In Geko's recent P1 interview, he discussed possible new factions being added at some point in the future. The factions he mentioned specifically were: Cardassian, Dominion, Liberated Borg, and Mirror Universe.
never mind the rest of it asking for an opinion, the only way you will see this through if it means anything since its not written down anywhere; the cardassians and the borg are likely the only two that are an actual viable option.
i mean for the dominion, its a silly choice to make, the dominion are imperialists, unforgiven of mistakes and adding them to the main storyline to travel under new romulus would be even more silly and taking orders from starfleet officers and klingon officers alike. there is no chance of them being solid allies with anyone from the alpha or beta quadrant. aside from a few former allies, the breen and son'a, the rest of the quadrants are still very wary of the dominion and for most its like a ww2 situation with the TRIBBLE. it would mean building up a few sector blocks, a whole storyline like the romulan republic and connecting all the dots, cryptic did it before they could do it again. the issue is the storyline and the canon history.
for the mirror universe, it means building a whole new universe up from stratch, it would have to include the klingon-cardassian alliance and the terran empire, several non aligned races including the romulans the ferengi and the unknown tholians. it would mean building a whole new reason for why the terrans are trying to cause trouble in the prime universe and what the klingon-cardassians are planning and if they have any issue themselves with the prime universe. it would be a massive undertaking, i dont see it as viable for any near future project for sure.
to the last 2;
the cardassians can be taken under the official government military officers, and act the same way the rr has operated, or leave the cardassians out of the pvp entirely and make them a full of faction instead, build up a whole new storyline, add a few more planets and systems to that end, bring in more on the tholians, breen, bajoran and the dominion if needed, but the focus should be on the true way effort in great detail and the federation treaty from 35 years ago.
the borg can get a liberated faction set in the DQ, again not in pvp and a full faction, have its own full storyline and expanded on delta quadrant should appeal more to the story writers and the devs for a bit more creativity. it can delve into the borg background, the borg enemy the liberated are fighting against, potential allies and working it out with the octanti and generally every other race out there for everything done in the past by doing good. but no cubes, it would be a disaster in the making on pvp when players run around in tactical fusi... i mean tactical cubes, its hard enough to take down a tac cube in regular and thats just against an AI, imagine how much harder it would be in player hands and the size would be absurd.
but in writing all that, the same was stated of a few things in the past where i thought it would be impossible. cryptic writers did find a way around it in a convincing enough manner, so its unlikely for the first 2 but i never stated its not going to happen either.
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First, if Cryptic is going to add another Faction to STO, then they would almost certainly do it the same way that they did with Romulans. That being said, the best candidate for that model in-game are the Cardassians. And if any faction should become a playable Faction in-game, it should be the Cardassians. The lockbox Galor really is a non-issue, as there are plenty of Cardassian ships that could still be made for a Cardassian Faction, just give them a new Galor (maybe T6) with better stats.
The Dominion as a Faction doesn't work, in my opinion, for story reasons, plus the fact that, yes, they've given away all the best/canon ships already in lockboxes/Lobi store. Had the T6 JHSS not been made, maybe that could've been worked around, but I think now it's better if they just continue on with making new T6 Jem'Hadar lockbox/Lobi ships.
Barring Cardassians though, perhaps a better idea for a Fourth Faction would be to make it a generic story (following a similar line as the Romulan story) starting out on a generic colony world, disaster strikes and you're fighting for your life. Eventually, you end up picking a side (FED/KDF) and go from there. Throw in any number of new and old playable species, and done. Then adding new playable species and ships becomes less of a hassle without the need to create Faction after Faction.
As for Liberated Borg as a playable Faction, I don't agree with the idea.
First, the only story concept that a Faction really works for is the Cooperative and they have been exclusively shown in the Delta Quadrant, which is, at the moment, endgame. As the game has always started out in the Beta Quadrant, it would be a stretch (though not impossible) to have the Cooperative here as well. Additionally, the Cooperative are not true Liberated Borg, as they still share a hive mind that basically forces cooperation between the various disparate species that would otherwise be at odds. While I'm sure some interesting gameplay mechanic could be devised to emulate this, I still don't think that is the way to go.
Second, outside of the Cooperative, true Liberated Borg have been shown to return to their society of origin. Our in-game examples show this as well with playable LibBorg Humans/Klingons/Romulans, even LT Gaius Selan. So, true Liberated Borg wouldn't make sense as a new Faction, but rather as a playable species, and as we already have this as an LTS perk, it would diminish that if it were offered up to everyone, and playable Talaxians just wouldn't make up for that lost exclusive.
