot.
The Kobali seem at first like they're going to be another Deferi--almost sickeningly inoffensive, sweet, and wouldn't hurt a fly. (Though at least to their credit they do actually make an attempt to fight unlike the cowardly Deferi who consider it "unbalanced" to fight but have no problem letting other people die for them.) But we quickly find out that there's even more to what we already know about their...questionable method of reproduction: that they have been exploiting a Vaadwaur stasis unit and instead of maintaining the stasis pods, allowing them to fail and swooping down on any pod that does, to make a Kobali out of the corpse. The Vaadwaur have found out about this and, understandably enraged, have decided to take any and all means to put an end to it.
This raises a very real ethical question that, unlike "Divide et Impera," we are allowed to explore and allowed to voice objections about if we wish. And I should also note that we get something very noticeably different in the Delta Quadrant in that Captain Kim--who has finally gotten promoted and developed a strong personality and set of opinions--actually recognizes and defers to the player-admiral's rank even though depending on what you say, he will clearly be unhappy with it.
We find out that the Vaadwaur have decided to not only create an antidote to the Kobali virus to keep their people from being turned into Kobali--but to destroy the Kobali race itself. And here's where I think the most interesting thing is to step back and compare this scenario to the ENT episode, "Extinction," where another species (the Loque'eque) which has similarly become unable to reproduce, and designs a virus to convert others into their own species. And just as in this case, another race, which was severely impacted by the actions of a race determined to survive at all costs, decides to do anything it takes to contain the virus and make sure it cannot infect anyone else--and woe betide anyone who might become infected.
I had to think long and hard about this one. What the Kobali were doing to the Vaadwaur was wrong, and was sufficient casus belli in their case for the Vaadwaur to go after them. And we also know from VOY that the Kobali pathogen can go wrong enough to cause serious psychological torment for some. There were, however, a few thin lines to separate the Kobali from the Loque'eque. One: the Loque'eque either lost control of their pathogen or decided that they did not care about stealing lives from the living. And two: the Kobali, as far as we know, at least did not cross the line of hastening the deaths of others. Theirs was a sin of omission as opposed to a sin of commission.
There are ways that with proper permission the Kobali could continue to do as they do...and as I alluded to in a post early on when DR first launched, I actually think the Ferengi would be a viable market as their culture has already monetized the corpses of the dead and may have the financial and legal structures already in place that could deal with this new approach. So, even as uncomfortable as I was--even as uncomfortable as Captain Kim was--I concluded there was no way I could accept the Vaadwaur going beyond innoculating their own against the virus and demanding their brethren returned to them...which in my mind, they had every right to do...and wiping the Kobali from existence.
I am also reminded of a sarcastic line from Seven of Nine that I remember her throwing out to the Borg Queen--that if the Queen approached matters differently, she might get volunteers. Well...the Kobali have the chance to put that in practice, and I do think that even if there is a drop in numbers, if they look to the right places, they really could. I also think an openness to other cultures would benefit them, if they would accept the memories and personalities of the revived rather than putting such emphasis on remaking these minds in their own image. Willing minds able to accept the change in physiology and fully aware of what is to happen when they die the first time...well...I'm not really a Doctor Who fan, but in some ways the willing could approach it much like being a Time Lord with a single regeneration, knowing that the body and mind will change but if the Kobali would adapt their techniques, the core of the person would remain.
They bear watching though--because the Kim duplicate they have kept, even knowing that another version of the very same man is on their planet, is a warning sign that their duplicitous ways may not be over.
But as I said before...the fact that this story could capture the imagination, ignite debate, even draw active hate from some, means to me that it succeeded in avoiding the sin of getting lost amidst the noise. I would rather see a controversial lightning rod of a personality that divides the player base, much as it was with Tovan Khev, than drown in the sea of the forgettable.
To me, the Kobali Ground Arc is an unreserved success and may even surpass the Space Missions in terms of the ability to be instantly memorable and cut through the noise. Even though I think some of my most favorite missions in Delta Rising were in the Space Missions, the Kobali Ground Arc is the story people will still be talking about and debating years on.
But when you take it all together...and bring the failed leveling mechanic into the mix, what happens to the story of Delta Rising? And can it be saved?
NEXT POST: The Progression and Experience of the Story. Also, my answers to unanswered comments in this thread.
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That's a really fascinating question. If this were a show, maybe not? Maybe that would be a source of drama and intrigue? A real Othello kind of story.
As it stands, I think it's likely we'd find magic plot bullets to legitimize his case.
There's some speculation that Remans are Romulan offspring, either hybrids or mutates.
Maybe we could get back to some of the interesting talk about "The Sundering" and such to establish Obisek's pedigree or shame his opponents into silence. Or saddle him with an accomplishment so big, it silences critics. Like discovering the old capital city intact in subspace and freeing and reuniting ten million survivors with their families. A legendary deed.
I think it would be a mistake on Cryptic's part to let those epic deeds be too great, if they went that route, or to show Obisek taking the reins of leadership without a struggle and without difficult times for him, even if he does succeed in the end. Getting into the history of the Sundering, though, could really be amazing considering the nods we have seen in STO to Diane Duane's work and also the "Vulcan's Noun" novels, as some call them.
I think tackling the prejudice head-on and letting its ramifications be felt for a while before justice wins out would be a bold move on Cryptic's part and a good one.
Sorry, when I saw the title, I immediately thought of "Reanimator." Jeff Combs at his crazy best. Somehow I felt compelled to share that.
And this thread is nowhere near as awesome.
Sorry to disappoint. :P But at least unlike STO itself, you lose nothing but a little bit of time, between this and finding something more enjoyable for you to do.
I have to say that despite my really bad feelings on where this game is going, I have really enjoyed reading your perspective on the latest content. Normally I see a wall of text and avoid it but the way you have outlined your writing intrigues me and I can't stop reading. I crave more. I'm really looking forward to reading the rest when it's finished.
I was wondering though. Would you be interested in doing the same thing regarding the rest of the games content from start to finish? I would be really interested if you could give this same thought layout to everything else in game. The way you have explained everything has made me rethink some things that have happened so far, a different perspective if you will. Anyways good job and can't wait for the rest.
Thank you so much for reading. Unfortunately I do not have the time to take on the rest of the game this way, since I also have a lot of fanfic that I am working on--not to mention the job that I actually get paid for IRL. Still, I very much appreciate your kind words and hope this will continue to interest you.
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Not sure why this didn't get picked up when I tried to set up multi-quotes...maybe if we could get a better version of that feature in Smirk's forum upgrades...
I think that Lincoln was a lot more of a pragmatist than D'tan; D'tan is an ideas man, and an idealist--he also has no sense of scale. Lincoln fought and clawed and tried every way he could to save the Union, and it was really only when the South went hardcore that he was like "OK, the buck stops here, slavery is permabanned".
I'd compare D'tan almost to Neville Chamberlain, who seems to have never entertained the possibility that Hitler was not a nice man.
While I don't know that I would go as far as to compare D'Tan to the willfully ignorant Chamberlain (D'Tan at least recognizes evil as evil and has no problem identifying the Tal Shiar as evil and as the enemy), I do agree that he can be extremely idealistic. He had the rose-colored glasses on too much when it came to dealing with the Iconian gateway on New Romulus for sure, and the ramifications of that move are very serious indeed. But I don't think he has the sort of malicious idiocy Chamberlain had (and I say malicious because Chamberlain willfully ignored Britain's treaty obligations to Poland).
Obisek, yeah, you take any honorable general from history and add in shades of James Bond and Rambo, and there you have him. Which is part of why I like him, he's totally the Dalinar just with an extra aura of mystery and kickass.
I have kind of a feeling that during the Dominion War and Shinzon's reign (if he was alive then, and with the terrible stresses put on Remans from slavery, you do have to wonder despite likely being of Vulcan stock), I could almost have seen him as being a Rommel-type had it not been for the fact that unlike Rommel, who ignored pretty much all inhumane orders, Obisek was willing to use WMD's. Perhaps the "reformed" Obisek of later times would be a closer comparison to Rommel.
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You could of had the KDF dealing with the Kazon, the romulans dealing with intelligence gathering or better yet having them work specifically with the cooperative to do daring missions to disrupt the collective and recruit more drones to freedom.
There's no reason you can't do that within your own headcanon.
For example, my Klingon main did most of the fighting culminating in the epic final ground assault on Kobali Prime and leading the Delta Alliance fleet at the glorious Battle of Vaadwaur Prime.
