Except, STO lore is pretty clear on the fact that they are already aligned with the federation, depending on them for defense... so...
Eh, there's nothing to stop Cryptic from just retconning that, like they retconned chunks of the Romulan backstory when they introduced LoR / the Republic.
(Heck, maybe the forthcoming Cardassian arc revamp is the start of that...)
They didn't rewrite the Path to 2409 when they added the Republic. Absolutely nothing in that document, even as far back as the Wayback Machine's last save of the original webpage, conflicts with LOR material. In fact they actually used some of it directly: there's mentions that Romulan naval crews got sick and tired of the constant changes of government and deserted, which seems to be the backstory of the colonists who arrived on Virinat aboard the T'liss you start with (off the top of my head, D'vex, Malem, and Nevala were all on board).
They didn't rewrite it, but they added new lines to include the Romulan Republic where it previously wasn't mentioned.
I'm going to call "citation needed" on that. Either the wiki is incomplete (and it was last updated March 2015, BTW), or you're confusing the Path to 2409 with the "History of New Romulus" accolades.
Sorry about the confusion, I was referring to missions, they did add several lines of dialog in old missions to mention the Romulan Republic.
0
rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,829Community Moderator
Sorry... but here's my opinion on a Cardassian faction.
Dead Horse... meat beating stick.
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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The biggest problem I see with a Cardassian playable faction is trying to insert them into the story pre-Iconian war.
The Cardassians had only like one token ambassador during the Dyson Sphere meeting, and one token captain/ship fighting alongside the alliance during the Iconian War.
Trying to make a Cardassian faction now, and trying to put them even remotely on par with the Romulans, would require significant rewrites of basically everything from the Dyson sphere onward, which isn't going to happen.
Whats more is that the Romulan character had their own long and involved story dealing with them taking revenge against the Elachi and the Tal Shiar for ruining their lives.
The Cardassians have what on par with this? The True Way and Alpha Jem Hadar? Nope, cant use that, because the Cardassian missions outright show the Feds/Klinks/Roms solving that problem, so they couldn't even build a early game personal story, like the Roms have, around that without messing up the Cardassian struggle story arcs.
There's just no real way to insert them into the story thus far, and Cryptic isn't going to release a Cardassian faction where you start at level 60 or w/e, with Tier 10-12 items, and whose story begin post Iconian War, with zero missions besides the two releasing with Season 11.
I mean, people once said the same thing about the Romulans.
And Cryptic literally introduced the Elachi arcs specifically for the Romulans.
Cardassian missions could easily be written to have them dealing with stuff like political reforms, splinter cell radical groups (maybe even see the formation of the True Way as part of it), exploring nearby space for resources, negotiating with allies, almost anything of the sort, really.
I feel like maybe the revamped Cardassian missions will introduce us to a new cast of Cardassian related characters, perhaps laying the groundwork for seeing what their deal could potentially be as their own faction. As it stands, it seems we'll be seeing the explanation for the presence of Mirror Universe ships in our reality to begin with, apparently the result of True Way meddling. And honestly, that's just fine by me.
Sorry... but here's my opinion on a Cardassian faction.
Dead Horse... meat beating stick.
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
Same could be said about a Romulan faction (or any faction).
Some people like Cardassians and that's enough for them to ask for a faction, Some people feel the game would be incomplete without them since they were important in canon, others just want more content, and a cardassian faction is just an excuse, personally I just want the extra character slot.
Hmmm.... I wonder what would happen if a Cardassian was infected with a Bluegill?
At least in the novels, the Cardassians are the one species known to be physiologically impossible for a bluegill to infect. Though with STO showing Vaadwaur getting infected, given their strong outward similarities to the Cardassians, I'm not sure that "fact" applies to STO should the similarities extend to inner physiology as well.
BTW, for the record, there were two Cardassian ships defending Earth: the Damar, and another whose name I believe started with a T.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-) Proudly F2P.Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Sorry... but here's my opinion on a Cardassian faction.
Dead Horse... meat beating stick.
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
They had more presence in one Star Trek series than the Romulans did through all five. Romulans are the third wheel of the Federation/Klingon experience. Cardassians were something new and they really got a lot of love in DS9 with at least a half dozen memorable characters, who managed to be pretty different from one another, and that doesn't even include the dozens of others that appeared in various roles.
Sorry... but here's my opinion on a Cardassian faction.
Dead Horse... meat beating stick.