That being said, if Cryptic is determined to let everyone play as Liberated Borg at some point, I have a possible solution, and one that wouldn't even require players to re-roll a toon:
As Cryptic continues to revamp story arcs, eventually they will get to the Borg Advance story arc again. During the mission "Assimilation," it is possible to become assimilated by the Borg and earn the Assimilated accolade. I propose that earning said accolade would award the in Space: +30 Starship Warp Core Efficiency and on Ground: +10% Health Regeneration, +6% Shield Regeneration that are given to playable LibBorg, plus unlock the Borg Neural Blast Trait, effectively allowing any toon to play functionally as a Liberated Borg.
Further, the STF mission, Khitomer in Stasis, also awards an Assimilated accolade, and I propose that this accolade, while already granting a LibBorg Science BOFF, also unlock Borg prosthetics and costume options for the playable toon.
These changes would be retroactive for anyone who has already earned the accolades. Players who did not or have yet to earn the accolades would, of course, be able to. This change would open all species to being played as Liberated Borg, and make becoming assimilated/liberated a part of the gameplay/storyline.
LTS, of course, have the advantage of being able to start the game as LibBorg, but to give them something back, I propose that LTS be able to choose any species to start as LibBorg, rather than the current Human/Klingon/Romulan restriction. Also they would be given all of the Borg prosthetics and costume options from the start with the added bonus of being able to use said prosthetics and costume options on all of their BOFFs.
And Borg ships...? I say put them in a lockbox/Lobi store. If players truly do want to fly a Borg Cube as much as they claim, I'm sure key sales will go through the roof.
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I voted no for new faction. My opinion isn't set in stone, I don't think it will hurt the game at all, but I'm just not excited about the idea of a new faction.
Afterwards though
1. Dominion
2. Mirror Universe
3. Cardassians
4. Borg
All based exclusively and selfishly on who/what I think will be coolest to play. The developers ofcourse can decide if and how a faction is worth doing and they're the ones who will veto an idea if it won't work.
The Dominion represent the largest and most diverse group of races outside the Federation, and the most interesting culture. Urban, civilized, while also ruthlessly cold and efficient. When the Klingons spend the lives of their soldiers, it's a great honor and every Klingon agrees about it. When the Dominion spends the lives of their soldiers, it's a line in the ledger of a Vorta, beneath the notice of a Founder, and the greatest honor a Jem'Hadar can ever have.
The Mirror Universe, though it was a hard choice between them and the Cardassians. I'm not sure if I'd want them played as recovering sociopaths who are trying to be better, but it's so hard to not be *******s, or if I'd play them as magnificent TRIBBLE. Either way, done with enough cut loose brutality, they can create a contrast with the Federation that paradoxically makes Federation players feel more like they're in Starfleet.
Cardassians, fit the Legacy of Romulus mold best of all. They were trying to rebuild their destroyed society before it was cool, after all. They're working with both the Federation and the KDF. They've been getting dragged into every Alliance kicking and screaming. Plus they are just a cool and alien civilization.
The Borg, from a story standpoint I hate the idea of care-bear Borg. Will not play one, even out of curiosity. From a game mechanic standpoint they make the most sense and if I were betting on which faction we see next, it would be the Borg Cooperative. Cryptic has already established a bit of their backstory, so they don't come as surprise to anyone. They have different enough technology than what we've seen in game that they can justify a few unique mechanics, similar to Quantum Warpcores, to allow them to bring something new in.
I love the idea of Borg or mirror universe, but as they are in totally different and isolated zones there is no way to link them to the under 50 content already in game which is either a big loss of content for that faction or an amazingly high amount of work so I can't see how it will be done well.
Dominion doesn't really give you good options as a player. To be honest, I think these options were said to throw people of the scent.
So my preference is cardassian. If done well, they would be amazing and would link easily into the current system. Looking forward to it later this year maybe?
How about an"independent freelancer" faction that can be races from any of the 3 main factions, is not affiliated with anyone, but can do "contract work" for them all (read: can do each race's faction quests as long as they aren't directly related to faction-only stories such as the tutorials). They would, of course, get their own tutorial and home base ("Mercenary Guildhouse" or some such)
That would allow Cryptic to bring in more non-faction ships as seen in the series, and even go nuts creating new ones since they don't have to conform to any special style.
They could also create a series of new missions from the point of view of a freelancer.