My Federation Scientist and Diplomat is doing all the diplomacy stuff, including the negotiations with Gaul.
My Reman is doing all the covert content.
I think the fact you actually have to ask that question is the point.
One thing Delta Rising did very well in its stories (this includes the Main Missions, the Kobali, and even a few of the Patrol Missions) was introduce some much needed moral ambiguity. It drives home the point that the Delta is not the Alpha quadrant. There are no real safe havens. It doesn't have any real overarching superpowers to address, mediate, or mitigate disputes and conflicts. Every species you encounter has its own goals, agendas, and morals. As the player you no longer have the safety net of authority that comes with being a member of Starfleet, or the KDF, or the Republic. Many times to succeed you must pick your poison, defying the angels and dealing with devils as it were and who is "right" or who is "wrong" in a conflict depends entirely on your point of view.
Not saying I want to see STO become WH40K but I found it a refreshing and more realistic portrayal of space exploration and interspecies interaction than the usual "these are good guys and these are the bad guys" scenario we're often spoon-fed. It made me think and question, wonder and debate. That to me is good storytelling.
This is very much what I think and to me, it was done well in the Kobali arc, because there was also depth to go along with it.
I actually had much greater problems with the patrol missions, where due to the lack of background provided, and the repetitiveness, it *really* came off as Jerks For No Reason--the Turei being complete treacherous jerks comes to mind as a prime example. I just wanted to tell them to go jump off a bridge after that one and see if the Voth care enough to catch them. At least with the Kobali and Vaadwaur, you have to think hard about why each side thinks they're right and try to think about how it could be negotiated without a genocide on either side.
I do think, though, that we had three mainly reliable allies (morally): the Benthans, Talaxians, and Cooperative. Thankfully, or DR would have *really* taken a flying leap storywise into what TV Tropes calls the Crapsack Universe. It was getting dangerously close to that in the Space Patrols as it was.
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There's no reason you can't do that within your own headcanon.
For example, my Klingon main did most of the fighting culminating in the epic final ground assault on Kobali Prime and leading the Delta Alliance fleet at the glorious Battle of Vaadwaur Prime.
My Federation Scientist and Diplomat is doing all the diplomacy stuff, including the negotiations with Gaul.
My Reman is doing all the covert content.
This is one of those times where I will contradict myself and that PWE should of done that from the get go. Gets us to actually do more than just one story over and over, but to get ALL of the story gotta play all 3 factions.
This is the kind of stuff they need to do in the future IMHO.
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I think it would be a mistake on Cryptic's part to let those epic deeds be too great, if they went that route, or to show Obisek taking the reins of leadership without a struggle and without difficult times for him, even if he does succeed in the end. Getting into the history of the Sundering, though, could really be amazing considering the nods we have seen in STO to Diane Duane's work and also the "Vulcan's Noun" novels, as some call them.
I think tackling the prejudice head-on and letting its ramifications be felt for a while before justice wins out would be a bold move on Cryptic's part and a good one.
Well, I was sitting on this because... I don't actually know why I sit on parts of ideas sometimes. Because I'm not getting paid for them and I want to see if other people can assemble the pieces without me, maybe? ;-)
I was playing with this idea that we have an arc:
- D'Tan dies in an attack. Obisek is made emergency Praetor and we're left to hunt down the traitors who killed D'Tan.
- We have an arc dealing with the Tal Shiar, traitors within the Republic, and new allies, even as other allies inform us of a discovery on the remains of Romulus. I think it would be fun if this arc were punctuated with something like a Kobali group running around the Alpha Quadrant, complicating things. Maybe even requesting D'Tan's body in an outrageously inappropriate moment. The whole way through, Obisek's support is shaky and we clash with a new racist Romulan Purity group.
- We race the Tal Shiar to make it there and find a failsafe that preserved 10 million Romulans. This creates all kinds of debate. It's 10 million but most of the planet still died. What does this do to the balance of power? Whose side will the survivors take? They've spent 30 years in there and time has moved on for them.
- Obisek makes the call to free them and undergoes a personal injury to do so. Loses an eye, perhaps? Loses his ship? Loses a son? This solidifies him mostly.
- We end with a cutscene as the New Romulus Council convenes to discuss "The Obisek Situation." They debate whether he's a useful puppet or whether his heritage makes him a threat. They elect to have a vote on whether to depose him... and everyone who votes against him is killed. We learn that there was a conspiracy within the pro-Obisek portion of the council. They have decided he's a useful puppet and that there is no utilitarian purpose in racial pride.
"As the Vulcans, would say, bigotry is not logical."
"Logical? It is simply not to our tactical advantage. Begin the purge."
And then we find out that the Romulan racial purity movement was a trap set by the council, who wanted Obisek positioned as a ceremonial leader. And they begin executing all the racist Romulans. The entire "movement" was bait for the backwards Romulans they wanted to purge. The council's goal all along was to secretly execute the bigoted Romulans (after using them to kill D'Tan) in order to provide a unified front and present the Republic as a progressive and forward thinking empire.
Well, I was sitting on this because... I don't actually know why I sit on parts of ideas sometimes. Because I'm not getting paid for them and I want to see if other people can assemble the pieces without me, maybe? ;-)
I was playing with this idea that we have an arc:
- D'Tan dies in an attack. Obisek is made emergency Praetor and we're left to hunt down the traitors who killed D'Tan.
- We have an arc dealing with the Tal Shiar, traitors within the Republic, and new allies, even as other allies inform us of a discovery on the remains of Romulus. I think it would be fun if this arc were punctuated with something like a Kobali group running around the Alpha Quadrant, complicating things. Maybe even requesting D'Tan's body in an outrageously inappropriate moment. The whole way through, Obisek's support is shaky and we clash with a new racist Romulan Purity group.
- We race the Tal Shiar to make it there and find a failsafe that preserved 10 million Romulans. This creates all kinds of debate. It's 10 million but most of the planet still died. What does this do to the balance of power? Whose side will the survivors take? They've spent 30 years in there and time has moved on for them.
- Obisek makes the call to free them and undergoes a personal injury to do so. Loses an eye, perhaps? Loses his ship? Loses a son? This solidifies him mostly.
- We end with a cutscene as the New Romulus Council convenes to discuss "The Obisek Situation." They debate whether he's a useful puppet or whether his heritage makes him a threat. They elect to have a vote on whether to depose him... and everyone who votes against him is killed. We learn that there was a conspiracy within the pro-Obisek portion of the council. They have decided he's a useful puppet and that there is no utilitarian purpose in racial pride.
"As the Vulcans, would say, bigotry is not logical."
"Logical? It is simply not to our tactical advantage. Begin the purge."
And then we find out that the Romulan racial purity movement was a trap set by the council, who wanted Obisek positioned as a ceremonial leader. And they begin executing all the racist Romulans. The entire "movement" was bait for the backwards Romulans they wanted to purge. The council's goal all along was to secretly execute the bigoted Romulans (after using them to kill D'Tan) in order to provide a unified front and present the Republic as a progressive and forward thinking empire.
MY GOD! IT'S FULL OF STARS! I'd upvote if i could but I cannot. So much intrigue double and triple think, good lord man. You should write bond flicks!
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!
I have to agree with most of your viewpoints especially regarding the Benthans. Even moreso from the viewpoint of my character, his first meeting with them when they do the deputizing thing had him thinking "Finally, someone taking care of their own problems plus cleaning up the mess from someone else instead of just complaining about it."
I was also torn on the Kobali. On one hand they're essentially farming the Vaadwaur stasis pods and hiding the fact that they even exist from the people trying to protect them from the same Vaadwaur who want their people back (which presumably results in significant loss of life on the part of the alliance), but on the other hand the Vaadwaur are essentially fanatics and don't seem to have any issues at all with things like genocide or wanton murder just for the sake of it. Eldex doesn't seem to have many issues with these things either, his only concern is getting rid of the parasites that are harming his own people and the way I see it he's only using the alliance as a means to an end.
I'm in the minority of people who actually liked Neelix on Voyager, mostly because really GOOD comic relief is hard to find and he nailed it. I like him even more in STO since he's moved past just being good for a laugh and is actually useful in his own right. The voice acting being so good doesn't hurt either.
Well, I was sitting on this because... I don't actually know why I sit on parts of ideas sometimes. Because I'm not getting paid for them and I want to see if other people can assemble the pieces without me, maybe? ;-)
I was playing with this idea that we have an arc:
- D'Tan dies in an attack. Obisek is made emergency Praetor and we're left to hunt down the traitors who killed D'Tan.