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
They had more presence in one Star Trek series than the Romulans did through all five. Romulans are the third wheel of the Federation/Klingon experience. Cardassians were something new and they really got a lot of love in DS9 with at least a half dozen memorable characters, who managed to be pretty different from one another, and that doesn't even include the dozens of others that appeared in various roles.
I would like to see it, but I see more trouble than worth.
*They rarely keep the KDF and Romulan with new stuff. From outfits, bridges, to ships.
* Another story line to work with. And then they will just mash it with the current. So then you won't have the Cardassian feel to it. Just like the Romulan and KDF now.
* They are already got enough on their plates on Development. I doubt they got more time to spare on another faction.
* They already got a Galor in a lock box. They have less ships than the KDF and Romulan
* Lastly during the 2800 FEs. The Rep from Cardassian and others said. Their fleet is nothing but a few ships for planetary Defense and required the Feds or others for protection. Thus their fleet is very small.
What I would like to see, a story arc with them current. Like helping them out on stuff or involved in some kind of plot.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The biggest problem I see with a Cardassian playable faction is trying to insert them into the story pre-Iconian war.
The Cardassians had only like one token ambassador during the Dyson Sphere meeting, and one token captain/ship fighting alongside the alliance during the Iconian War.
Trying to make a Cardassian faction now, and trying to put them even remotely on par with the Romulans, would require significant rewrites of basically everything from the Dyson sphere onward, which isn't going to happen.
Whats more is that the Romulan character had their own long and involved story dealing with them taking revenge against the Elachi and the Tal Shiar for ruining their lives.
The Cardassians have what on par with this? The True Way and Alpha Jem Hadar? Nope, cant use that, because the Cardassian missions outright show the Feds/Klinks/Roms solving that problem, so they couldn't even build a early game personal story, like the Roms have, around that without messing up the Cardassian struggle story arcs.
There's just no real way to insert them into the story thus far, and Cryptic isn't going to release a Cardassian faction where you start at level 60 or w/e, with Tier 10-12 items, and whose story begin post Iconian War, with zero missions besides the two releasing with Season 11.
The story is not set in stone, they can change the story or add a completely new arc explaining why the Cardassians decided to get into the Iconian war, and it doesn't really need to be about fighting an unknown enemy that turns out to be an Iconian servitor race, they could just enter the war to defend their interests and their allies.
There is also no need to rewrite the cardassian struggle arc, who defeated the true way? was it a klingon captain? a Romulan? an starfleet captain? well it depends on who your character is, you could exchange that klingon captain for a cardassian and the story won't change a bit.
I dont know if this has been said already so here goes: during the mission ancient blood the talk about the best commanders from the rom, kling, fed, allaince yet their is a cardashian commander there as well. there are a few cardashian ships at the final battle at earth. coming with the new season there is a revamp of the cardashian struggle and they are changing the npc cardashians to look better. didnt they do the same with the npc roms before they added the republic?
I think this may be leading up to a new faction. thoughts?
If any of that is an indication of an incoming Faction, the Borg and Dominion (not Dominion + Cardashians btw) are due any day now.
I'd fully support a Borg or Dominion Faction...but not the Cardashians.
NO to ARC RIP KDF and PvP 2014-07-17 Season 9.5 - Death by Dev
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
There's much to admire about Cardassian culture, their devotion to family for example. And there's also the classic (and very Star Trek) story of a people trying to move on and redeem themselves from the horrible things they've done. And the True Way insurgency presents an opportunity for a metaphoric commentary on current events -- I'm already using the old Cardassian arc as a jumping-off point for a Foundry mission that casts a resurgent and stronger True Way as Da'ish in Iraq.
There's also the simple fact that Cryptic has nowhere else to go as far as faction development. The Cardassians are the last fully-developed AQ/BQ government. The Feds, Klinks, and Roms are already in use and nobody else got nearly as much development: the Cardassians managed to fully surpass the planet of hats and become a diverse people. Apart from them, the Gorn got conquered by the Klingons years ago, the Talarians showed up for one episode, the Tzenkethi are a name on a map, and not even the novelverse did anything with the Nyberrite Alliance. Only the Ferengi even come anywhere close, and Cryptic seems content to use them as the game's butt monkey.
Finally, I relish the temper tantrum certain Dukat fanboys are going to pull when they see the Cardassians being the good guys.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
The biggest problem I see with a Cardassian playable faction is trying to insert them into the story pre-Iconian war.
The Cardassians had only like one token ambassador during the Dyson Sphere meeting, and one token captain/ship fighting alongside the alliance during the Iconian War.