That idea might not be particularly well thought out, but its a good start I think. I, for one, would gladly shell out money for freelancer ships if such a faction was created!
As I said in the OP, this thread is based on the choices Geko mentioned in his recent P1 interview. For better or worse, Undine and "freelancer" were not options he mentioned.
In the proposed Mirror Universe faction, would the content require more than simple DPS? Perhaps needing some tanking, healing and utility? If not, what's the point?
Cardassian and dominion are must have ofc.
I just don't get why people would like to have borg, or mirror universe it's just so stupid.:rolleyes:
I would rather have Breen, ferengi, or some merchant/civilian faction.
I like the Mirror Universe idea. Simply because of the jokes we've told for five years regarding how Terran Empire the behavior of Federation faction game come across. To move that game play style into a Terran Empire faction would challenge the Devs to make Federation game play more distinct.
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Cardassian and dominion are must have ofc.
I just don't get why people would like to have borg, or mirror universe it's just so stupid.:rolleyes:
I would rather have Breen, ferengi, or some merchant/civilian faction.
The Klingon faction has come a long way by way of content, and its set up since launch. It still needs allot of work, and the upgrades they are working on is a start but not a completion. The Romulan faction is still a half faction. It is not whole and complete. Pvp has been utterly nuked, due to the removal of pvp vendors, and delta rising. With all this why in all the star trek universe, would you even consider coming out with a new faction?
If they are considering blundering by making another faction, I would go with the Borg. Note not liberated Borg. If you have ever played the star trek Armada 2 campaign for the Borg, its not hard to see how they could do that. Instead of choice in conversations, instead emotion in conversations for missions, you would get Borg Directives. This being said Dilithium would not be a issue as Borg assimilate things for resources, but they would have to find a Borg like replacement for energy credits. The current episodes and the game would not be usable for said faction.
Something the op did not mention in his post are they talking about a enemy faction, or a future playable faction? I wrote my response on the assumption of playable faction.
Cardassian and Dominion could (and should) be unified into one faction easily. The storyline can have you representing/allied with a "New Dominion" in the Alpha Quadrant, led by the new link on Orias III.
Mirror Universe has a lot of potential to be very cool.
The Mirrorverse idea is interesting and one I hadn't heard in awhile.
only way to make it workable would be a permanent portal to a mirrorverse zone. Gosh when was this ever floated before and complained about???
Not exactly sure how the mirrorverse would pose a threat, seems like in every series they were all idiots except for TOS, and even then they weren't that bright.
I would rather not have a new faction, and thus voted against it. The reason behind my choice is that I don't like how the Republic was implemented, and I don't like how they've been hung out to dry since their release.
That being said, I have voted on the other options (one day we might need another faction) and I've voted as such:
First Choice: Cardassian - they're the next natural contender for (mini)faction status and should follow the setup of the Republic
Second Choice: Dominion - there's so much potential here, and it opens up the Gamma Quadrant Map. If/When this comes to be though, it is my opinion that they should be released as a full faction, independent of the FED and KDF
Third Choice: Mirror Universe
Fourth Choice: Borg (liberated or otherwise)
The last two options I couldn't truly care less about. Short of story content, the general gameplay I don't think will appeal to me. The Mirror Universe will pretty much be exactly as we've already got (even then, which Mirror Faction are we talking about?) and with Liberated Borg, we firstly can already play as them, and secondly, I've no desire to fly a Sphere or Cube.
Voted 'yes' for another faction, but I never cared much for Cardassians or the Dominion. Borg playable species should remain exclusive to lifers IMO, it's one of few special things lifers have access to.
Always hated the Terran Empire and the entire mirror universe as well, I don't like to play as a conquerer / a part of an evil and racist empire.
So I won't provide my support for Dominion/Borg/MU, wouldn't object to a Cardassian faction though I would prefer a Voth faction. Or maybe a Xindi mini-faction.
Actually what Cryptic is offering is more akin to :
Don't be hating yo !
Sure , we're 100% the opposite of what you want, so don't go hating on us because you've had an awesome experience with our evil counterparts .
(that's totally your fault btw , evul costumer !)
We're peaceful and cooperating (hence our new name) , look we even stopped assimilating trees m'kay ?!
(OK, so maybe we assimilated a few trees, but we needed a Home, m'kay ?!)
Anyhow , we present this new color of Cubes and Spheres to totally prove (like our marketing department showed us) that we're 100% not evull and therefore Cryptic Approved !
(if you want to see evul ,just look at those evul Klingunz !)
... can we haz ur vote... ?
