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[PODCAST] Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 205: "We're Listening!"
midniteshadow7
Member Posts: 787 Arc User
Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 205: "We're Listening!" has warped on to Holosuite Media, you can download and stream it from:
This week the Tribbles in Ecstasy crew spends a couple of hours chatting to Manu Intiraymi (Icheb from Star Trek Voyager) about The Circuit, 5th Passenger, Benjamin Troubles, Star Trek Renegades Episode 2, Star Trek Voyager, Conventions, TV and Film, Crowdfunding and more!
After the interview the crew discusses this week's gaming news and events from Star Trek Online and Star Trek Timelines. We also give updates on other Star Trek news, conventions and unofficial Star Trek productions.
The gaming topics discussed this week are:
The Star Trek and Unoffical Star Trek Production topics discussed this week are:
Our community questions this week are:
1) What do you think of the released Star Trek Online Tier 6 Flagship designs and do you think a faction is under-represented?
2) What are your thoughts on the new Skill System revamp?
3) Do you have any questions for Tommy Kraft on Star Trek: Horizon? We interview Tommy next week in episode 206.
Please reply to this post with any feedback you have about any topic we've covered or even about the show in general, we'd love to hear what our listeners have to say.
Please help friend of the show and fellow Star Trek Online player and podcaster Mav with donations to support his recovery with his current health situation here: http://www.gofundme.com/tomsrecovery.
LLAP \\//_
This week the Tribbles in Ecstasy crew spends a couple of hours chatting to Manu Intiraymi (Icheb from Star Trek Voyager) about The Circuit, 5th Passenger, Benjamin Troubles, Star Trek Renegades Episode 2, Star Trek Voyager, Conventions, TV and Film, Crowdfunding and more!
After the interview the crew discusses this week's gaming news and events from Star Trek Online and Star Trek Timelines. We also give updates on other Star Trek news, conventions and unofficial Star Trek productions.
The gaming topics discussed this week are:
- Star Trek Timelines,
- Star Trek Online Events and Sales,
- Tier 6 Flagship Artwork,
- Competitions,
- Star Trek Online’s Release Notes,
- and the new Skill System Revamp
The Star Trek and Unoffical Star Trek Production topics discussed this week are:
- The Antaeus Theatre Company Kickstarter,
- The Worf Chronicles,
- Star Trek Renegades,
- Star Trek Anthology,
- Star Trek: Horizon,
- Convention news,
- and more!
Our community questions this week are:
1) What do you think of the released Star Trek Online Tier 6 Flagship designs and do you think a faction is under-represented?
2) What are your thoughts on the new Skill System revamp?
3) Do you have any questions for Tommy Kraft on Star Trek: Horizon? We interview Tommy next week in episode 206.
Please reply to this post with any feedback you have about any topic we've covered or even about the show in general, we'd love to hear what our listeners have to say.
Please help friend of the show and fellow Star Trek Online player and podcaster Mav with donations to support his recovery with his current health situation here: http://www.gofundme.com/tomsrecovery.
LLAP \\//_
0
Comments
A little over 3 years ago, I was asked by a former lead host, if I could come onto the show to help out with talking things foundry. 134 episodes later, it has now come to a end.
I never one to do this show for the attention. I came into this with nothing and be leaving with nothing. What this path will lead me too, I will never know.
I like to thank Wilv for asking me to join the team and also sent my thanks to Xander for the opportunity to be apart of this. I also send my thanks to the listeners for their support over the years too.
Have you ever tried Vegemite?
What do I think of the T6 flagship designs?
Let's go by variants and start with... of course... the Feds.
I dislike the Sojourner. Not because the artist did anything wrong, but because I just dislike these disproportionately wide saucers. There, I said it: I do not like the Galaxy class.
I'm not entirely sure why, but with the much more compact way the Nebula is built, that abomination of a saucer kinda works for me, but if you slap it on a more conventional design, I just dislike the aesthetics of it.
The Yorktown... Well, it looks like an Odyssey. (Which was supposed to be an evolution of the Sovereign.) And I have to say, I always liked those sleeker designs. It's just too bad it turns like a brick. (Again, kinda like the Sovereign, but I will say something about that another day...)