Trying to make a Cardassian faction now, and trying to put them even remotely on par with the Romulans, would require significant rewrites of basically everything from the Dyson sphere onward, which isn't going to happen.
Whats more is that the Romulan character had their own long and involved story dealing with them taking revenge against the Elachi and the Tal Shiar for ruining their lives.
The Cardassians have what on par with this? The True Way and Alpha Jem Hadar? Nope, cant use that, because the Cardassian missions outright show the Feds/Klinks/Roms solving that problem, so they couldn't even build a early game personal story, like the Roms have, around that without messing up the Cardassian struggle story arcs.
There's just no real way to insert them into the story thus far, and Cryptic isn't going to release a Cardassian faction where you start at level 60 or w/e, with Tier 10-12 items, and whose story begin post Iconian War, with zero missions besides the two releasing with Season 11.
The story is not set in stone, they can change the story or add a completely new arc explaining why the Cardassians decided to get into the Iconian war, and it doesn't really need to be about fighting an unknown enemy that turns out to be an Iconian servitor race, they could just enter the war to defend their interests and their allies.
There is also no need to rewrite the cardassian struggle arc, who defeated the true way? was it a klingon captain? a Romulan? an starfleet captain? well it depends on who your character is, you could exchange that klingon captain for a cardassian and the story won't change a bit.
I like the idea of them after the Iconian War. Where a new threat shows up. Due to the main 3 major groups are still recovering. So this will make them jump into action. To me this would be best way to start a new "faction". Very similar to the "Death Knights" on WoW. They jumped into the action way later and at higher levels. They did the KDF like this. You had to be Lv20 before you unlocked them in the past. This is how I got my 1st KDF character.
This would work lot better and not having to deal with the story line from older arcs. Unless you want to do them for fun and gear.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Finally, I relish the temper tantrum certain Dukat fanboys are going to pull when they see the Cardassians being the good guys.
Dukat became an stupid character after joining the dominion, it went from antagonist but likable character seeking the best for his people to cliche bond villain.
The biggest problem I see with a Cardassian playable faction is trying to insert them into the story pre-Iconian war.
The Cardassians had only like one token ambassador during the Dyson Sphere meeting, and one token captain/ship fighting alongside the alliance during the Iconian War.
Trying to make a Cardassian faction now, and trying to put them even remotely on par with the Romulans, would require significant rewrites of basically everything from the Dyson sphere onward, which isn't going to happen.
Whats more is that the Romulan character had their own long and involved story dealing with them taking revenge against the Elachi and the Tal Shiar for ruining their lives.
The Cardassians have what on par with this? The True Way and Alpha Jem Hadar? Nope, cant use that, because the Cardassian missions outright show the Feds/Klinks/Roms solving that problem, so they couldn't even build a early game personal story, like the Roms have, around that without messing up the Cardassian struggle story arcs.
There's just no real way to insert them into the story thus far, and Cryptic isn't going to release a Cardassian faction where you start at level 60 or w/e, with Tier 10-12 items, and whose story begin post Iconian War, with zero missions besides the two releasing with Season 11.
The story is not set in stone, they can change the story or add a completely new arc explaining why the Cardassians decided to get into the Iconian war, and it doesn't really need to be about fighting an unknown enemy that turns out to be an Iconian servitor race, they could just enter the war to defend their interests and their allies.
There is also no need to rewrite the cardassian struggle arc, who defeated the true way? was it a klingon captain? a Romulan? an starfleet captain? well it depends on who your character is, you could exchange that klingon captain for a cardassian and the story won't change a bit.
I like the idea of them after the Iconian War. Where a new threat shows up. Due to the main 3 major groups are still recovering. So this will make them jump into action. To me this would be best way to start a new "faction". Very similar to the "Death Knights" on WoW. They jumped into the action way later and at higher levels. They did the KDF like this. You had to be Lv20 before you unlocked them in the past. This is how I got my 1st KDF character.
This would work lot better and not having to deal with the story line from older arcs. Unless you want to do them for fun and gear.
Well, now that you mention it, old arcs could be played as holodeck historical files for a Cardassian character, we do have that feature when we replay an episode.
The problem with that is it would be completely disconnected from everything.
Romulans were added even before the Dyson sphere arc, so Cryptic had all of the Dyson sphere, Delta Rising, and Iconian War arcs to add in references to stuff that happened o the Roms, to make it feel like it fit in with the story.