On a more serious note , I have no interest at this time in another fraction (no typo there) .
The old STF's ? Yes please .
PVP based on fair & equal play / few powers (possibly with preset ships / modules that we can skin to our fave ships) ? Yes please .
A Dino Zone like adventure zone with actual Trek like enemies ? Yes please .
A space adventure zone that pays out like the Dino Zone does (for a change), and does not suck ? Sure .
No more Reputations & Specializations for a while ? Yeah , that'd be nice .
... just a few thoughts ... , and a reminder ... Jerry Ryan's voice acting was about as exiting as the animated Stargate show was . Read : not at all ...
Cardassian and Dominion could (and should) be unified into one faction easily. The storyline can have you representing/allied with a "New Dominion" in the Alpha Quadrant, led by the new link on Orias III.
So you create a fourth faction that can't possibly be linked to the other two. Its the fundamental problem the RR wasn't able to get around, duplicating the assets and the player base to make a viable alternative to FED/KDF isn't realistic. And its attempting that with a faction with a much weaker connection to the STO plot (the cardassian arc ATM is entirely tangential to STO, including the 2800 series).
I just can't see it working, not with 1. dominion and cardassian ships already existing for those who are seriously intent on playing them without the drawbacks of having to establish new fleets and characters and 2. the alternative (ie. a mini-faction) isn't promising either because there's already a mini-faction which hits the same major plot points (eg. the romulans) but with more relevance to the overall game.
Hobus : Dominion War
True Way : Tal Shiar
Dominion : Iconians
It's all very analogous (in terms of the narrative). I'd much rather see something else (borg cooperative for example, but IMO that might be better handled as a new specialization with a complimentary story arc that existing characters could decide to join, not a new faction. For that, why not something more creative? Non-evil Iconian for example or Kremin.)
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Mirror Universe is too silly. There is already too much of it in STO,and it'snot like I fundamentally hate the MU - it just has to be done in moderation. An MU faction however is not moderation anymore. It's excessive.
Then I'd rather have a Tholian faction. Let's play real Aliens.
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In absence of a MU faction I would like MU reskins for interiors and exteriors for ALL ships. They could put it in the c-store.
Interiors would be asking a lot (we can't even get cryptic to complete the interior FED revamp, what chance in hell does the MU have?). The exterior skin as a cheap c-store one-off might not be a bad idea.
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They would just have to slap Terran Empire/Alliance symbols on the doors. It would be a reskin of existing interiors, not brand new interiors. I'm not insane
Interiors would be asking a lot (we can't even get cryptic to complete the interior FED revamp, what chance in hell does the MU have?). The exterior skin as a cheap c-store one-off might not be a bad idea.
if they are going overboard with the MU, they may as well go the whole distance, perhaps a few generic bridges and maybe a few more later on, but i wont go crazy with the interiors if i were in your position though, cryptic themselves said its not a seller so it wont get much attention.
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Wouldnt a Borg faction be more approprately done as 'Delta Alliance' especially since Liberated Borg and Talaxian are locked behind Lifetime purchases? I would doubt the general populace would get access to the Liberated Borg race without an LTS purchase in addition to the new pack which would accompany the faction release.
Wouldnt a Borg faction be more approprately done as 'Delta Alliance' especially since Liberated Borg and Talaxian are locked behind Lifetime purchases? I would doubt the general populace would get access to the Liberated Borg race without an LTS purchase in addition to the new pack which would accompany the faction release.
the issue from the way i see it is storyline related. now the borg are liberated in great numbers, what next? with the vaadwuar gone, the iconian influence in tatters, no real threats in the quadrant left, what is there that can be brought forward to bring a great storyline in the DQ?
the borg themselves are spread out across all the quadrants and really not much can be found in that any more.
the talaxians are more interested in settling down then becoming police men and women but there is still no mention of the haakonian order.
T6 Miranda Hero Ship FTW. Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Other than going with Gamma Quadrant and the Dominion any new faction will likely just have to worry about the Hirogen, Borg and Heralds. Most likely everything will just be a civil war scenario as far as storylines go.
I voted in the first instance for no new factions because I want to see significant progression of the main storyline past the Iconian War in a way that each faction receives a very faction-specific themed parallel of the same story.
I then voted for Cardassians if a new faction was inevitable. The storyline may become quite similar to the Romulan Republic, but I feel given the underlying cultural difference and history that could be levered for a Cardassian perspective, it would be different enough to work. Plenty of local conflict too for the early missions.
