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The T6 Odyssey
northranger
Member Posts: 15 Arc User
Some of you were there ...
In February 2012, to commemorate STO's 2nd Anniversary, Cryptic presented Starfleet's newest, largest and most powerful ship ... the Odyssey-class Star Cruiser. This 25th century ship-of-the line was one that many had hoped for, a true dreadnought class cruiser, combining the size and majesty of the legendary Galaxy with the sleek grace of the Sovereign. The ship's design was born from a contest for players (I forget the name of the player who won) and sparked heated debate over its design details, most notably the double neck connecting the Odyssey's chevron to her hull. Shortly thereafter, the Odyssey-class U.S.S. Enterprise-F under the command of Andorian Captain Va'kel Shon succeeded the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E as the Federation flagship in STO's version of the Star Trek Universe. It was exciting. During the anniversary, captains were able to visit Utopia Planitia Shipyards at Mars and take the U.S.S. Odyssey out of spacedock in the one-shot mission "The Odyssey Class" (renamed "First Contact Day" in April 2014) ... At the same time, KDF players got their own Bortasqu' Dreadnought Battlecruiser.
In general, big cruiser captains were thrilled, even moreso when a few weeks later the Zen Store offered three new advanced versions of the Odyssey - tactical, operations and science variants - which set a precedent for later releases of even newer and more advanced ships.
Now ... Season Two was a long time ago in MMO years and the Odyssey is over three years old, though still a force to be reconned with as a T5-U upgrade, when properly rigged and captained. But we have T6 ships now, with command, intelligence and pilot capabilities, some of them nearly as large as and most of them more versatile than the Odyssey. Yet, U.S.S. Enterprise-F remains Starfleet's flagship.
It's time for an Odyssey refit across the board, in order to maintain the class's position as the premier ship of the Fleet.
Cryptic could do this as they usually do - release a T6 version in the Zen Store (most likely a bundle with the three division variants). Costly, especially for those who have suffered along and struggled to maintain their Odysseys at a competitive level for three years. Or, they could set another precedent and make the T5-U Odyssey the first starship upgradable with a token to T6. I'd prefer the latter. But, either option is acceptable.
Gentlemen, it is time.
We have T6 versions of the Galaxy, a class that was made obsolete by the Sovereign in 2377. Time for the Odyssey-class Star Cruiser to get some well-deserved attention. She should be one version equal to any Fleet T6, with one Universal Commander Bridge Officer seat and Tactical/Pilot, Engineer/Command and Science/Intelligence seats, one additional tactical console and 5 forward/4 aft weapons points. The ability to launch a Captain's Yacht and shuttles as combat pets should be standard on all variants
The developers have heeded player demands in the past. Let it be heard.
In February 2012, to commemorate STO's 2nd Anniversary, Cryptic presented Starfleet's newest, largest and most powerful ship ... the Odyssey-class Star Cruiser. This 25th century ship-of-the line was one that many had hoped for, a true dreadnought class cruiser, combining the size and majesty of the legendary Galaxy with the sleek grace of the Sovereign. The ship's design was born from a contest for players (I forget the name of the player who won) and sparked heated debate over its design details, most notably the double neck connecting the Odyssey's chevron to her hull. Shortly thereafter, the Odyssey-class U.S.S. Enterprise-F under the command of Andorian Captain Va'kel Shon succeeded the Sovereign-class Enterprise-E as the Federation flagship in STO's version of the Star Trek Universe. It was exciting. During the anniversary, captains were able to visit Utopia Planitia Shipyards at Mars and take the U.S.S. Odyssey out of spacedock in the one-shot mission "The Odyssey Class" (renamed "First Contact Day" in April 2014) ... At the same time, KDF players got their own Bortasqu' Dreadnought Battlecruiser.
In general, big cruiser captains were thrilled, even moreso when a few weeks later the Zen Store offered three new advanced versions of the Odyssey - tactical, operations and science variants - which set a precedent for later releases of even newer and more advanced ships.
Now ... Season Two was a long time ago in MMO years and the Odyssey is over three years old, though still a force to be reconned with as a T5-U upgrade, when properly rigged and captained. But we have T6 ships now, with command, intelligence and pilot capabilities, some of them nearly as large as and most of them more versatile than the Odyssey. Yet, U.S.S. Enterprise-F remains Starfleet's flagship.