You can't do that with the Cardassians, since the Iconian War arc is done. If you tried just having the Cardassians go from doing political rebuilding and making allien with nearby races to "WE HAVE TO FIGHT THE ICONIANS WHO HAVE SO FAR BEEN TOTALLY NOT MENTIONED OR RELATED TO ANYTHING GOING ON!" it would be a massive narrative disaster and just wouldn't flow.
Says who?
I mean, it makes sense that the Romulan faction played heavily into the Dyson Sphere and Delta Quadrant arcs. The gateway to such activities are in their space, after all.
On the flip side, the Cardassians do actually have something similar to play with, too: the Bajoran Wormhole.
If anything, I imagine that, after any Cardassian-specific arcs, cross faction arcs, and later end game arcs that tie in how the Cardassians contributed to the Iconian War, we could potentially see them wanting to take heavy part in any Gamma Quadrant exploration that goes on.
Obviously not leading the way in that department, but taking active participation towards it.
They may see the Gamma Quadrant as a vital resource for them to tap into.
And remember: just because the Iconian War is essentially done, doesn't mean the devs can't write mission arcs that take place well before the conclusion of it, and then lead up to it.
Cardassians participated in the war (please don't use the one ship one guy argument again, it's a really stupid argument), so far it was not explained why they did it, a new arc explaining their reasons to enter the war would make more sense than leaving that unanswered.
Right, because it's completely impossible for the devs to simply..... add in Cardassian specific arcs, or go back to arcs they've done before and tweak them to accommodate Cardassian-appropriate involvement.
I mean, it's not like they make the game and write the stories or anything.
Talarians did actually get mentioned in more than one episode. One was a DS9 ep....
But they only got any cultural development to work from in TNG: "Suddenly Human", is my point. All DS9: "A Simple Investigation" said is that they get drunk off raktajino.
"Great War! / And I cannot take more! / Great tour! / I keep on marching on / I play the great score / There will be no encore / Great War! / The War to End All Wars"
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Cryptic wouldn't do this after people did nothing but whine and moan for years about it being done to the Klingons until Cryptic made level 1-20 content for them.
Than that is the case. Why bother doing them at all? Since Cryptic can barely handle the KDF and Romulans. Look how they been treated over the years. Rarely new ships, and other features. Just like today, they are still moaning about that. So the Cardassians will be no different they will moan and cry what ever they do.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The devs can do whatever they please, if it boils right down to it. They may have said as much in the past, but honestly, it's even been admitted by devs in the past that Cardassians are the biggest contender for additional faction after the Romulans, period.
And as far as the Kzinti go, hey guess what: the Ferasans are essentially Kzinti. It's been all but flat-out admitted, but it's all there: they're a race of telepathic warrior cats, and Ferasan DOffs even use Kzin names.
The devs can do whatever they please, if it boils right down to it. They may have said as much in the past, but honestly, it's even been admitted by devs in the past that Cardassians are the biggest contender for additional faction after the Romulans, period.
And as far as the Kzinti go, hey guess what: the Ferasans are essentially Kzinti. It's been all but flat-out admitted, but it's all there: they're a race of telepathic warrior cats, and Ferasan DOffs even use Kzin names.
Not unless PWE gives them the cash do you it. You really don't know how business work do you?
And its also been admitted that the Cardassians likely wont get a faction for the same reason The Dominion wont... no ships, and what little ships they had are already in lock boxes.
Ferasans may be Kzinti in spirit, but they are not in actuality.
That last part is you essentially nitpicking. "In spirit but not actuality" is splitting hairs.
And as far as business works, I'm familiar with it. I also know what operating budgets are, and how projects are planned. I also know how game development works, and how one year something "can't be done", and a year or two later, it's "oh we can totally do that now, watch".
Nothing you've stated thus far is a solid reason enough or permanent enough reason to exclude the remotest possibility of a Cardassian faction. Even the ol' "not enough ships" line was used for the Romulans, and look how that turned out.
I'm not saying a Cardassian faction is going to happen any time soon. But what I am saying is that it could happen at some point, and there's plenty of groundwork and precedent set now to do so.
The devs can do whatever they please, if it boils right down to it. They may have said as much in the past, but honestly, it's even been admitted by devs in the past that Cardassians are the biggest contender for additional faction after the Romulans, period.
I do believe that if they are right now in the process of integrating a Cardassian faction they are not going to announce it anytime soon. I mean right now they are revamping the old Cardassian missions, does that mean a Cardassian faction is on the way? At this point it is impossible to say but let us say for the sake of argument this is so. If I was to introduce this as a new faction to the game I would most definitely revamp whatever missions that needed it, add some other missions and stories and see how the players react to it. If it is a favorable reaction then I would green light a new faction and we go from there.