That is not to say I don't believe Cryptic could pull off a good early game Borg experience. But it would have to be dark (player forced to assimilate helpless civilians before something detaches them from the collective) or else run the risk of being goofy. But it can only end one way, alliance with either Starfleet, the KDF or RR.
As for the mirror universe, I'm afraid my personal preference is to forget it exists, but I think a loosening of the character creation engine might be a solution for these types of peripheral starts. I can't say as a Starfleet, KDF and RR player I would like to sit through a mirror universe expansion. But that is just my own opinion I must concede.
Cryptic's reason is obvious: money. New faction = new faction ships = money.
I don't think the factions offer a deep well given in the long run if they can not hold onto the right number of players (KDF and RR). If Cardassians or Liberated Borg or Mirror Universe only hook a tenth of the playerbase, or worse, a portion of the 10-20% who regularly play on KDF or RR as it currently stands - then that would be cause the ship development well to dry up overnight.
Just on the topic of ships, Cryptic's only viable route seems to be about ship specialisations matched with content type - but that is another discussion.
Obviously the Liberated Borg first because this has been the biggest demand since the beta.
While the dominion being 2nd might be nice while the Cardassion in 3rd. I don't see point in Terran Empire faction since it would end up just seeming like a copy/paste of the federation.
My first choice are Cardassians ofc. My favorite Trek race Between all the know races, it is most probable they will become playable race and that it is going to happen soon.
Second vote goes to Dominion as they are also very cool. It is possible we get playable Dominion faction along with Cardassian one, although I doubt it. They'll be probably released separately, short after Cardassians.
My third choice would be (Liberated) Borg, although it's unlikely they are going to become playable race. At least not before the Cardies and Dominion.
And my last choice is Terran Empire. It is more likely that Voth, Vaadwaur, Hirogen or some other Milky way races become new playable faction than mirror universe guys. They are from completely different universe/dimension and they share similarities with Federation so those are the reason why they probably won't be candidates for a new playable race. Even Undine have more chance to become playable race sometime rather than Terran Empire/Mirror Universe races.
FED ENG:FA Sirius Verax (USS Leviathan) , FED TAC (Delta): FA Adria Tyllex (USS Thunderblade) , ROM TAC:ADM Kill'ina (IRW Imperix Thrai) , KLING ENG (Delta):LT. GEN Ghol'Vaq Martok (IKS Qeh'Ral II) - 44th Fleet member SUPPORTING PLAYABLE CARDASSIAN AND DOMINION FACTIONS!
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never mind the rest of it asking for an opinion, the only way you will see this through if it means anything since its not written down anywhere; the cardassians and the borg are likely the only two that are an actual viable option.
i mean for the dominion, its a silly choice to make, the dominion are imperialists, unforgiven of mistakes and adding them to the main storyline to travel under new romulus would be even more silly and taking orders from starfleet officers and klingon officers alike. there is no chance of them being solid allies with anyone from the alpha or beta quadrant. aside from a few former allies, the breen and son'a, the rest of the quadrants are still very wary of the dominion and for most its like a ww2 situation with the TRIBBLE. it would mean building up a few sector blocks, a whole storyline like the romulan republic and connecting all the dots, cryptic did it before they could do it again. the issue is the storyline and the canon history.
for the mirror universe, it means building a whole new universe up from stratch, it would have to include the klingon-cardassian alliance and the terran empire, several non aligned races including the romulans the ferengi and the unknown tholians. it would mean building a whole new reason for why the terrans are trying to cause trouble in the prime universe and what the klingon-cardassians are planning and if they have any issue themselves with the prime universe. it would be a massive undertaking, i dont see it as viable for any near future project for sure.
to the last 2;
the cardassians can be taken under the official government military officers, and act the same way the rr has operated, or leave the cardassians out of the pvp entirely and make them a full of faction instead, build up a whole new storyline, add a few more planets and systems to that end, bring in more on the tholians, breen, bajoran and the dominion if needed, but the focus should be on the true way effort in great detail and the federation treaty from 35 years ago.
the borg can get a liberated faction set in the DQ, again not in pvp and a full faction, have its own full storyline and expanded on delta quadrant should appeal more to the story writers and the devs for a bit more creativity. it can delve into the borg background, the borg enemy the liberated are fighting against, potential allies and working it out with the octanti and generally every other race out there for everything done in the past by doing good. but no cubes, it would be a disaster in the making on pvp when players run around in tactical fusi... i mean tactical cubes, its hard enough to take down a tac cube in regular and thats just against an AI, imagine how much harder it would be in player hands and the size would be absurd.
but in writing all that, the same was stated of a few things in the past where i thought it would be impossible. cryptic writers did find a way around it in a convincing enough manner, so its unlikely for the first 2 but i never stated its not going to happen either.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
The Dominion as a Faction doesn't work, in my opinion, for story reasons, plus the fact that, yes, they've given away all the best/canon ships already in lockboxes/Lobi store. Had the T6 JHSS not been made, maybe that could've been worked around, but I think now it's better if they just continue on with making new T6 Jem'Hadar lockbox/Lobi ships.