The Endeavour, well, it goes for a similarly sleek look, just a bit more angular to make it look more... "aggressive". I can see why people might like it, but just like the Yorktown, it's a rather sleek looking ship that turns like a brick. That just doesn't make much sense to me. Sorry. You can say that's a problem with the stats, but if you know your flagship turns worse than those flying bricks the klingons get and you still give it a so much more streamlined design... Art and systems might have to have a talk.
The Kahless looks like a flying brick. I like that. Now, looking at all three of them, I would suggest taking the Martok's wings, beefing those up (making them thicker and look a little more bulky) and sticking them on the Kahless. I think that would sell the flying brick/fortress look even better.
The Gorkon. I'm really not sure why it would need six nacelles, but whatever... I think the issue here is similar to my issues with the Fed ships. This is a battlecruiser. Those rather exposed nacelles might work better on a ship that is not supposed to see combat that often. Like... a real science vessel... (No, sun, this is not your line!) I mean, I kinda like the look, but this is still a battlecruiser, so... uhm... it might be a bit over the line.
The Martok. Well, it still looks like a brick, but more nimble than the Kahless. And like I said when I talked about the Kahless, swap their wings and you might be onto something.
The Scimitars... No, I'm not gonna go into that much detail here. I vastly prefer these romulanized versions, but it's still a stupid ship that should never have existed in the first place. Especially as the "romulan" flagship. That's just a travesty. If I had to say more about them... uhm... have the Flambard and the Khopesh swap their wings.
Apart from that... I agree with... who said it on the show, Woody? They look really reminiscent of the Batwing.
Summary: I don't think the klingon ships are that bad. They may not be my favourite ships aesthetically, but at least they look like the beefy vessels of war they are supposed to be. Maybe a little too bulky for a "battlecruiser", but then again, klingon ships were always weird when it came down to that.
When it comes to aesthetics... I guess the Yorktown wins, although it is pretty much just an Odyssey. More of an evolution at best, definitely not a revolution.
Skill revamp:
Well, it's not the first and looking at how many times WoW and SWTOR have revamped their respective "talent trees", it might not be the last.
I am not that concerned, I mean I've been here for the previous revamps and unlike many people in the announcement thread, I do know the difference between the skill system and the specialization system. So, bring it on.
Btw. when sunseahl called the (very) recently rescheduled event a double XP weekend... well, we are about to officially get XP into the game. Yay, I guess?
Questions for Tommy Kraft...
Uhm... Well, I watched the Trailer a while ago and that looked surprisingly good, I mean, there's always room for improvement, but I have seen fan productions (and even movies) with a much bigger budget that looked worse than that trailer.
- Are there scenes in the final product you are not happy about? Like... some small glitch you didn't catch early enough? Some CGI you couldn't get to work as intended?
- Someone mentioned Iconians being in this movie, are they as braindead as they are in STO? (Does he even play/know about STO?)
- Is this something you would like to repeat or was it more of a "Oh god, never again, that was terrifying!" sort of experience?
- Since it seems to be en vogue to bring it up... Any thoughts on Axanar?
Feedback:
- I was late for the show, so I didn't know Manu was sleep-deprived. That explains a lot.
I have to admit, I was actually hoping for some "pie in the sky", "off the cuff" kind of vision for Icheb. That could have been interesting.
- You know, I'm still rather unhappy about that "a battlecruiser is not a science vessel" discussion.
I don't know your actual opinion on the Bortasqu'. It is a battlecruiser. It will never be anything else. Is it a good battlecruiser?
What are your opinions on the other ships? They do exist, are they any good? Worth their money?
What about the stats? Any buffs/nerfs compared to the respective T5 versions you would like to mention?
Are they balanced against each other or is the Scimitar still supposedly (I don't own any of them, I just read about that.) better?
- You are not Priority One. You are not Cryptic's official mouth piece. Why? Well, there are probably a few reasons, but let's just settle on:
They go for shorter and fluffier episodes. You, on the other hand, have an adult rating and keep going for hours and hours.
I think Cryptic needs a podcast to keep them honest. Down to earth. I think you could fill that role. (To be honest, I'm not sure which other podcast could/would... If you know one, enlighten me.) But only if... the part that got cut this week... didn't happen again.