I have read a bunch of reasons why a Cardassian faction is not feasible and yet the quote above pretty much spells it out for me in that the developers can do as they please. Let's face it it's been a long time people have asked for this and the developers seem to like the Cardassians as well if they had them third in line for a separate faction. If they really want to do this, they are going to find a way to make it work.
"There is iron in your words of death for all Comanche to see, and so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron. It must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life." - Ten Bears (Will Sampson)
Comments
Sorry about the confusion, I was referring to missions, they did add several lines of dialog in old missions to mention the Romulan Republic.
Dead Horse... meat beating stick.
I never could understand the alure or appeal of a Cardassian faction.
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colored text = mod mode
I mean, people once said the same thing about the Romulans.
And Cryptic literally introduced the Elachi arcs specifically for the Romulans.
Cardassian missions could easily be written to have them dealing with stuff like political reforms, splinter cell radical groups (maybe even see the formation of the True Way as part of it), exploring nearby space for resources, negotiating with allies, almost anything of the sort, really.
I feel like maybe the revamped Cardassian missions will introduce us to a new cast of Cardassian related characters, perhaps laying the groundwork for seeing what their deal could potentially be as their own faction. As it stands, it seems we'll be seeing the explanation for the presence of Mirror Universe ships in our reality to begin with, apparently the result of True Way meddling. And honestly, that's just fine by me.
I suppose the same could be said about any of the factions, thb. It's all about personal preference.
Same could be said about a Romulan faction (or any faction).
Some people like Cardassians and that's enough for them to ask for a faction, Some people feel the game would be incomplete without them since they were important in canon, others just want more content, and a cardassian faction is just an excuse, personally I just want the extra character slot.
At least in the novels, the Cardassians are the one species known to be physiologically impossible for a bluegill to infect. Though with STO showing Vaadwaur getting infected, given their strong outward similarities to the Cardassians, I'm not sure that "fact" applies to STO should the similarities extend to inner physiology as well.
BTW, for the record, there were two Cardassian ships defending Earth: the Damar, and another whose name I believe started with a T.
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They had more presence in one Star Trek series than the Romulans did through all five. Romulans are the third wheel of the Federation/Klingon experience. Cardassians were something new and they really got a lot of love in DS9 with at least a half dozen memorable characters, who managed to be pretty different from one another, and that doesn't even include the dozens of others that appeared in various roles.
My character Tsin'xing
*They rarely keep the KDF and Romulan with new stuff. From outfits, bridges, to ships.
* Another story line to work with. And then they will just mash it with the current. So then you won't have the Cardassian feel to it. Just like the Romulan and KDF now.
* They are already got enough on their plates on Development. I doubt they got more time to spare on another faction.
* They already got a Galor in a lock box. They have less ships than the KDF and Romulan
* Lastly during the 2800 FEs. The Rep from Cardassian and others said. Their fleet is nothing but a few ships for planetary Defense and required the Feds or others for protection. Thus their fleet is very small.
What I would like to see, a story arc with them current. Like helping them out on stuff or involved in some kind of plot.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
The story is not set in stone, they can change the story or add a completely new arc explaining why the Cardassians decided to get into the Iconian war, and it doesn't really need to be about fighting an unknown enemy that turns out to be an Iconian servitor race, they could just enter the war to defend their interests and their allies.
There is also no need to rewrite the cardassian struggle arc, who defeated the true way? was it a klingon captain? a Romulan? an starfleet captain? well it depends on who your character is, you could exchange that klingon captain for a cardassian and the story won't change a bit.
If any of that is an indication of an incoming Faction, the Borg and Dominion (not Dominion + Cardashians btw) are due any day now.
I'd fully support a Borg or Dominion Faction...but not the Cardashians.
RIP KDF and PvP 2014-07-17 Season 9.5 - Death by Dev
There's much to admire about Cardassian culture, their devotion to family for example. And there's also the classic (and very Star Trek) story of a people trying to move on and redeem themselves from the horrible things they've done. And the True Way insurgency presents an opportunity for a metaphoric commentary on current events -- I'm already using the old Cardassian arc as a jumping-off point for a Foundry mission that casts a resurgent and stronger True Way as Da'ish in Iraq.