- We have an arc dealing with the Tal Shiar, traitors within the Republic, and new allies, even as other allies inform us of a discovery on the remains of Romulus. I think it would be fun if this arc were punctuated with something like a Kobali group running around the Alpha Quadrant, complicating things. Maybe even requesting D'Tan's body in an outrageously inappropriate moment. The whole way through, Obisek's support is shaky and we clash with a new racist Romulan Purity group.
- We race the Tal Shiar to make it there and find a failsafe that preserved 10 million Romulans. This creates all kinds of debate. It's 10 million but most of the planet still died. What does this do to the balance of power? Whose side will the survivors take? They've spent 30 years in there and time has moved on for them.
- Obisek makes the call to free them and undergoes a personal injury to do so. Loses an eye, perhaps? Loses his ship? Loses a son? This solidifies him mostly.
- We end with a cutscene as the New Romulus Council convenes to discuss "The Obisek Situation." They debate whether he's a useful puppet or whether his heritage makes him a threat. They elect to have a vote on whether to depose him... and everyone who votes against him is killed. We learn that there was a conspiracy within the pro-Obisek portion of the council. They have decided he's a useful puppet and that there is no utilitarian purpose in racial pride.
"As the Vulcans, would say, bigotry is not logical."
"Logical? It is simply not to our tactical advantage. Begin the purge."
And then we find out that the Romulan racial purity movement was a trap set by the council, who wanted Obisek positioned as a ceremonial leader. And they begin executing all the racist Romulans. The entire "movement" was bait for the backwards Romulans they wanted to purge. The council's goal all along was to secretly execute the bigoted Romulans (after using them to kill D'Tan) in order to provide a unified front and present the Republic as a progressive and forward thinking empire.
I had a similar plot living in my head just without the Kobali part, only Obisek discovers the trap ahead of time and allows it to happen, then arrests the council members involved in it and goes public with what he discovered but makes it seem like he didn't find out until after it was all over and is just as shocked as everyone else by their betrayal. He has them put on trial and lets the Republic citizens decide their fate, knowing they wouldn't have much choice but to look to him for leadership afterward regardless of what they decide to do with the Council. He pretty much manipulates the situation so he'll be put in charge after D'Tan is killed since he doesn't trust anyone else to do the job.
"Unfortunately things like morality have no place when you're fighting for the very survival of your people. Romulan or Reman, it doesn't matter to me. Some of us have moved beyond the ways of the old Empire and they are all my people now, they are free, and they will stay that way."
This is one of those times where I will contradict myself and that PWE should of done that from the get go. Gets us to actually do more than just one story over and over, but to get ALL of the story gotta play all 3 factions.
This is the kind of stuff they need to do in the future IMHO.
That would certainly be very interesting...though with some of the other problems in the game--i.e. the grind and the economics--I wonder if Cryptic has cut themselves out of that opportunity. Because who wants to spend the time to do all of that as it currently is? :-/
I have to agree with most of your viewpoints especially regarding the Benthans. Even moreso from the viewpoint of my character, his first meeting with them when they do the deputizing thing had him thinking "Finally, someone taking care of their own problems plus cleaning up the mess from someone else instead of just complaining about it."
Exactly. The Benthans don't have time for pity parties or playing the victim card, even though I am sure they're smart enough to know full well that Janeway's actions caused or exacerbated a lot of the problems they have to deal with. It doesn't mean they have to be able to do everything on their own, and can't genuinely need help--but I would rather help someone who is giving it their all because I know my efforts are a lot less likely to be wasted. (Sometimes you have to help under other circumstances too. But you tend to have the best outcome when helping those who want to make themselves an active part of the solution.)
I was also torn on the Kobali. On one hand they're essentially farming the Vaadwaur stasis pods and hiding the fact that they even exist from the people trying to protect them from the same Vaadwaur who want their people back (which presumably results in significant loss of life on the part of the alliance), but on the other hand the Vaadwaur are essentially fanatics and don't seem to have any issues at all with things like genocide or wanton murder just for the sake of it. Eldex doesn't seem to have many issues with these things either, his only concern is getting rid of the parasites that are harming his own people and the way I see it he's only using the alliance as a means to an end.
Yeah, and that is also why I would've liked to hear more from Eldex at the end of "Takedown," to get a sense of if he either came around, or if he is a potential threat to the quadrant like Gaul, just in a more...well...sane way.
I would not have objected if the Vaadwaur had only made a vaccine strictly to prevent their own people from being made into Kobali--I would not object to anyone who felt they needed to do that. But the genocide bit was way too far.
I'm in the minority of people who actually liked Neelix on Voyager, mostly because really GOOD comic relief is hard to find and he nailed it. I like him even more in STO since he's moved past just being good for a laugh and is actually useful in his own right. The voice acting being so good doesn't hurt either.
I didn't mind Neelix either, though I wouldn't say he was my favorite character or anything. But I think you're right how his usefulness is more on display here than it was on the series. That could have been used even more, such as having him chew out the Talaxians who felt like talking smack to a Vaadwaur was a good idea, and perhaps see a reflection in that of his own behavior at times.
So what does this have to do with the Patrol Missions? Unlike the story missions (which narratively connected but play wise but self-contained) the Patrol Missions are practically built for this kind of mechanic. Make your choice in the first or second and see the outcome by the forth or fifth. Add some minor accolades and perhaps offer a minor reward that depends on your choice and you not only have something that enriches the game play but provides some replayability. The Patrol Missions now feel less like filler or grind sessions and more like side quests with a chose-your-own-story ending.
I am not sure the mechanic exists to have those sort of map-to-map repercussions even within a mission, unfortunately, let alone from mission to mission. I have tried my hand at the Foundry and that was one of the limitations I ran up against, hard. In the absence of that ability, I think that doing away with the patrols as required material and drawing the mission seeds from them is the best way to remedy DR as a story.
As you mentioned in your review (which I am enjoying by the way) the Patrol Missions are a bit of a diamond in the rough. It may be a bit late for the current Delta Rising ones (unless Cryptic decides to make them replayable) but providing they are polished up a bit I wouldn't mind seeing them in future releases for the Delta and maybe someday the Gamma quadrant.
I am not sure there is anything that can be done short of a complete revamp. :-/
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I think the fact you actually have to ask that question is the point.
Except that my answer to the question would have been to help neither, because neither of them was morally right. Just because the Kobali are more polite about it doesn't make what they did okay.
The only reason I did those missions was to progress the story, and the only way I could justify it in my imagination was because I wanted to punish the Vaudwaar for past crimes..
Moral ambiguity does not necessarily make for more compelling drama. And in this case I felt it didn't.
I don't think I could stand by and watch a genocide. Doing that to another race is not only extremely wrong, but it removes once and for all the chance for anyone to repent of what they are doing and choose another way. Now, I don't think you'd ever get the Borg Queen to listen to reason--but to me the Kobali are in a different category and I would rather see them learn how to make better decisions. They aren't going around aggressively conquering, nor have they lost control of their virus, so as I see it, there is still time for them to turn around even though it would not be an *easy* thing.
*Sometimes* moral ambiguity can be good for drama but in my opinion, only in small doses. That's why I find it to be too much to have this arc AND all of the "your allies are awful" patrols. This arc should be the exception, not the rule.
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The 3 main characters missing from Delta Rising would be needed to story just can't make it feel like voyager with out them. Just feels like someone missing. Anyway I am looking forward to the next full missions.
The 3 main characters missing from Delta Rising would be needed to story just can't make it feel like voyager with out them. Just feels like someone missing. Anyway I am looking forward to the next full missions.
I believe there were more than three "missing" cast members. Who are you referring to specifically?
Also, I think that not having Janeway was actually the *smart* move from an in-universe perspective. Your Fed character is there to put a new face on the Alpha Quadrant.
BTW, sorry about the delay--I should be tackling progression/player experience of the story tonight, and delivering my overall verdict on the story tonight. Once that is done I will move into the game economy and customer relations section later in the week.
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(Note: This part of the review will not touch on the in-game or out-of-game business decisions; most of that will be in a later section. This section deals solely with the impact of leveling and progression issues on the player experience of the story.)
Unfortunately one of the most damaging things to the story--equaling and truly exceeding the Space Patrol missions--was the critical misjudgment that Cryptic made when it comes to leveling. Instead of being able to move seamlessly from mission to mission to mission, we are forcibly halted every one or two missions for a period of grinding that is even longer than the maybe two missions that we are given...combined.
