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Real factions have exclusive social zones
potencethe1st
Member Posts: 257 Arc User
Fed = ESD
KDF = Qnos
Rom = Flotilla
It is only logical that the 23rd century ESD and galaxy map be opened for 23rd century captains.
Otherwise they're not a real faction...
Cmon make it so
Engage
KDF = Qnos
Rom = Flotilla
It is only logical that the 23rd century ESD and galaxy map be opened for 23rd century captains.
Otherwise they're not a real faction...
Cmon make it so
Engage
0
Comments
So there's no hard reason why 23c-Starfleet can't have extra missions thrown in later on. The fact they're not already there is not a good sign, but it's not impossible.
From a character-centric point of view, once they become temporal agents in the 25th century and are considered dead or lost in the 23rd there's no real reason to go back. They can't step back into their old positions. For all intents and purposes, they're temporal agents posing as 25c-Federation Starfleet officers.
But looking at game mechanics they have a separate progression of episodes and they are not truly the same as the 2409 Federation characters most of us started with. In that respect, they are very much like the Fed-aligned Romulan characters.
Also TOS boffs can't be used by other factions... at all.
My character Tsin'xing
I would love to be able to go back to the old ESD. It's completely irrelevant to me if that is deemed relevant to faction status or not. But I could see reasons why it's not possible -THere weren't a lot of 23rd century officers on ESD running around in 24th or 25th or whatever clothes. For now, old ESD is held safe in the "TOS" bubble. Once you open it up to people to characters from the future, it will look like... 25th century ESD, really.
The Feds and the KDF are the only real factions. No, they're not at war, so I agree it's a stretch to call them 'factions' more like Origins, but still.. they are the only 2 'full' factions. The story content is unique between the two of them, Romulans are a 'sub faction.' They have their own social zones and their own ships which is great, but beyond the opening content (which is great) they eventually follow either the Fed or KDF story line.
AOY is in no way a Faction. As much as I enjoy the AOY content, they're not a faction. They're a Federation character with a different tutorial. While I'm cool with this, I always have and always will support more separation of the Romulans from their allied faction. I don't mean war necessarily, or even conflict.. just more content unique to them alone.
My character Tsin'xing
Fact: each other faction has an exclusive social zone.
I didn't mention anything about missions.
Fact: I'd love for the 23c to have its own social zone we can go to at end game too.
So moving forward with the story, they're going to need to come up with a new antagonist. Either an entirely new race or a resurgent existing one. Perhaps the Borg or Dominion or Kelvans (those guys from Andromeda) for example. The last one would be interesting, and being a throwback to TOS, fits in with the 50th anniversary. Either that or go back to the original model of an Alpha/Beta quadrant war which really would be horribly contrived and feel like a step backwards.
The Na'kuhl/Sphere builders don't really fit that well, and whilst it's neat how it ties several episodes from a couple of series together, it's biggest problem is the fact the conclusion to their story lies in Enterprise. I like those stories but they feel more like ongoing events than new chapters in the continuing TNG Universe's story.
I really hope they resolve this problem because I was deeply disappointed in AOY, feeling it was more an attempt to cash in on the 50th anniversary rather than further the story in any meaningful way. Don't misunderstand, I like the limited stories we have in the 23rd Century but as has been pointed out, it's just the Fed Faction with a different tutorial. Personally I think it would have been more fun to do a Trials and Tribulations type episide, with Fed characters being sent back in time to the 23rd Century rather than attempt to masquerade the missions under the guise of a new faction which we clearly all know it's not.
Hopefully we will see a resumption of the 25th Century timeline in the next expansion. My hope is the Gamma Quadrant being opened up like the Delta Quadrant was in Delta Rising.
My character Tsin'xing
Just have that lost station from the episode "tangled Webs" emerge in the 25th century. Heck there are social hubs everywhere, even non faction ones, like the dyson sphere(s), so why none for AoY characters?!?
Of course it wouldn't change anything in the AoY characters status as Tempporal agents, but it would us give some connection to 23rd century and some reason to buy/use TOS equipment, ships and uniforms. Maybe even make 23rd century BOFFs possible.
1. Reimagine the 'Captain's Table' as a full social hub with NPC's of various times and timelines hanging out. Open it up to anyone who's completed a time travel arc, not just Veterans.
2. Build a 'New Khitomer' social zone as a full social hub with NPC's of various times and timelines hanging out. Open it up to anyone who's completed a time travel arc.