Barring Cardassians though, perhaps a better idea for a Fourth Faction would be to make it a generic story (following a similar line as the Romulan story) starting out on a generic colony world, disaster strikes and you're fighting for your life. Eventually, you end up picking a side (FED/KDF) and go from there. Throw in any number of new and old playable species, and done. Then adding new playable species and ships becomes less of a hassle without the need to create Faction after Faction.
As for Liberated Borg as a playable Faction, I don't agree with the idea.
First, the only story concept that a Faction really works for is the Cooperative and they have been exclusively shown in the Delta Quadrant, which is, at the moment, endgame. As the game has always started out in the Beta Quadrant, it would be a stretch (though not impossible) to have the Cooperative here as well. Additionally, the Cooperative are not true Liberated Borg, as they still share a hive mind that basically forces cooperation between the various disparate species that would otherwise be at odds. While I'm sure some interesting gameplay mechanic could be devised to emulate this, I still don't think that is the way to go.
Second, outside of the Cooperative, true Liberated Borg have been shown to return to their society of origin. Our in-game examples show this as well with playable LibBorg Humans/Klingons/Romulans, even LT Gaius Selan. So, true Liberated Borg wouldn't make sense as a new Faction, but rather as a playable species, and as we already have this as an LTS perk, it would diminish that if it were offered up to everyone, and playable Talaxians just wouldn't make up for that lost exclusive.
That being said, if Cryptic is determined to let everyone play as Liberated Borg at some point, I have a possible solution, and one that wouldn't even require players to re-roll a toon:
As Cryptic continues to revamp story arcs, eventually they will get to the Borg Advance story arc again. During the mission "Assimilation," it is possible to become assimilated by the Borg and earn the Assimilated accolade. I propose that earning said accolade would award the in Space: +30 Starship Warp Core Efficiency and on Ground: +10% Health Regeneration, +6% Shield Regeneration that are given to playable LibBorg, plus unlock the Borg Neural Blast Trait, effectively allowing any toon to play functionally as a Liberated Borg.
Further, the STF mission, Khitomer in Stasis, also awards an Assimilated accolade, and I propose that this accolade, while already granting a LibBorg Science BOFF, also unlock Borg prosthetics and costume options for the playable toon.
These changes would be retroactive for anyone who has already earned the accolades. Players who did not or have yet to earn the accolades would, of course, be able to. This change would open all species to being played as Liberated Borg, and make becoming assimilated/liberated a part of the gameplay/storyline.
LTS, of course, have the advantage of being able to start the game as LibBorg, but to give them something back, I propose that LTS be able to choose any species to start as LibBorg, rather than the current Human/Klingon/Romulan restriction. Also they would be given all of the Borg prosthetics and costume options from the start with the added bonus of being able to use said prosthetics and costume options on all of their BOFFs.
And Borg ships...? I say put them in a lockbox/Lobi store. If players truly do want to fly a Borg Cube as much as they claim, I'm sure key sales will go through the roof.
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Afterwards though
1. Dominion
2. Mirror Universe
3. Cardassians
4. Borg
All based exclusively and selfishly on who/what I think will be coolest to play. The developers ofcourse can decide if and how a faction is worth doing and they're the ones who will veto an idea if it won't work.
The Dominion represent the largest and most diverse group of races outside the Federation, and the most interesting culture. Urban, civilized, while also ruthlessly cold and efficient. When the Klingons spend the lives of their soldiers, it's a great honor and every Klingon agrees about it. When the Dominion spends the lives of their soldiers, it's a line in the ledger of a Vorta, beneath the notice of a Founder, and the greatest honor a Jem'Hadar can ever have.
The Mirror Universe, though it was a hard choice between them and the Cardassians. I'm not sure if I'd want them played as recovering sociopaths who are trying to be better, but it's so hard to not be *******s, or if I'd play them as magnificent TRIBBLE. Either way, done with enough cut loose brutality, they can create a contrast with the Federation that paradoxically makes Federation players feel more like they're in Starfleet.