This results in a complete break in immersion...and especially when you compound it with the (mostly) forgettable patrols, what should be a memorable showcase of art and talent (and I DO have to hand it to Cryptic's artists for the visuals) gets lost in a sea of mediocrity, frustration, and grind. This is not how leveling up should be. I fully understand the argument that leveling shouldn't take place as fast as it did before...and I actually had trouble with certain alts that leveled so fast through doffing, back in the day, that their leveling far outstripped the gear I was able to get for the ships.
But this wasn't the way to do it. In my opinion, the story content should have gone back to back. No ifs, ands, or buts. Which means one of two things: the XP amount should have been increased, the content amount should have been increased, or Cryptic should not have been so ambitious with raising the level cap, and should have taken baby steps toward the end goal instead. Surely 55 would have been easier to fill in content for, than 60?
I have to take a moment and compare my actual Delta Rising experience to two other things that I did in order to level during the "grind" periods...things that temporarily relieved the burden in a way Delta Rising itself absolutely failed to do. The first was, I discovered I had never run the Wasteland series with my main. Despite the inappropriateness of having a Federation toon go through that storyline, it still managed to be much more immersive, mainly because I could go back to back...and it kept me in the game--probably longer than I should have. But even that didn't equal running the Purity series in the Foundry, which I gained half a level on--and just like the Wasteland sequence, I ended up running them back to back and I definitely stayed in-game and awake much longer than I should because the story gave me something to care about and I could have more right away.
I do not object so much to the fact that it's not "one mission, one level" so much as to the fact that unless you do a ton of leveling and grinding beforehand, it is flatly impossible to experience Delta Rising as a cohesive whole. And this is a near deathblow to the story and almost even defeats all of the good things I discussed in the Space Mission and Kobali Ground arcs. Even if nothing else had been wrong with the in-game economics and risk/reward calculations, even had Cryptic not disastrously bungled their customer relations, this one fact alone would have been enough to taint Delta Rising with a sense of mediocrity and not enough.
And here's the kicker. I didn't even hit 60 by the end of "Takedown." The conclusion of all missions did not even deliver that reward...not even with all of the endless grinding I put in. I felt cheated, and it was very unfortunate for the end of "Takedown" to be tainted in that way.
Because of this, the experience that I got was not at all the one I wanted. Even with all of the good I've had to say thus far.
Could the storyline be reanimated?
If we are looking solely at the storyline, the question is raised...could it be resuscitated into something more rewarding for the player?
I think there are a few clear steps that should have been taken, and all but one of these is something Cryptic could undo if they are willing to recognize the damage they have done, and instead of trying to push out more new material, fix the mess that has been created. (This does not touch upon leveling fixes.)
1) The one opportunity Cryptic will never get back: "Mindscape" should have been released by itself and given the incompleteness of what we did get, been used as a delaying maneuver to allow the developers more time to actually fill out the rest of Delta Rising.
But more than just a cynical ploy--I actually think that for reasons of plot architecture, "Mindscape" would have been much better served this way. It is the climax and denouement of the Undine arc and the Tuvok vs. Cooperdine arcs and instead of being stuck onto Delta Rising as an out-of-place appendage, it should have been finessed even further and given the "Surface Tension" treatment in terms of its release. It should have been allowed to shine.
But that is an opportunity we will never have, and that I hope as a writer that Cryptic will learn from. Scene placement is everything and this placement failed and damaged something that treated as a stand-alone, was nothing short of incredible.
2) The patrol missions must be fleshed out. Period. The unnecessary clutter must be cut out and the seeds of ideas--particularly the Benthan and Cooperative arcs, should be developed in much further detail. (To actually see something like my version of the Benthan arc brought to life would be an absolute joy to me.) The patrols are nothing but a telltale that the job was not done when Delta Rising was released.
3) In the meantime, Cryptic should give serious thought to the idea of moving the level requirements down on all missions to where "Takedown" completes at Level 55. There simply is not enough content, and at this point I think the level cap increase from a storyline perspective has failed, and this may be the only way to contain the damage. New missions should be released beginning from 55 up. Players have exceeded 55 by now? Well, at least as new things are released people will actually be able to play them and might stand a chance of playing them in sequence.
A few other notes. The art was generally excellent...though with the glaring exception of the Seven of Nine model. I don't know what to say about how severely the facial likeness was missed except to say that either the artist's "eyes weren't up here" while working on it, or the decision was made not to bother because of a snap judgment that the player's eyes won't "be up here" and so it doesn't matter. I'm not sure what to say about that. I never have liked Seven as a character but I at least expected better from the art.
The final piece I will mention here is that I worry that there was too much of a focus on getting star power into Delta Rising and too little budgeted for development of other aspects of the story. It can't be anything to sneeze at, paying for five stars at a time to record for DR, and that would have to have pinched the budget in other areas. I fear that may have been one of the things that led to the rush to production and the half-done story. It also potentially has other financially dangerous implications as well, but that will be discussed much later on down the line.
That's not to say I did not appreciate most of the voice acting that we did get. I just think that perhaps it came at a cost that was much too great to justify most of it. And if I had had to pare down significantly, I would have selected Tim Russ as the constant voice the players have come to know and trust, and played him off of Ethan Phillips as Neelix.
It would probably have required a bit more imagination on the story end to work from a smaller cast, but there is an almost endless wealth of potential in the "Odd Couple" dynamic and quite frankly, while I mean no disrespect to Tim Russ, who runs a close second for an entirely different type of acting, Ethan Phillips is the most talented voice actor to ever grace the headphones of STO's player base. Period. The two of them would have been strong enough to carry the show--and perhaps should have done so.
So now to grade Delta Rising from a story perspective.
1) The Space Missions: B+
2) The Space Patrols: D
3) The Kobali Arc: A
4) Progression/Player's Ability to Experience the Storyline: F
Delta Rising's grade point average, assuming equal weight to all factors, is a measly 2.125.
That is low enough that in most colleges and universities you'd be on academic probation if not kicked out.
This is a C-.
A devastatingly low grade, especially when you consider the fact that two sections were extremely strong and do not deserve to be saddled with this sort of burden. After all of the good things I had to say, Cryptic--this result should be a serious wake-up call about the opportunities and assets squandered. If Cryptic wants grade forgiveness on any of these borderline and failing aspects, they'll need to get in and do a revamp that accounts seriously for player feedback.
And we have not even touched upon the aspects outside of the storyline. That will come next.
NEXT POST: The Cost-Analysis Matrix--In-Game Economics and the Risk/Reward Ratio, and replies from me to any unanswered comments.
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I realized on reread this morning that I did not direct any comments towards character development, though the overall story grade will not change as it was taken into account in my ratings.
So...
Character Development
Overall I felt like character development was hit-or-miss with the canon characters (and I will include Gaul and Hugh in this number as well), with Eldex and the Cooperdine being the other major named characters. I'm just going to go quickly down the list:
Tuvok and the Cooperdine: I am taking them together because their arcs go hand in hand. Tuvok continues to benefit from the development already done before, and I consider "Mindscape" to be a very effective further development of his arc when assessed as the stand-alone I believe it should have been. I think an opportunity was passed on...though it could also be the seed for a future story, to find out if the real Dr. Cooper lived or died, and also to understand more in the Cooperdine's final moments as to his reasoning for what he was doing.
Neelix: This was fairly decent--he has clearly grown in his skill set and usefulness, although his judgment still shows some weak areas and he is going to have to learn to be less trusting and forgiving if he is going to hold high office. Letting him wrestle with his feelings of vengeance was a good idea though.
Harry Kim: A promotion--finally. While it seems like he should have been an admiral by now, it is also reasonable to assume that being an eternal ensign under Janeway hurt his advancement for a while until his next CO (and I hope he got himself reassigned right away as I think that would have been in his best interests) was able to get an accurate measure for his real level of performance, which was likely far beyond his peers in rank due to his experiences. We also see him given a more forceful character and opinions, and he is memorable for what he thinks and believes, which he never was on the show. Cryptic has really done this character a great service.
The Doctor: While his character growth was more limited, this was to be expected of an AI constrained by programming. Consistency is all I ask for with him and that was adequately delivered.
Seven of Nine: Or as I believe was stated in the Path to 2409, she should be going by Annika Hansen. I was deeply disappointed in Annika and I lay this right at Cryptic's feet as the actress is better than her character ever was on VOY or here. I expected to see more progress by far on her path to humanity and more of the Borg persona shed. I expected her to be using her proper name. And I expected the art for her not to be utterly screwed up. Major fail here, Cryptic, in all aspects.