Edit:
Okay, writing this took longer than expected...
Well, Woody, I'm not sure what to say. You always need two people for... you know what.
But if that's your decision, good luck.
\\// Live long and prosper.
I probably should go back to championing a K'vort class.... BATTLECRUSIER.... that looks like a BoP... that poops out the ho'Sus BoP. Romulans literally already have that BoP design in the form of the Scimitar, Why not the KDF?
I agree about needing a podcast out there to keep Cryptic honest, Alex. Gods know i can be rather singularly minded in that though. But there needs to be a distinction drawn between criticizing Cryptic and purely defaming them.
Sure, I have given very harsh criticism on many occasions, not because it's fun to hurt people feeling, but because it's LESS FUN to see friends and comrades leave a game they can't enjoy anymore by continually being buried deeper and deeper in both power-creep and this magical mystery mantra of "[Faction] can't do this, [Faction] WOULDN'T do this, [Faction] WON'T get this." while giving the other factions stuff the first faction had almost exclusively... That's right I'm looking at you Cross Faction Consoles.... And you... FED Carriers.
More than anything.... I REALLY hate the perpetuated lie of "metrics."
There I said it. Metrics is a LIE. Metrics is, at the time it's said, whatever the person saying it wants it to mean...
Metrics has been the "cheeks in seats"
Metrics has been the "sales figures"
Metrics has been the "rewards given"
At this point, to me, the almighty "METRICS" say that we could hook, as little as, 100 cows up to a Methane Collector and power the world!
You can't deny that because the "metrics" says so, so It just HAS to be true, right? RIGHT? METRICS say it's true!
We've not seen any REAL sales statistics and we'll NEVER see any sales statistics... In fact where the hell is the Anniversary list of player statuses we normally get at the START of the Anniversary?
nope... all we get is, "our metrics" and "trust us, cause our 'metrics.'"
Without the Data, the metrics will always say what they want it to say because they are the only one who sees it. And we just have to trust them that they are telling the truth. Nothing against Cryptic, but I would much rather have the Data.
Flagships designs....
I have never licked the Galaxy type design either. And these new Spikey Scimitars are not to my liking either. Actually, I would prefer my Rom ships look more birds than bats. And the Scimitars look so much more like bats to me. The Klingon ships look like I would expect Klingon ships to look like and feel so appropriate to me visually.
The Talent Tree Revamp I am optimistic about it. The last skill system was as clear as mud to me. The time I had to put into it to figure what a skill did became a detriment to me enjoying the game. In the end I figured some things out, got others told to me, and the rest was gleaned from comparing what I did to others builds. I still really don't all the nuts and bolts of the skills but I have a build that is functional within the limitations of my play style and understanding of the mechanics. The Revamp has some things that need to be tweaked still, and they are doing that, but as a whole, I find it easier to understand and more intuitive in what good the skill will be for me and my build. I am already looking at all the skills and starting to map out what it will take to get what I want from it for each of my guys.
As for us keeping Cryptic honest...I don't know. What I do know is that I feel no reason to not say what I think and feel about the game. I am passionate about the game and only want to see it get better and have that staying power. If that is keeping them honest, cool. Sun and I have are disagreements about certain things, but in the end we do have the same passion for the game and the same eventual goal of it being the best that it can be. We just don't always agree on the finer details..lol.
KDF: Dahar Master Kan (Borg Klingon Tactical)::Dahar Master Torc (Alien Science)::Dahar Master Sisteric (Gorn Engineer)
RR-Fed: Citizen Sirroc (Romulan Science)::Fleet Admiral Grell (Alien Engineer)
RR-KDF: Fleet Admiral Zemo (Reman Tactical)::Fleet Admiral Xinatek (Reman Science)::Fleet Admiral Bel (Alien Engineer)
TOS-Fed: Fleet Admiral Katem (Andorian Tactical)::Lieutenant Commander Straad (Vulcan Engineer)
Dom-Fed: Dan'Tar (Jem'Hadar Science)
Dom-KDF: Kamtana'Solan (Jem'Hadar Science)
CoHost of Tribbles in Ecstasy (Zombee)
However, on the topic of 'metrics' . . .
