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Sector Space Revamp: Regarding Cestus' New Location...
millybun
Member Posts: 232 Arc User
Without getting into too much initial detail, Cestus (and the Mutara Nebula, by extension) has a new location to the far other corner of the quadrant. This was done for gameplay purposes, to follow the placement of the Borg mission content.
This isn't necessarily game-breaking, but there is an immersion-related issue with it. Let me explain...
This Sector Space revamp is breaking down the old barriers and opening up the quadrants into a more seamless fashion, and this change allows the devs to do things like follow the Star Trek: Star Charts book more closely. Now the devs don't have to follow it, but it does add a sense of unity to portions of Star Trek background, since many parts of the Star Charts are thoroughly constructed based on deductions made from the many episodes and movies, despite their own inaccuracies. So it's neat to feel like you're following the same warp trail others have gone, or making your own alongside them.
In regards to topic, this is slightly important in that Cestus is also supposed to be basically on or in the borders of Gorn territory (first mentioned in the TOS episode "The Arena") , which itself has to be close enough for the Klingons to forcibly annex into becoming Klingon Empire territory (as per STO lore). This is all valid with how Star Charts places all involved.
Again though, gameplay does trump lore at times, which is understandable. However, I'm not certain why Cestus can't be renamed, then. Or Mutara, or etc.
I don't recall Cestus being particularly important in any way within STO, as it could have been any old colony for any content related to it, currently. Foundry missions may be tied to it, but there might be ways to avoid breaking those, too.
So, first, I'm basically asking why can't this be done? I was pointed to CommanderAnder and/or GroverCleveland for this question, so if they or others in the know could respond, I would be grateful.
Secondly, I do have a few generalized suggestions of my own, possibly already discussed and passed on as undoable, at least at this time, but I'll mention them anyway.
1.) As per above, rename the current Cestus to something else, as well as all references to it that are needed for the mission(s) to progress smoothly. Same could be done for locations like the Mutara Nebula, as we know there are other Mutara-class nebulas out there.
2.) I saw someone also suggest doing the above suggestion and placing a "real" Cestus down at the southern border of the quadrant map. It won't necessarily be its exact location, but it'll be much closer to it until the possible day that the map is expanded down that way. Which would be really cool, by the way.
3.) Another thought I've had is perhaps a little backwards, but it'd do until a further quadrant expansion someday: open up a "new," small sector block that is basically how Gamma Orionis is on Holodeck currently, except Star Charts friendly and with Foundry doors.
It could be made more compatible with Star Charts; it could be a place for more Foundry doors, and is lore-friendly since we've been traveling down about that far using a transwarp gate anyway. I imagine we could still use the Federation's transwarp network, despite the little mention it gets. The Borg missions need not follow Cestus, Mutara, and etc. back down, as it might be more interesting to think of them as "invading elsewhere after their failures around Cestus."
This basically means opening up a small slice of remote Federation territory way down south of the map that's currently only reachable via the transwarp network, separate from the new Borg-invaded territory in the north-east. It doesn't need official missions (though Cestus/Mutara/Gorn-related content would be fun to see in the future), just Foundry doors for the systems.
If anyone has further ideas for Cestus and any of its canon/soft-canon-related neighbors like Mutara and their position, would like to hear those as well.
This isn't necessarily game-breaking, but there is an immersion-related issue with it. Let me explain...
This Sector Space revamp is breaking down the old barriers and opening up the quadrants into a more seamless fashion, and this change allows the devs to do things like follow the Star Trek: Star Charts book more closely. Now the devs don't have to follow it, but it does add a sense of unity to portions of Star Trek background, since many parts of the Star Charts are thoroughly constructed based on deductions made from the many episodes and movies, despite their own inaccuracies. So it's neat to feel like you're following the same warp trail others have gone, or making your own alongside them.
In regards to topic, this is slightly important in that Cestus is also supposed to be basically on or in the borders of Gorn territory (first mentioned in the TOS episode "The Arena") , which itself has to be close enough for the Klingons to forcibly annex into becoming Klingon Empire territory (as per STO lore). This is all valid with how Star Charts places all involved.
Again though, gameplay does trump lore at times, which is understandable. However, I'm not certain why Cestus can't be renamed, then. Or Mutara, or etc.
I don't recall Cestus being particularly important in any way within STO, as it could have been any old colony for any content related to it, currently. Foundry missions may be tied to it, but there might be ways to avoid breaking those, too.
So, first, I'm basically asking why can't this be done? I was pointed to CommanderAnder and/or GroverCleveland for this question, so if they or others in the know could respond, I would be grateful.
Secondly, I do have a few generalized suggestions of my own, possibly already discussed and passed on as undoable, at least at this time, but I'll mention them anyway.
1.) As per above, rename the current Cestus to something else, as well as all references to it that are needed for the mission(s) to progress smoothly. Same could be done for locations like the Mutara Nebula, as we know there are other Mutara-class nebulas out there.
2.) I saw someone also suggest doing the above suggestion and placing a "real" Cestus down at the southern border of the quadrant map. It won't necessarily be its exact location, but it'll be much closer to it until the possible day that the map is expanded down that way. Which would be really cool, by the way.
3.) Another thought I've had is perhaps a little backwards, but it'd do until a further quadrant expansion someday: open up a "new," small sector block that is basically how Gamma Orionis is on Holodeck currently, except Star Charts friendly and with Foundry doors.
It could be made more compatible with Star Charts; it could be a place for more Foundry doors, and is lore-friendly since we've been traveling down about that far using a transwarp gate anyway. I imagine we could still use the Federation's transwarp network, despite the little mention it gets. The Borg missions need not follow Cestus, Mutara, and etc. back down, as it might be more interesting to think of them as "invading elsewhere after their failures around Cestus."
This basically means opening up a small slice of remote Federation territory way down south of the map that's currently only reachable via the transwarp network, separate from the new Borg-invaded territory in the north-east. It doesn't need official missions (though Cestus/Mutara/Gorn-related content would be fun to see in the future), just Foundry doors for the systems.
If anyone has further ideas for Cestus and any of its canon/soft-canon-related neighbors like Mutara and their position, would like to hear those as well.
Post edited by millybun on
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Might also improve performance in the main Beta Quadrant sector space map, although I don't know if that's going to be much of an issue.
Also, I like the current sector names in that area of the map and would prefer to keep them
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