Gaul: As mentioned before it was nice to see that his treacherousness and brutality were not parasite-induced but that he really was that way. But we should have gotten more as to his motivations.
Hugh: This was a BIG opportunity wasted; we saw Hugh progress in canon from "infant" to "bitter teenager" (and he literally was a teenager) to leader-to-be. We should have had a chance, especially with a character whose whole point was the development of personality, to see how his opinions and mindsets have evolved. Even though there was no voice acting, the failure here was still palpable and part of the overall failure with the Cooperative.
Eldex: This was VERY well done. We understand his concerns and motivations, we ally with him, yet he is still kept alien, inscrutable, and not like us in values. I think we could've stood to get a bit more at the end about his plans for the future to know if he could become a threat or an ally, but overall he was very well developed.
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FYI Gulberat. Every member on voyager's crew got an instant 2 rank promotion when they got home. Harry instantly made LT SG. Chakota was promoted to Captain and took over Voyager after Janeway got promoted to RA UH. Even tom paris made LT Cmdr and became Voyager's XO.
So no, after voyager got home, Harry least got a step in the right direction. Plus I'm willing to bet once Harry got a taste of that Captain's chair, it's going to be a LONG while before he moves out of it.
But it was nice to FINALLY see the Rhode Island.
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I didn't actually watch a lot of VOY...was that stated in the episode?
I still suspect that the fact that Harry got no field promotions would have impacted his progression for a time until his new CO saw what kind of officer he really was, though.
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I didn't actually watch a lot of VOY...was that stated in the episode?
I still suspect that the fact that Harry got no field promotions would have impacted his progression for a time until his new CO saw what kind of officer he really was, though.
No, it was stated afterwards. Couple of soft cannon novels, but if you watch Star Trek Insurrection, Picard is taking his orders from ADMIRAL Janeway. So yeah, the entire crew got a 2 rank promotion.
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Since STO seems to only adhere to novel canon when they want to, I suppose it would be up to the devs to tell us what happened. Until then I think both interpretations are equally valid, seeing as we only have on-screen proof for Janeway, and what we see "on screen" or in the Path to 2409 for STO as official sources for our purposes.
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Since STO seems to only adhere to novel canon when they want to, I suppose it would be up to the devs to tell us what happened. Until then I think both interpretations are equally valid, seeing as we only have on-screen proof for Janeway, and what we see "on screen" or in the Path to 2409 for STO as official sources for our purposes.
Pretty much. I figure if janeway got it, much as sometimes I don't like her, she does watch out for her crew, so she'd make sure they all got the same kinds of promotions.
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Unfortunately certain parts of the game are in a pretty dire state. But I think one should pick one's battles rather than always charging in all guns blazing, and understand that to prove malice is a very high burden of proof and not jump to that conclusion.
There are a couple of kludges in the Foundry that can be used to give the illusion of branching paths between maps. One is to "tag" certain dialogue options so you know that if you select one, you must keep selecting options with the same tag in order to maintain a constant experience throughout the mission. The other...and one that I seriously wonder if Cryptic employs at times...is a trick where you don't actually change maps (some effects can help you fake it) but rather the objects on the same map vanish and reappear in different form on cue. The more you do that way the more cumbersome and quite possibly buggy and unstable it gets, though. It may be Cryptic uses a more advanced version of that sometimes. But I am not entirely sure that true branching paths is possible on their end, any more than it is on the Foundry version...the illusion may just be better in their missions than ours.
Can't prove it, but I do wonder that.
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FYI the next post is going to be different than what I said the last time. I've decided to start chronologically on the game economics/mechanics/customer service problems...which means going back to Tribble where the first indications of trouble were and one of the main chances Cryptic had to prevent a crisis. (The other major early chance would have been the suggestion I had that "Mindscape" should have been a stand-alone, which IMO could have easily bought two to three months' additional time from the player base to allow for development.)
So, the next post will focus on Tribble testing, decision-making, and communications issues.
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the next post will focus on Tribble testing, decision-making, and communications issues.
These are the biggest problems this game has right now and frankly most f2p mmo's are starting to follow this trend. Probably part of why I'm getting sick of mmo's in general along side the fact that game devs like to play it save and never do something (NEW) even when they (CLAIM) it's new.
I think cryptic should just get rid of tribble since they obviously don't use it and lets be honest, (THEY NEVER WILL). Cryptic and PWE have a (LONG) history of not listening to there (PAYING) customers. They keep treating us like second hand pieces of garbage and think we don't know better. It's common knowledge that some things were said by devs that should never have been said.
I'm well beyond the point where I think they can be saved but you never know. Stranger things have happened but only time will tell.
While it could well be a lost cause, one of things I hope to accomplish through a comprehensive review is to make the whole thing--bad and good--obvious for anyone, including the devs, to see, rather than just piecemeal praises and flames that I am not sure really accomplish much as they are so easily dismissed.
I also endeavor to do some root cause analysis to see if I can understand why things have gone wrong, and I even think I have a bit of an idea with Tribble. It is not acceptable, but perhaps if I can hit on the right root cause or close to it, it might make Cryptic actually see ways that solutions could be feasible.
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Comments
It is far better to be controversial--to be actively loathed by some--than to be forgotten.
That, in my opinion, is the key thing to remember when dealing with the Kobali Ground Arc. There has been a lot of controversy on the forum about the Kobali, their customs, and the specific actions they have taken that play a role in their current conflict with the Vaadwaur, and even after things start to look up for them, and I think it's a good controversy and a good discussion to be having because it means that Cryptic succeeded in making something strong enough that even with the broken progression and other storylines, people remember, care, and want to debate it.
Because of the structure of the Kobali Ground Arc, I am not really going to be able to separate it out into separate missions--but fortunately when you are actually playing it, this is not really a big deal because each mission follows one clear, coherent arc (unlike the Space Patrols), and every one of them starts exactly where the other one left off both in terms of story and where you actually have to go on the map. Even if you hit a significant leveling gap, you're not going to forget where you were and exactly what is going on when you last fought there. At least for me, I found myself really anticipating each level's subsequent trip to Kobali. It was a blessed relief, especially after each patrol and each other slog I had to endure in order to gain the level I needed to enter.
As far as the actual combat, I really enjoyed the intensity of it--the risk of getting ganked by another mob at any time, the fact that the Vaadwaur AI takes more advantage of even the simple defenses of crouching and making an active attempt to flank the player. You have to stay on your toes, crouch when you can and be ready to move if you get ganked. Going in with an all-DPS kit is not going to do any good--you must be ready to heal yourself and possibly your BOFFs as well because sometimes you need them as a distraction while you go after one of their drones. And the offensive drones are--surprise--programmed as best as I can tell, to find your back and shoot at it. I've never played Call of Duty or anything, but as far as STO goes I think I can say that this is some of the most intense ground combat for the speed and the quick thinking on your feet that you will have to do. And that right there was enough sometimes to give me the idea not to bother with transporter destinations but to fight my way out to where I needed to go.
So that plot.
The Kobali seem at first like they're going to be another Deferi--almost sickeningly inoffensive, sweet, and wouldn't hurt a fly. (Though at least to their credit they do actually make an attempt to fight unlike the cowardly Deferi who consider it "unbalanced" to fight but have no problem letting other people die for them.) But we quickly find out that there's even more to what we already know about their...questionable method of reproduction: that they have been exploiting a Vaadwaur stasis unit and instead of maintaining the stasis pods, allowing them to fail and swooping down on any pod that does, to make a Kobali out of the corpse. The Vaadwaur have found out about this and, understandably enraged, have decided to take any and all means to put an end to it.
This raises a very real ethical question that, unlike "Divide et Impera," we are allowed to explore and allowed to voice objections about if we wish. And I should also note that we get something very noticeably different in the Delta Quadrant in that Captain Kim--who has finally gotten promoted and developed a strong personality and set of opinions--actually recognizes and defers to the player-admiral's rank even though depending on what you say, he will clearly be unhappy with it.
We find out that the Vaadwaur have decided to not only create an antidote to the Kobali virus to keep their people from being turned into Kobali--but to destroy the Kobali race itself. And here's where I think the most interesting thing is to step back and compare this scenario to the ENT episode, "Extinction," where another species (the Loque'eque) which has similarly become unable to reproduce, and designs a virus to convert others into their own species. And just as in this case, another race, which was severely impacted by the actions of a race determined to survive at all costs, decides to do anything it takes to contain the virus and make sure it cannot infect anyone else--and woe betide anyone who might become infected.