Cardassians, fit the Legacy of Romulus mold best of all. They were trying to rebuild their destroyed society before it was cool, after all. They're working with both the Federation and the KDF. They've been getting dragged into every Alliance kicking and screaming. Plus they are just a cool and alien civilization.
The Borg, from a story standpoint I hate the idea of care-bear Borg. Will not play one, even out of curiosity. From a game mechanic standpoint they make the most sense and if I were betting on which faction we see next, it would be the Borg Cooperative. Cryptic has already established a bit of their backstory, so they don't come as surprise to anyone. They have different enough technology than what we've seen in game that they can justify a few unique mechanics, similar to Quantum Warpcores, to allow them to bring something new in.
The BUGFIX faction.
Dominion doesn't really give you good options as a player. To be honest, I think these options were said to throw people of the scent.
So my preference is cardassian. If done well, they would be amazing and would link easily into the current system. Looking forward to it later this year maybe?
That will never happen captainoblivious because the Bugfixes would be OP
That would allow Cryptic to bring in more non-faction ships as seen in the series, and even go nuts creating new ones since they don't have to conform to any special style.
They could also create a series of new missions from the point of view of a freelancer.
That idea might not be particularly well thought out, but its a good start I think. I, for one, would gladly shell out money for freelancer ships if such a faction was created!
As I said in the OP, this thread is based on the choices Geko mentioned in his recent P1 interview. For better or worse, Undine and "freelancer" were not options he mentioned.
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
I just don't get why people would like to have borg, or mirror universe it's just so stupid.:rolleyes:
I would rather have Breen, ferengi, or some merchant/civilian faction.
My character Tsin'xing
If they are considering blundering by making another faction, I would go with the Borg. Note not liberated Borg. If you have ever played the star trek Armada 2 campaign for the Borg, its not hard to see how they could do that. Instead of choice in conversations, instead emotion in conversations for missions, you would get Borg Directives. This being said Dilithium would not be a issue as Borg assimilate things for resources, but they would have to find a Borg like replacement for energy credits. The current episodes and the game would not be usable for said faction.
Something the op did not mention in his post are they talking about a enemy faction, or a future playable faction? I wrote my response on the assumption of playable faction.
Mirror Universe has a lot of potential to be very cool.
NO NO NO to Liberated Borg. Is nothing sacred??
only way to make it workable would be a permanent portal to a mirrorverse zone. Gosh when was this ever floated before and complained about???
Not exactly sure how the mirrorverse would pose a threat, seems like in every series they were all idiots except for TOS, and even then they weren't that bright.
That being said, I have voted on the other options (one day we might need another faction) and I've voted as such:
The last two options I couldn't truly care less about. Short of story content, the general gameplay I don't think will appeal to me. The Mirror Universe will pretty much be exactly as we've already got (even then, which Mirror Faction are we talking about?) and with Liberated Borg, we firstly can already play as them, and secondly, I've no desire to fly a Sphere or Cube.
Always hated the Terran Empire and the entire mirror universe as well, I don't like to play as a conquerer / a part of an evil and racist empire.
So I won't provide my support for Dominion/Borg/MU, wouldn't object to a Cardassian faction though I would prefer a Voth faction. Or maybe a Xindi mini-faction.
Actually what Cryptic is offering is more akin to :
Don't be hating yo !
Sure , we're 100% the opposite of what you want, so don't go hating on us because you've had an awesome experience with our evil counterparts .
(that's totally your fault btw , evul costumer !)
We're peaceful and cooperating (hence our new name) , look we even stopped assimilating trees m'kay ?!
(OK, so maybe we assimilated a few trees, but we needed a Home, m'kay ?!)
Anyhow , we present this new color of Cubes and Spheres to totally prove (like our marketing department showed us) that we're 100% not evull and therefore Cryptic Approved !
(if you want to see evul ,just look at those evul Klingunz !)
... can we haz ur vote... ?
On a more serious note , I have no interest at this time in another fraction (no typo there) .
The old STF's ? Yes please .
PVP based on fair & equal play / few powers (possibly with preset ships / modules that we can skin to our fave ships) ? Yes please .
A Dino Zone like adventure zone with actual Trek like enemies ? Yes please .
A space adventure zone that pays out like the Dino Zone does (for a change), and does not suck ? Sure .
No more Reputations & Specializations for a while ? Yeah , that'd be nice .