3. Put a temporal portal in Drozana Station. Take the 23C Drozana map as the basis for a full social hub reachable through the temporal portal. Open it up to anyone who's completed a time travel arc.
As long as the CT is part of the LTS and of its advertizing I don't see Cryptic touching it and making it available to everyone (though I'd really not mind them dropping that from LTS entirely).
If that is the definition, that a "real" faction must have an exclusive social zone, then arguably only Romulans are a real faction.
A Fed-aligned Romulan can go to ESD, yes?
A Klink-aligned Romulan can go to Quonos, yes?
So that means that neither the federation or Kilingons are "real" factions by your definition.
At least the 23c characters have an exclusive social hub until they leave that timeline. That gives them more claim than the Feds or Klinks by your standard.
A whole lotta this and even if the TOS faction did get it I'm sure we would see a goal post hit warp 9
Its like I never left
After that, the factions are just a set of pointless restrictions on what toys you're allowed to play with. What clothes you're allowed to wear. Which social zones you're allowed to visit. Who you're allowed to team with. Unfortunately, those restrictions still define the factions long after all meaningful and interesting aspects of them have been joined into the Alpha Quadrant Alliance.
Most players will not recognize the factions as origin stories to a non-factional story that we're playing as the Alliance, because the game mechanics continue to enforce the factions as separate and even hostile, contrary to all plot developments.
you missed Rom = new Rom command as a romulan only social area.
all very well but don't forget it was not the players who first referred to ToS as a faction.
the problem is as a faction there is not enough unique ToS missions, not enough free ToS only ships for levelling and most importantly no ToS only social area.
basically all of the things most players look for in a faction.
sure they have more content but it is for all factions not just the ToS faction, it has already been stated by cryptic that there are no plans to ever release any more ToS only missions.
sure I don't agree that ToS characters should be able to access 23c maps but theres nothing stopping cryptic putting a secret ToS base in the 25c sector map, hidden from any other then ToS characters.
who cares what the game POV is its the players POV that matters and I believe most players would say they don't see ToS characters as a faction, just a different starting story for a fed character at best.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
As long as they go back to a point in time before they "died" that's completely irrelevant.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
good idea I would vote for this if I had a vote, it would also tie up what happened to that station quite nicely.
it would also go a long way to making the ToS feel like more of a faction.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
As for ToS being a faction, maybe from a coding point-of-view, from a player point-of-view its a tutorial, lasting all of six missions, tied to a recruitment event for six weeks (notice the recurring trend of sixes here?) and then you get dumped into the same string of missions as a non-AoY character would after the other Fed tutorial.
Also if you take a long look you can see that the base for AoY was simply copied from LoR, as an example -
You can't enter Sol space without an ESD controller telling you how to dock, just like the Romulan characters have to.
You're suppose to be a Federation character, why would you need some ESD peon telling you how to dock every time you enter Sol space!
You also don't get the ESD tour and tutorial missions either, just like the Fed-aligned Romulans don't.
They took more time to make AoY then they did LoR, they have a bigger Dev team too, so why does this 'expansion' come off feeling rushed and partly finished?
Did they really think not letting AoY characters go back to 23c ESD to get more kit modules, Boff manuals, ship equipment, ship weapons, ground weapons, Bridge Officers, etc was a good idea?
Or is it more likely that despite all the time they took to do this 'expansion' they just ran out of time to implement, what feels like, large sections of it?
The sudden change from 23c to 25c is rather jarring too, not to mention you're then expected to change your uniform 'to blend in' grab a 'new, better' ship and head off to start slogging your way through all the episodes and missions.
There's no period of adjustment, no helping hand from anyone to get you use to the 'new' ESD.
There's an entire sector map and the ESD map that once you've done the 'battle of Caleb IV' you CAN NEVER GO BACK TO!
What a complete waste of time and effort making those maps and all the NPCs, items, tooltips etc.
It's like buying a new car, spending more money getting it tuned and then letting it rust in a garage.
The only thing that reminds the player on 23rd century is the transporter effect and some FX.
Which is totally out of place from the perspective of a temporal agent, btw. So to me, nothing makes really sense or fits together in AoY.
Btw:
I just noticed, that i wrote that the station was lost in "tangled Webs" while it was actually the Episode "painful omens". sorry for that.
I'm sure that the Devs wanted to do more, but they had a deadline and priorities to meet.
When you start itemizing everything they delivered and what they're working on ( console), you realize it's quite a lot.