Metrics are like "Sensors" on Star Trek. The word is just a wrapper for many different things, all added together. When Data says that Sensors are detecting a Klingon ship off the port bow, what's actually being detected? Is it visible light? Is it EM interference? Is it radiation? Our eyes, our ears our noses, our skin, our mouths, are all various sensors that detect specific things.
"Metrics" are the same, but with game data. We have 'sensors' that can tell us how many people are playing. We have 'sensors' that tell us how well something has been selling. We have 'sensors' that tell us when a specific reward is given out. All of those things wrapped together are "Metrics."
It's true, we're not going to tell you specific data. You will be hard pressed to find a functional company in the Capitalist world, who will tell you how much money specific products make, or how many people are using their product at any given moment. I'm afraid that's the nature of business today.
All of this is to say that "Metrics" are not necessarily lies. I don't believe we've ever lied about what "metrics" have told us. That doesn't mean that 'metrics' always give us the whole and complete picture, either. That EM radiation and bubonic particle traces off the port bow might appear to the crew as a Klingon Bird of Prey, and they might act on that info, only to later find out it's some Talaxian Freighter they just blew up. (not that anyone would miss a Talaxian Freighter)
But like "sensors," we don't necessarily have a lot else to go on. If everything we see says that the latest Ship is not selling, or that people don't play on Tuesdays, we will use that information to inform our future actions. Just as if everything I see, and smell and feel tells me that there is a strawberry in front of me, I'm going to believe it's a strawberry. People say that we should poll the players, and do other things to get more direct feedback. However, we've done stuff like that before, and every time, we find it to be less than helpful. What people SAY they will buy, is not what they will actually buy. So, we rely on the data, the 'metrics.'
That is what "Metrics" is all about.
As always, it's nice that you give your take on things like this. Always appreciated.
I offer an example of why "Metrics" is something that is something of a dirty word to a lot of players, and hopefully, you understand this side of it. I give you the T6 Kor Bird of Prey:
Once the T6 ships were announced, instantly it began. "What about the BoP?" "Shouldn't the Intel ship be a Bird of Prey?"
Basically ignored. Nothing from the dev side about this. It was mentioned for over a year.
Then, "T6 Bird of Prey" announced.
However, it was not Intelligence seating. It had underwhelming statistics. But the bad news kept coming.
People complained about a different ship. And, so, for no reason, the faction specific console was changed- simply because the Federation offering was changed. The Romulan ship went unchanged. No one wanted this, and said so. Repeatedly. Completely ignored.
It was advertised to use specific other skins. It still cannot do so.
Metrics will undoubtedly state that sales underperformed. Although there was definite feedback, it was disregarded.
So it's a KDF ship, with stats disregarding feedback, a console disregarding feedback, and visuals that don't work, disregarding feedback. "Metrics" will say people don't want a BoP.
Of course we hate "Metrics."
Hi Tacofangs! Thanks for joining in.
As for Metrics, I guess I don't expect hard numbers and such. Even WOW has decided to not give hard numbers anymore. But things like giving us some usable data would be nice. An example would be like 50% of all Klingon players use BoP's as their primary ship. Or that 20% of all Romulans use a non-romulan designed ship. This kind of data will still allow us to see how the community is reacting to what you guys are providing while still hiding the numbers. This would also help in lowering the speculations surrounding the game some, (I know it will never go away). But it also will allow the community to see how their choices have impacted the game, and give us an look at what is considered successful and what is not. It also allows us to look at what we liked and wasn't popular and try to change things if we so wish to. Like Science ships for Klingons and Romulans, that can possible spur people to do what's needed to move the metric in a positive fashion. Information is a powerful tool when used correctly. I just would like to have that data so that we the players can make better informed choices about things.
And those Talaxians will surely miss that freighter, especially the ones on the ill fated cruise.