It's time for an Odyssey refit across the board, in order to maintain the class's position as the premier ship of the Fleet.
Cryptic could do this as they usually do - release a T6 version in the Zen Store (most likely a bundle with the three division variants). Costly, especially for those who have suffered along and struggled to maintain their Odysseys at a competitive level for three years. Or, they could set another precedent and make the T5-U Odyssey the first starship upgradable with a token to T6. I'd prefer the latter. But, either option is acceptable.
Gentlemen, it is time.
We have T6 versions of the Galaxy, a class that was made obsolete by the Sovereign in 2377. Time for the Odyssey-class Star Cruiser to get some well-deserved attention. She should be one version equal to any Fleet T6, with one Universal Commander Bridge Officer seat and Tactical/Pilot, Engineer/Command and Science/Intelligence seats, one additional tactical console and 5 forward/4 aft weapons points. The ability to launch a Captain's Yacht and shuttles as combat pets should be standard on all variants
The developers have heeded player demands in the past. Let it be heard.
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The Galaxy was built for exploration and housing families...where are the Sovereign was built to combat the likes of the Borg and Dominion.
Commander Uni isn't going happen...Pilot isn't going to happen or more than one specialization seating isn't going to happen as they save that only for lock box ships. Sure not going to see it have more weapons than any other ship in the game.
My Ship Builds: USS Conqueror, HMS Victorious, HMS Concord, ISS Queen Elizabeth, Black Widow III
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To be quite frank with you I LOVE the current seating of my Science Oddy and really wouldn't want to change it. I'm all for making one of the seats a command/something but keeping the same seating if we wanted to.
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The Galaxy has no equal or better.
That aside: yay for the old flags getting love. Except the scimi. i do not see how that needs an upgrade.
I figured the Sovereign was taking the Galaxy and striping out the no longer necessary frills such as civilian family housing.
It exploded if you looked at it funny.
Besides the Enterprise-E was the most advanced ship in the fleet a year after it lunched which kind of implies Soverign > Galaxy.
sigh....
If the Sovereign class enterprise E had its own series, it would also have endured the up and downs of writer whim.
Fact is: Galaxy Class starships tank significant hull damage before buckling.
The Jem'hardar in the DS9 episode "The Jem'hardar" had to resort to ramming the Odyssey to prevent it from retreating. They shot at it for several minutes, right through the shields. The Odyssey tanked a superior foe, a foe that later would continue to oneshot lesser vessels.
The USS Galaxy, in the Attack on Chintoka, also took several massive hits to the hull and kept right on trucking while lesser ships buckled and spun out of control.
The Galaxy class starship formations that fought in the Battle for DS9 in sacrifice of angles stood up and held the line versus a numerically superior force. No losses reported, victory was achieved after the klingon task force performed a wonderful backstab on the dominion formation, breaking up the line enough so that the defiant could move on to ds9.
The Battle raged on after the defiant got out, and Starfleet send the Dominion into retreat after having even more ships break through.
It should be duly noted that the Galaxys were the first big ships to actually get into firing range of the dominion battle line. No losses reported.
The Enterprise D itself was subjected to a wide plethora of deadly assailants and negative space wedgies. It tanked shots from a super powerful alien starship (that dished out godly damage per volley) that was conjured up by what amounts to a physical god.
She took romulan surprise attacks, tanked the borg and many others.
It was the producers who decided the Galaxy class needed to go. And so they gave her an embarrassing, pointless and TRIBBLE end. Just like they did with kirk. The guy who also died in that film.
As for the Sovereign: Its the evolution of the Constitution->Excelsior line.
A sleek, maneuverable class of battle cruiser. And it was good.
But it never went into competition with the Galaxy.
Why is it then, that the Galaxy has no equal?
Because Starfleet never made one.
Take a look back at what the Galaxy was designed for, and what it ended up being used for. It was supposed to be a long range explorer, taking families with it since it was supposed to go into unknown space and "stay out there" for a long time.
Real exploration. Go where no one went before, take not of everything interesting that later will be revisited by dedicated science vessels.
It was supposed to go on missions that would eclipse the 5 year runs the first Constitutions would go on (simply because of the distance involved). The ship class was designed in part as a luxury hotel exactly because it was not expected for them to lounge around federation territory.
They had families because who would leave their kids for 10 years for one such mission?