I had to think long and hard about this one. What the Kobali were doing to the Vaadwaur was wrong, and was sufficient casus belli in their case for the Vaadwaur to go after them. And we also know from VOY that the Kobali pathogen can go wrong enough to cause serious psychological torment for some. There were, however, a few thin lines to separate the Kobali from the Loque'eque. One: the Loque'eque either lost control of their pathogen or decided that they did not care about stealing lives from the living. And two: the Kobali, as far as we know, at least did not cross the line of hastening the deaths of others. Theirs was a sin of omission as opposed to a sin of commission.
There are ways that with proper permission the Kobali could continue to do as they do...and as I alluded to in a post early on when DR first launched, I actually think the Ferengi would be a viable market as their culture has already monetized the corpses of the dead and may have the financial and legal structures already in place that could deal with this new approach. So, even as uncomfortable as I was--even as uncomfortable as Captain Kim was--I concluded there was no way I could accept the Vaadwaur going beyond innoculating their own against the virus and demanding their brethren returned to them...which in my mind, they had every right to do...and wiping the Kobali from existence.
I am also reminded of a sarcastic line from Seven of Nine that I remember her throwing out to the Borg Queen--that if the Queen approached matters differently, she might get volunteers. Well...the Kobali have the chance to put that in practice, and I do think that even if there is a drop in numbers, if they look to the right places, they really could. I also think an openness to other cultures would benefit them, if they would accept the memories and personalities of the revived rather than putting such emphasis on remaking these minds in their own image. Willing minds able to accept the change in physiology and fully aware of what is to happen when they die the first time...well...I'm not really a Doctor Who fan, but in some ways the willing could approach it much like being a Time Lord with a single regeneration, knowing that the body and mind will change but if the Kobali would adapt their techniques, the core of the person would remain.
They bear watching though--because the Kim duplicate they have kept, even knowing that another version of the very same man is on their planet, is a warning sign that their duplicitous ways may not be over.
But as I said before...the fact that this story could capture the imagination, ignite debate, even draw active hate from some, means to me that it succeeded in avoiding the sin of getting lost amidst the noise. I would rather see a controversial lightning rod of a personality that divides the player base, much as it was with Tovan Khev, than drown in the sea of the forgettable.
To me, the Kobali Ground Arc is an unreserved success and may even surpass the Space Missions in terms of the ability to be instantly memorable and cut through the noise. Even though I think some of my most favorite missions in Delta Rising were in the Space Missions, the Kobali Ground Arc is the story people will still be talking about and debating years on.
But when you take it all together...and bring the failed leveling mechanic into the mix, what happens to the story of Delta Rising? And can it be saved?
NEXT POST: The Progression and Experience of the Story. Also, my answers to unanswered comments in this thread.
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I think it would be a mistake on Cryptic's part to let those epic deeds be too great, if they went that route, or to show Obisek taking the reins of leadership without a struggle and without difficult times for him, even if he does succeed in the end. Getting into the history of the Sundering, though, could really be amazing considering the nods we have seen in STO to Diane Duane's work and also the "Vulcan's Noun" novels, as some call them.
I think tackling the prejudice head-on and letting its ramifications be felt for a while before justice wins out would be a bold move on Cryptic's part and a good one.
Sorry to disappoint. :P But at least unlike STO itself, you lose nothing but a little bit of time, between this and finding something more enjoyable for you to do.
Thank you so much for reading.
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Anyway...
While I don't know that I would go as far as to compare D'Tan to the willfully ignorant Chamberlain (D'Tan at least recognizes evil as evil and has no problem identifying the Tal Shiar as evil and as the enemy), I do agree that he can be extremely idealistic. He had the rose-colored glasses on too much when it came to dealing with the Iconian gateway on New Romulus for sure, and the ramifications of that move are very serious indeed. But I don't think he has the sort of malicious idiocy Chamberlain had (and I say malicious because Chamberlain willfully ignored Britain's treaty obligations to Poland).
I have kind of a feeling that during the Dominion War and Shinzon's reign (if he was alive then, and with the terrible stresses put on Remans from slavery, you do have to wonder despite likely being of Vulcan stock), I could almost have seen him as being a Rommel-type had it not been for the fact that unlike Rommel, who ignored pretty much all inhumane orders, Obisek was willing to use WMD's. Perhaps the "reformed" Obisek of later times would be a closer comparison to Rommel.
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You basically had Murderous Jerkbags Trying protect their people from Grave Robbers.
Who am I supposed to give a TRIBBLE about again?
For example, my Klingon main did most of the fighting culminating in the epic final ground assault on Kobali Prime and leading the Delta Alliance fleet at the glorious Battle of Vaadwaur Prime.
My Federation Scientist and Diplomat is doing all the diplomacy stuff, including the negotiations with Gaul.
My Reman is doing all the covert content.
1. Fabular:
nothing new, go to X system, talk with X, fight or scan...
in one of them u can use new equpiment: rope and thats all.
2. Patrol:
pew pew, pew pew...
3. Stf:
bugged korfez, iga, cga, vce and moore...
4. Difficulty:
npc have more hp, new ai setting not exist and where is rest of elite missions?
5. Kobali:
gj goes to designers, looks nice, have pottencial and unfortunelly is boring... why i can't use cannons or robot stuff then go to battle
6. Equipment:
more items, more ships, less balance...
7. Leveling:
too loong, to small xp reward, and spac points (2 active skill, 3 ship traits)
8. Crafting & Upgrade system:
u want x3 weapon, chance is like 1:300 (or more), u want upgrade it - cost of dilithium is gigantic.
9. Team:
bad/wrong decisions, 0 of professionalism.
10. Overall:
empty queues, grind, falling statistics. game over - people quit.
This is very much what I think and to me, it was done well in the Kobali arc, because there was also depth to go along with it.
I actually had much greater problems with the patrol missions, where due to the lack of background provided, and the repetitiveness, it *really* came off as Jerks For No Reason--the Turei being complete treacherous jerks comes to mind as a prime example. I just wanted to tell them to go jump off a bridge after that one and see if the Voth care enough to catch them. At least with the Kobali and Vaadwaur, you have to think hard about why each side thinks they're right and try to think about how it could be negotiated without a genocide on either side.
I do think, though, that we had three mainly reliable allies (morally): the Benthans, Talaxians, and Cooperative. Thankfully, or DR would have *really* taken a flying leap storywise into what TV Tropes calls the Crapsack Universe. It was getting dangerously close to that in the Space Patrols as it was.
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This is one of those times where I will contradict myself and that PWE should of done that from the get go. Gets us to actually do more than just one story over and over, but to get ALL of the story gotta play all 3 factions.
This is the kind of stuff they need to do in the future IMHO.
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Well, I was sitting on this because... I don't actually know why I sit on parts of ideas sometimes. Because I'm not getting paid for them and I want to see if other people can assemble the pieces without me, maybe? ;-)
I was playing with this idea that we have an arc:
- D'Tan dies in an attack. Obisek is made emergency Praetor and we're left to hunt down the traitors who killed D'Tan.
- We have an arc dealing with the Tal Shiar, traitors within the Republic, and new allies, even as other allies inform us of a discovery on the remains of Romulus. I think it would be fun if this arc were punctuated with something like a Kobali group running around the Alpha Quadrant, complicating things. Maybe even requesting D'Tan's body in an outrageously inappropriate moment. The whole way through, Obisek's support is shaky and we clash with a new racist Romulan Purity group.
- We race the Tal Shiar to make it there and find a failsafe that preserved 10 million Romulans. This creates all kinds of debate. It's 10 million but most of the planet still died. What does this do to the balance of power? Whose side will the survivors take? They've spent 30 years in there and time has moved on for them.
- Obisek makes the call to free them and undergoes a personal injury to do so. Loses an eye, perhaps? Loses his ship? Loses a son? This solidifies him mostly.
- We end with a cutscene as the New Romulus Council convenes to discuss "The Obisek Situation." They debate whether he's a useful puppet or whether his heritage makes him a threat. They elect to have a vote on whether to depose him... and everyone who votes against him is killed. We learn that there was a conspiracy within the pro-Obisek portion of the council. They have decided he's a useful puppet and that there is no utilitarian purpose in racial pride.
"As the Vulcans, would say, bigotry is not logical."