... just a few thoughts ... , and a reminder ... Jerry Ryan's voice acting was about as exiting as the animated Stargate show was . Read : not at all ...
So you create a fourth faction that can't possibly be linked to the other two. Its the fundamental problem the RR wasn't able to get around, duplicating the assets and the player base to make a viable alternative to FED/KDF isn't realistic. And its attempting that with a faction with a much weaker connection to the STO plot (the cardassian arc ATM is entirely tangential to STO, including the 2800 series).
I just can't see it working, not with 1. dominion and cardassian ships already existing for those who are seriously intent on playing them without the drawbacks of having to establish new fleets and characters and 2. the alternative (ie. a mini-faction) isn't promising either because there's already a mini-faction which hits the same major plot points (eg. the romulans) but with more relevance to the overall game.
Hobus : Dominion War
True Way : Tal Shiar
Dominion : Iconians
It's all very analogous (in terms of the narrative). I'd much rather see something else (borg cooperative for example, but IMO that might be better handled as a new specialization with a complimentary story arc that existing characters could decide to join, not a new faction. For that, why not something more creative? Non-evil Iconian for example or Kremin.)
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Mirror Universe is too silly. There is already too much of it in STO,and it'snot like I fundamentally hate the MU - it just has to be done in moderation. An MU faction however is not moderation anymore. It's excessive.
Then I'd rather have a Tholian faction. Let's play real Aliens.
Interiors would be asking a lot (we can't even get cryptic to complete the interior FED revamp, what chance in hell does the MU have?). The exterior skin as a cheap c-store one-off might not be a bad idea.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
if they are going overboard with the MU, they may as well go the whole distance, perhaps a few generic bridges and maybe a few more later on, but i wont go crazy with the interiors if i were in your position though, cryptic themselves said its not a seller so it wont get much attention.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
the issue from the way i see it is storyline related. now the borg are liberated in great numbers, what next? with the vaadwuar gone, the iconian influence in tatters, no real threats in the quadrant left, what is there that can be brought forward to bring a great storyline in the DQ?
the borg themselves are spread out across all the quadrants and really not much can be found in that any more.
the talaxians are more interested in settling down then becoming police men and women but there is still no mention of the haakonian order.
Been around since Dec 2010 on STO and bought LTS in Apr 2013 for STO.
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
I then voted for Cardassians if a new faction was inevitable. The storyline may become quite similar to the Romulan Republic, but I feel given the underlying cultural difference and history that could be levered for a Cardassian perspective, it would be different enough to work. Plenty of local conflict too for the early missions.
That is not to say I don't believe Cryptic could pull off a good early game Borg experience. But it would have to be dark (player forced to assimilate helpless civilians before something detaches them from the collective) or else run the risk of being goofy. But it can only end one way, alliance with either Starfleet, the KDF or RR.
As for the mirror universe, I'm afraid my personal preference is to forget it exists, but I think a loosening of the character creation engine might be a solution for these types of peripheral starts. I can't say as a Starfleet, KDF and RR player I would like to sit through a mirror universe expansion. But that is just my own opinion I must concede.
I don't think the factions offer a deep well given in the long run if they can not hold onto the right number of players (KDF and RR). If Cardassians or Liberated Borg or Mirror Universe only hook a tenth of the playerbase, or worse, a portion of the 10-20% who regularly play on KDF or RR as it currently stands - then that would be cause the ship development well to dry up overnight.
Just on the topic of ships, Cryptic's only viable route seems to be about ship specialisations matched with content type - but that is another discussion.
While the dominion being 2nd might be nice while the Cardassion in 3rd. I don't see point in Terran Empire faction since it would end up just seeming like a copy/paste of the federation.
My ultimate Doom open world mod:
http://www.moddb.com/games/doom-compile-project
Second vote goes to Dominion as they are also very cool. It is possible we get playable Dominion faction along with Cardassian one, although I doubt it. They'll be probably released separately, short after Cardassians.
My third choice would be (Liberated) Borg, although it's unlikely they are going to become playable race. At least not before the Cardies and Dominion.
And my last choice is Terran Empire. It is more likely that Voth, Vaadwaur, Hirogen or some other Milky way races become new playable faction than mirror universe guys. They are from completely different universe/dimension and they share similarities with Federation so those are the reason why they probably won't be candidates for a new playable race. Even Undine have more chance to become playable race sometime rather than Terran Empire/Mirror Universe races.
SUPPORTING PLAYABLE CARDASSIAN AND DOMINION FACTIONS!