But the ships never went out like that. They were constantly kept around federation territory for various reasons.
That is why the Intrepid was devised, the same role, but leaner and built with the newest tech at the time.
The Galaxy has no equal because starfleet realized that the design idea and the idea of the mission setup was rapidly going outmoded by new advances in technology. Scanners, communications, drive systems.
The Galaxy is a beautiful, unique misstep. That had no equal.
And its in Sto, in a new, wonderfully done high quality model with a very decent boff setup and good base stats. I am happy to own one.
I am looking forward to seeing the sovy and odysssey and the other t5 ships getting a revisit too.
It is my opinion that they should come something like this:
Odyssey Command Cruiser (console layout: 3/5/3)
Commander Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Tactical/Command
Lieutenant Commander Science/Intelligence
Lieutenant Universal
Ensign Science
+ Hanger (x1)
Bortas Command Cruiser (console layout: 4/4/3)
Commander Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Tactical/Pilot
Lieutenant Commander Science/Command
Lieutenant Universal
Ensign Tactical
+ Hanger (x1)
Scimitar Dreadnought Cruiser (console layout: 5/3/3)
Commander Tactical
Lieutenant Commander Science/Intelligence
Lieutenant Engineer/Pilot
Lieutenant Tactical
Lieutenant Universal
+ Hanger (x2)
1) 3 new ship models with interchangeable components. Oddy and Bortas only have a single skin, and that's ultra-lame.
2) If there are 3 variants, I think each should have a different specialization. Varying it around Tac/Eng/Sci again seems a bit boring.
I would only really consider spending money on them if the 1st is true. Without some decent customization options, I am just not interested in any of those ships, and certainly not a pack of them.
If they don't want to do that, they can leave it as a single ship per faction. Probably given away in some kind of event. Next year is the 50-year anniversary of Star Trek. Great opportunity IMO.
If it's a pack along the lines I mention above:
- Commander Engineering
- Lt.Cmdr Universal | Intel / Command / Pilot (specialization depends on the variant)
- Lt. Science
- Lt. Tactical
- Lt. Universal
- Consoles: 5 Engineering, 3 Tactical, 3 Science
- The usual yadda yadda [...]
It never sat well with me that the Oddy and Bortas had a variant with access to sensor analysis. Not sure what to do with it if you don't have a dedicated science variant anymore. Maybe actually give the ships access to a subset of the Specialization abilities they are associated with? Turn the Sensor Analysis aspect into a new console?To personally annoy you of course.^^
I also love my old Oddy that I had since April 2012 and would love a T6 update for her.
With command powers being as broadly worthless as they are compared to tac boff powers, I really don't think ANYONE would use that slot for command powers. Not to mention how few people actually coordinate and play as a team in this game!
Best bridge yet!
Oh, and if you can't make it Pew-pew, you suck?
As I couldn't decide which variant to upgrade and had overall many other occupations, my Odyssey 3-pack sits unused so far. Therefore the acquisition of a T6 version wouldn't be quite as torturous as those of several T5 vessels I have already upgraded in the meantime.
But there lie many problems ahead including: How do you T6 a three-pack? Would all the new consoles be part of the old console sets (thus making anywhere from a 4 to 6-piece console set)? If they only made one variant of the T6 version, would they still keep it Fleet level as if it were a three-pack (same faction) set?
As much as I love the Odyssey, I'm not sure I want the Devs to think about all that since it would likely result in inconsistencies, exceptions etc.
Oh, and the Command BortasQu' is great!
Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.
Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
This! ^^ I agree with this 2000%
We're also on a cruiser saturated market that's also filled with powerful command-spec BC, light intel-spec, and intel cruisers (Guardian) that even have battle cloak (Aelahl). Roms still have zero carriers, and as with KDF zero T6 science. Trying to raise a cross-faction flagship 3 or 9 pack better offer something truly well designed and thought out and fun.
I consider the Odyssey the best looking ship in the game, and I do hope they raise the bar even higher than they have with the Arbiter, Andromeda, and Hestia at least just this one time for the flagships.
T6 Scimitar should be even more OP, because Romulan Dreadnought, and because it isn't fun without a joker card in the deck.
I'd imagine it would be a single 3 pack...I can't see them making individual 3 packs much like I couldn't see people using a 6 piece set...unless they went out of their way to make the consoles and or set bonuses incredibly OP.