KDF: Dahar Master Kan (Borg Klingon Tactical)::Dahar Master Torc (Alien Science)::Dahar Master Sisteric (Gorn Engineer)
RR-Fed: Citizen Sirroc (Romulan Science)::Fleet Admiral Grell (Alien Engineer)
RR-KDF: Fleet Admiral Zemo (Reman Tactical)::Fleet Admiral Xinatek (Reman Science)::Fleet Admiral Bel (Alien Engineer)
TOS-Fed: Fleet Admiral Katem (Andorian Tactical)::Lieutenant Commander Straad (Vulcan Engineer)
Dom-Fed: Dan'Tar (Jem'Hadar Science)
Dom-KDF: Kamtana'Solan (Jem'Hadar Science)
CoHost of Tribbles in Ecstasy (Zombee)
I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
Uhm... Let me just say that Taco made a really good point. What people say and what people do can be two very different things.
And since we're talking about metrics (or if you'd prefer to call them statistics...): Sure, they can only tell you so much.
Cryptic knows (and we can safely assume, since all clues point in that direction) that klingon and romulan science vessels (and even the canon Nebula for Feds) didn't really sell, the interesting/important question is... why?
RP blog "Passing muster":
I like the way it is written, but I'm not quite sure what the intention is.
Should we empathize with this particular family? This particular Na'kuhl soldier? See that not all Na'kuhl are evil? All of the aforementioned? None? I guess I'll have to wait and see.
Which means nothing in this blog will ever show up again, right? -.-
What I do know is... imagine a blog like this one shortly before "Butterfly" showing us... well, this exact same situation. Noye and Clauda having dinner together. Basically the content of Clauda's log we watched in Tide and Time... Reading that kind of blog and then seeing her "unexist" in Butterfly could have been so much more impactful. And Noye would not have been such a one-dimensional jerk. He might have become... *gasp*... a compelling character!
Okay, okay, he might have become a 1.5-dimensional character, but still, that would have been such an improvement!
Btw. since this blog also makes use of the word "dreg"... Like I mentioned before, I didn't really watch Enterprise, so... is "dreg" some sort of catchphrase? Because it's the Na'kuhl and Noye (in Tide and Time) who use this particular word religiously. Well, mostly the Na'kuhl, but then all of a sudden Noye used it.
Or is this... I'm getting a headache just thinking about it... the buildup for some sort of "clever reveal"? -.-
Oh... one last thing... According to the son in this blog, the Na'kuhl were "subjugated" by the Klingons and the Cardassians.
Once again the Cardassians are specifically mentioned in one of these RP blogs. I'm not giving up on a playable Cardassian species (and really hope that Bajoran-Cardassian hybrids are included...)!
Galactic Development Campaign part 2:
I still hope this is not all the "rebuilding" we were promised for season 11...
(It is all we're getting, isn't it? -.-)
That being said, I appreciate the fact that you cannot give fast and hard numbers to the vast majority of our questions involving metrics, I really do. And I also understand that with the massive amount of flame posts out there, that a lot of the devs basically refuse to visit these forums.
I have to go on record as agreeing with sinn74. I, as a mainly KDF player, have felt like the concerns and questions and suggestions that have been made by that part of the player base have fallen on deaf ears. Do I understand that as a business you have to go where the money is? Yes, I do. BUT, if you have a portion of populace that actively plays the game, runs the content repeatedly to try and get that last little thing to make it where their ship has a chance to try to keep up with the power creep that is showing, and gets excited to hear about a new ship coming out, and then sees that ship, and sees it is not "equitable" in some way in comparison to the opposite factions same offerings, how is that not an injustice in some way?
Let me clarify, I am not just talking about the recent flagship announcement. I am also talking about the escorts that were not that long ago, where Federation ships and Romulan ships got console sets and there was a blaring lack of the same for the KDF players. These are just a couple of instance where this sort of thing has happened.
I understand that a lot of folks see Star Trek and think Federation instantly, I really do, but where would the Federation be if they had not had to have altercations with the Romulans, the Klingons, Gorn, the Orions, and numerous other races and cultures? I cannot see the Federation in our story being nearly as strong, nor as flexible, without these very encounters to help shape it into the very thing that it is in our game. Granted, history is written by the victors, but to have it feel as though those contributions, in whatever manner you call them, were trivial at best, seems a dis-service to those who wish to explore what helped shaped the very Federation most know and love.
/rant over (for Now)