"Logical? It is simply not to our tactical advantage. Begin the purge."
And then we find out that the Romulan racial purity movement was a trap set by the council, who wanted Obisek positioned as a ceremonial leader. And they begin executing all the racist Romulans. The entire "movement" was bait for the backwards Romulans they wanted to purge. The council's goal all along was to secretly execute the bigoted Romulans (after using them to kill D'Tan) in order to provide a unified front and present the Republic as a progressive and forward thinking empire.
MY GOD! IT'S FULL OF STARS! I'd upvote if i could but I cannot. So much intrigue double and triple think, good lord man. You should write bond flicks!
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I was also torn on the Kobali. On one hand they're essentially farming the Vaadwaur stasis pods and hiding the fact that they even exist from the people trying to protect them from the same Vaadwaur who want their people back (which presumably results in significant loss of life on the part of the alliance), but on the other hand the Vaadwaur are essentially fanatics and don't seem to have any issues at all with things like genocide or wanton murder just for the sake of it. Eldex doesn't seem to have many issues with these things either, his only concern is getting rid of the parasites that are harming his own people and the way I see it he's only using the alliance as a means to an end.
I'm in the minority of people who actually liked Neelix on Voyager, mostly because really GOOD comic relief is hard to find and he nailed it. I like him even more in STO since he's moved past just being good for a laugh and is actually useful in his own right. The voice acting being so good doesn't hurt either.
I had a similar plot living in my head just without the Kobali part, only Obisek discovers the trap ahead of time and allows it to happen, then arrests the council members involved in it and goes public with what he discovered but makes it seem like he didn't find out until after it was all over and is just as shocked as everyone else by their betrayal. He has them put on trial and lets the Republic citizens decide their fate, knowing they wouldn't have much choice but to look to him for leadership afterward regardless of what they decide to do with the Council. He pretty much manipulates the situation so he'll be put in charge after D'Tan is killed since he doesn't trust anyone else to do the job.
"Unfortunately things like morality have no place when you're fighting for the very survival of your people. Romulan or Reman, it doesn't matter to me. Some of us have moved beyond the ways of the old Empire and they are all my people now, they are free, and they will stay that way."
That would certainly be very interesting...though with some of the other problems in the game--i.e. the grind and the economics--I wonder if Cryptic has cut themselves out of that opportunity. Because who wants to spend the time to do all of that as it currently is? :-/
Exactly. The Benthans don't have time for pity parties or playing the victim card, even though I am sure they're smart enough to know full well that Janeway's actions caused or exacerbated a lot of the problems they have to deal with. It doesn't mean they have to be able to do everything on their own, and can't genuinely need help--but I would rather help someone who is giving it their all because I know my efforts are a lot less likely to be wasted. (Sometimes you have to help under other circumstances too. But you tend to have the best outcome when helping those who want to make themselves an active part of the solution.)
Yeah, and that is also why I would've liked to hear more from Eldex at the end of "Takedown," to get a sense of if he either came around, or if he is a potential threat to the quadrant like Gaul, just in a more...well...sane way.
I would not have objected if the Vaadwaur had only made a vaccine strictly to prevent their own people from being made into Kobali--I would not object to anyone who felt they needed to do that. But the genocide bit was way too far.
I didn't mind Neelix either, though I wouldn't say he was my favorite character or anything. But I think you're right how his usefulness is more on display here than it was on the series. That could have been used even more, such as having him chew out the Talaxians who felt like talking smack to a Vaadwaur was a good idea, and perhaps see a reflection in that of his own behavior at times.
I am not sure the mechanic exists to have those sort of map-to-map repercussions even within a mission, unfortunately, let alone from mission to mission. I have tried my hand at the Foundry and that was one of the limitations I ran up against, hard. In the absence of that ability, I think that doing away with the patrols as required material and drawing the mission seeds from them is the best way to remedy DR as a story.
I am not sure there is anything that can be done short of a complete revamp. :-/
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Except that my answer to the question would have been to help neither, because neither of them was morally right. Just because the Kobali are more polite about it doesn't make what they did okay.
The only reason I did those missions was to progress the story, and the only way I could justify it in my imagination was because I wanted to punish the Vaudwaar for past crimes..
Moral ambiguity does not necessarily make for more compelling drama. And in this case I felt it didn't.
*Sometimes* moral ambiguity can be good for drama but in my opinion, only in small doses. That's why I find it to be too much to have this arc AND all of the "your allies are awful" patrols. This arc should be the exception, not the rule.
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Time will only tell!
I believe there were more than three "missing" cast members. Who are you referring to specifically?
Also, I think that not having Janeway was actually the *smart* move from an in-universe perspective. Your Fed character is there to put a new face on the Alpha Quadrant.
BTW, sorry about the delay--I should be tackling progression/player experience of the story tonight, and delivering my overall verdict on the story tonight. Once that is done I will move into the game economy and customer relations section later in the week.
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(Note: This part of the review will not touch on the in-game or out-of-game business decisions; most of that will be in a later section. This section deals solely with the impact of leveling and progression issues on the player experience of the story.)
Unfortunately one of the most damaging things to the story--equaling and truly exceeding the Space Patrol missions--was the critical misjudgment that Cryptic made when it comes to leveling. Instead of being able to move seamlessly from mission to mission to mission, we are forcibly halted every one or two missions for a period of grinding that is even longer than the maybe two missions that we are given...combined.
This results in a complete break in immersion...and especially when you compound it with the (mostly) forgettable patrols, what should be a memorable showcase of art and talent (and I DO have to hand it to Cryptic's artists for the visuals) gets lost in a sea of mediocrity, frustration, and grind. This is not how leveling up should be. I fully understand the argument that leveling shouldn't take place as fast as it did before...and I actually had trouble with certain alts that leveled so fast through doffing, back in the day, that their leveling far outstripped the gear I was able to get for the ships.
But this wasn't the way to do it. In my opinion, the story content should have gone back to back. No ifs, ands, or buts. Which means one of two things: the XP amount should have been increased, the content amount should have been increased, or Cryptic should not have been so ambitious with raising the level cap, and should have taken baby steps toward the end goal instead. Surely 55 would have been easier to fill in content for, than 60?
I have to take a moment and compare my actual Delta Rising experience to two other things that I did in order to level during the "grind" periods...things that temporarily relieved the burden in a way Delta Rising itself absolutely failed to do. The first was, I discovered I had never run the Wasteland series with my main. Despite the inappropriateness of having a Federation toon go through that storyline, it still managed to be much more immersive, mainly because I could go back to back...and it kept me in the game--probably longer than I should have. But even that didn't equal running the Purity series in the Foundry, which I gained half a level on--and just like the Wasteland sequence, I ended up running them back to back and I definitely stayed in-game and awake much longer than I should because the story gave me something to care about and I could have more right away.
I do not object so much to the fact that it's not "one mission, one level" so much as to the fact that unless you do a ton of leveling and grinding beforehand, it is flatly impossible to experience Delta Rising as a cohesive whole. And this is a near deathblow to the story and almost even defeats all of the good things I discussed in the Space Mission and Kobali Ground arcs. Even if nothing else had been wrong with the in-game economics and risk/reward calculations, even had Cryptic not disastrously bungled their customer relations, this one fact alone would have been enough to taint Delta Rising with a sense of mediocrity and not enough.
And here's the kicker. I didn't even hit 60 by the end of "Takedown." The conclusion of all missions did not even deliver that reward...not even with all of the endless grinding I put in. I felt cheated, and it was very unfortunate for the end of "Takedown" to be tainted in that way.
Because of this, the experience that I got was not at all the one I wanted. Even with all of the good I've had to say thus far.
Could the storyline be reanimated?
If we are looking solely at the storyline, the question is raised...could it be resuscitated into something more rewarding for the player?
I think there are a few clear steps that should have been taken, and all but one of these is something Cryptic could undo if they are willing to recognize the damage they have done, and instead of trying to push out more new material, fix the mess that has been created. (This does not touch upon leveling fixes.)
1) The one opportunity Cryptic will never get back: "Mindscape" should have been released by itself and given the incompleteness of what we did get, been used as a delaying maneuver to allow the developers more time to actually fill out the rest of Delta Rising.
But more than just a cynical ploy--I actually think that for reasons of plot architecture, "Mindscape" would have been much better served this way. It is the climax and denouement of the Undine arc and the Tuvok vs. Cooperdine arcs and instead of being stuck onto Delta Rising as an out-of-place appendage, it should have been finessed even further and given the "Surface Tension" treatment in terms of its release. It should have been allowed to shine.