There's also the simple fact that Cryptic has nowhere else to go as far as faction development. The Cardassians are the last fully-developed AQ/BQ government. The Feds, Klinks, and Roms are already in use and nobody else got nearly as much development: the Cardassians managed to fully surpass the planet of hats and become a diverse people. Apart from them, the Gorn got conquered by the Klingons years ago, the Talarians showed up for one episode, the Tzenkethi are a name on a map, and not even the novelverse did anything with the Nyberrite Alliance. Only the Ferengi even come anywhere close, and Cryptic seems content to use them as the game's butt monkey.
Finally, I relish the temper tantrum certain Dukat fanboys are going to pull when they see the Cardassians being the good guys.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
I like the idea of them after the Iconian War. Where a new threat shows up. Due to the main 3 major groups are still recovering. So this will make them jump into action. To me this would be best way to start a new "faction". Very similar to the "Death Knights" on WoW. They jumped into the action way later and at higher levels. They did the KDF like this. You had to be Lv20 before you unlocked them in the past. This is how I got my 1st KDF character.
This would work lot better and not having to deal with the story line from older arcs. Unless you want to do them for fun and gear.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
Dukat became an stupid character after joining the dominion, it went from antagonist but likable character seeking the best for his people to cliche bond villain.
My character Tsin'xing
Well, now that you mention it, old arcs could be played as holodeck historical files for a Cardassian character, we do have that feature when we replay an episode.
Says who?
I mean, it makes sense that the Romulan faction played heavily into the Dyson Sphere and Delta Quadrant arcs. The gateway to such activities are in their space, after all.
On the flip side, the Cardassians do actually have something similar to play with, too: the Bajoran Wormhole.
If anything, I imagine that, after any Cardassian-specific arcs, cross faction arcs, and later end game arcs that tie in how the Cardassians contributed to the Iconian War, we could potentially see them wanting to take heavy part in any Gamma Quadrant exploration that goes on.
Obviously not leading the way in that department, but taking active participation towards it.
They may see the Gamma Quadrant as a vital resource for them to tap into.
And remember: just because the Iconian War is essentially done, doesn't mean the devs can't write mission arcs that take place well before the conclusion of it, and then lead up to it.
Cardassians participated in the war (please don't use the one ship one guy argument again, it's a really stupid argument), so far it was not explained why they did it, a new arc explaining their reasons to enter the war would make more sense than leaving that unanswered.
I mean, it's not like they make the game and write the stories or anything.
But they only got any cultural development to work from in TNG: "Suddenly Human", is my point. All DS9: "A Simple Investigation" said is that they get drunk off raktajino.
— Sabaton, "Great War"
Check out https://unitedfederationofpla.net/s/
Than that is the case. Why bother doing them at all? Since Cryptic can barely handle the KDF and Romulans. Look how they been treated over the years. Rarely new ships, and other features. Just like today, they are still moaning about that. So the Cardassians will be no different they will moan and cry what ever they do.
USS Casinghead NCC 92047 launched 2350
Fleet Admiral Stowe - Dominion War Vet.
And as far as the Kzinti go, hey guess what: the Ferasans are essentially Kzinti. It's been all but flat-out admitted, but it's all there: they're a race of telepathic warrior cats, and Ferasan DOffs even use Kzin names.
That last part is you essentially nitpicking. "In spirit but not actuality" is splitting hairs.
And as far as business works, I'm familiar with it. I also know what operating budgets are, and how projects are planned. I also know how game development works, and how one year something "can't be done", and a year or two later, it's "oh we can totally do that now, watch".
Nothing you've stated thus far is a solid reason enough or permanent enough reason to exclude the remotest possibility of a Cardassian faction. Even the ol' "not enough ships" line was used for the Romulans, and look how that turned out.
I'm not saying a Cardassian faction is going to happen any time soon. But what I am saying is that it could happen at some point, and there's plenty of groundwork and precedent set now to do so.
I do believe that if they are right now in the process of integrating a Cardassian faction they are not going to announce it anytime soon. I mean right now they are revamping the old Cardassian missions, does that mean a Cardassian faction is on the way? At this point it is impossible to say but let us say for the sake of argument this is so. If I was to introduce this as a new faction to the game I would most definitely revamp whatever missions that needed it, add some other missions and stories and see how the players react to it. If it is a favorable reaction then I would green light a new faction and we go from there.
I have read a bunch of reasons why a Cardassian faction is not feasible and yet the quote above pretty much spells it out for me in that the developers can do as they please. Let's face it it's been a long time people have asked for this and the developers seem to like the Cardassians as well if they had them third in line for a separate faction. If they really want to do this, they are going to find a way to make it work.
My character Tsin'xing