But that is an opportunity we will never have, and that I hope as a writer that Cryptic will learn from. Scene placement is everything and this placement failed and damaged something that treated as a stand-alone, was nothing short of incredible.
2) The patrol missions must be fleshed out. Period. The unnecessary clutter must be cut out and the seeds of ideas--particularly the Benthan and Cooperative arcs, should be developed in much further detail. (To actually see something like my version of the Benthan arc brought to life would be an absolute joy to me.) The patrols are nothing but a telltale that the job was not done when Delta Rising was released.
3) In the meantime, Cryptic should give serious thought to the idea of moving the level requirements down on all missions to where "Takedown" completes at Level 55. There simply is not enough content, and at this point I think the level cap increase from a storyline perspective has failed, and this may be the only way to contain the damage. New missions should be released beginning from 55 up. Players have exceeded 55 by now? Well, at least as new things are released people will actually be able to play them and might stand a chance of playing them in sequence.
A few other notes. The art was generally excellent...though with the glaring exception of the Seven of Nine model. I don't know what to say about how severely the facial likeness was missed except to say that either the artist's "eyes weren't up here" while working on it, or the decision was made not to bother because of a snap judgment that the player's eyes won't "be up here" and so it doesn't matter. I'm not sure what to say about that. I never have liked Seven as a character but I at least expected better from the art.
The final piece I will mention here is that I worry that there was too much of a focus on getting star power into Delta Rising and too little budgeted for development of other aspects of the story. It can't be anything to sneeze at, paying for five stars at a time to record for DR, and that would have to have pinched the budget in other areas. I fear that may have been one of the things that led to the rush to production and the half-done story. It also potentially has other financially dangerous implications as well, but that will be discussed much later on down the line.
That's not to say I did not appreciate most of the voice acting that we did get. I just think that perhaps it came at a cost that was much too great to justify most of it. And if I had had to pare down significantly, I would have selected Tim Russ as the constant voice the players have come to know and trust, and played him off of Ethan Phillips as Neelix.
It would probably have required a bit more imagination on the story end to work from a smaller cast, but there is an almost endless wealth of potential in the "Odd Couple" dynamic and quite frankly, while I mean no disrespect to Tim Russ, who runs a close second for an entirely different type of acting, Ethan Phillips is the most talented voice actor to ever grace the headphones of STO's player base. Period. The two of them would have been strong enough to carry the show--and perhaps should have done so.
So now to grade Delta Rising from a story perspective.
1) The Space Missions: B+
2) The Space Patrols: D
3) The Kobali Arc: A
4) Progression/Player's Ability to Experience the Storyline: F
Delta Rising's grade point average, assuming equal weight to all factors, is a measly 2.125.
That is low enough that in most colleges and universities you'd be on academic probation if not kicked out.
This is a C-.
A devastatingly low grade, especially when you consider the fact that two sections were extremely strong and do not deserve to be saddled with this sort of burden. After all of the good things I had to say, Cryptic--this result should be a serious wake-up call about the opportunities and assets squandered. If Cryptic wants grade forgiveness on any of these borderline and failing aspects, they'll need to get in and do a revamp that accounts seriously for player feedback.
And we have not even touched upon the aspects outside of the storyline. That will come next.
NEXT POST: The Cost-Analysis Matrix--In-Game Economics and the Risk/Reward Ratio, and replies from me to any unanswered comments.
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So...
Character Development
Overall I felt like character development was hit-or-miss with the canon characters (and I will include Gaul and Hugh in this number as well), with Eldex and the Cooperdine being the other major named characters. I'm just going to go quickly down the list:
Tuvok and the Cooperdine: I am taking them together because their arcs go hand in hand. Tuvok continues to benefit from the development already done before, and I consider "Mindscape" to be a very effective further development of his arc when assessed as the stand-alone I believe it should have been. I think an opportunity was passed on...though it could also be the seed for a future story, to find out if the real Dr. Cooper lived or died, and also to understand more in the Cooperdine's final moments as to his reasoning for what he was doing.
Neelix: This was fairly decent--he has clearly grown in his skill set and usefulness, although his judgment still shows some weak areas and he is going to have to learn to be less trusting and forgiving if he is going to hold high office. Letting him wrestle with his feelings of vengeance was a good idea though.
Harry Kim: A promotion--finally. While it seems like he should have been an admiral by now, it is also reasonable to assume that being an eternal ensign under Janeway hurt his advancement for a while until his next CO (and I hope he got himself reassigned right away as I think that would have been in his best interests) was able to get an accurate measure for his real level of performance, which was likely far beyond his peers in rank due to his experiences. We also see him given a more forceful character and opinions, and he is memorable for what he thinks and believes, which he never was on the show. Cryptic has really done this character a great service.
The Doctor: While his character growth was more limited, this was to be expected of an AI constrained by programming. Consistency is all I ask for with him and that was adequately delivered.
Seven of Nine: Or as I believe was stated in the Path to 2409, she should be going by Annika Hansen. I was deeply disappointed in Annika and I lay this right at Cryptic's feet as the actress is better than her character ever was on VOY or here. I expected to see more progress by far on her path to humanity and more of the Borg persona shed. I expected her to be using her proper name. And I expected the art for her not to be utterly screwed up. Major fail here, Cryptic, in all aspects.
Gaul: As mentioned before it was nice to see that his treacherousness and brutality were not parasite-induced but that he really was that way. But we should have gotten more as to his motivations.
Hugh: This was a BIG opportunity wasted; we saw Hugh progress in canon from "infant" to "bitter teenager" (and he literally was a teenager) to leader-to-be. We should have had a chance, especially with a character whose whole point was the development of personality, to see how his opinions and mindsets have evolved. Even though there was no voice acting, the failure here was still palpable and part of the overall failure with the Cooperative.
Eldex: This was VERY well done. We understand his concerns and motivations, we ally with him, yet he is still kept alien, inscrutable, and not like us in values. I think we could've stood to get a bit more at the end about his plans for the future to know if he could become a threat or an ally, but overall he was very well developed.
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So no, after voyager got home, Harry least got a step in the right direction. Plus I'm willing to bet once Harry got a taste of that Captain's chair, it's going to be a LONG while before he moves out of it.
But it was nice to FINALLY see the Rhode Island.
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I still suspect that the fact that Harry got no field promotions would have impacted his progression for a time until his new CO saw what kind of officer he really was, though.
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No, it was stated afterwards. Couple of soft cannon novels, but if you watch Star Trek Insurrection, Picard is taking his orders from ADMIRAL Janeway. So yeah, the entire crew got a 2 rank promotion.
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Pretty much. I figure if janeway got it, much as sometimes I don't like her, she does watch out for her crew, so she'd make sure they all got the same kinds of promotions.
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There are a couple of kludges in the Foundry that can be used to give the illusion of branching paths between maps. One is to "tag" certain dialogue options so you know that if you select one, you must keep selecting options with the same tag in order to maintain a constant experience throughout the mission. The other...and one that I seriously wonder if Cryptic employs at times...is a trick where you don't actually change maps (some effects can help you fake it) but rather the objects on the same map vanish and reappear in different form on cue. The more you do that way the more cumbersome and quite possibly buggy and unstable it gets, though. It may be Cryptic uses a more advanced version of that sometimes. But I am not entirely sure that true branching paths is possible on their end, any more than it is on the Foundry version...the illusion may just be better in their missions than ours.
Can't prove it, but I do wonder that.
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So, the next post will focus on Tribble testing, decision-making, and communications issues.
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These are the biggest problems this game has right now and frankly most f2p mmo's are starting to follow this trend. Probably part of why I'm getting sick of mmo's in general along side the fact that game devs like to play it save and never do something (NEW) even when they (CLAIM) it's new.
I think cryptic should just get rid of tribble since they obviously don't use it and lets be honest, (THEY NEVER WILL). Cryptic and PWE have a (LONG) history of not listening to there (PAYING) customers. They keep treating us like second hand pieces of garbage and think we don't know better. It's common knowledge that some things were said by devs that should never have been said.
I'm well beyond the point where I think they can be saved but you never know. Stranger things have happened but only time will tell.
I also endeavor to do some root cause analysis to see if I can understand why things have gone wrong, and I even think I have a bit of an idea with Tribble. It is not acceptable, but perhaps if I can hit on the right root cause or close to it, it might make Cryptic actually see ways that solutions could be feasible.
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