Which is exactly why I'm so hopeless I'll ever get those ships. There's no way they'd ever do another KDF alien species ship before a proper KDF ship, so if they haven't even given us that, what possible hope do I have for an Orion FDC?
I'm really seriously beginning to consider dropping my Orion into a Gorkon or something. Her Fleet T5U Corsair isn't the best ship to start with, and even with a few decent traits, it's just not going to hold up under power creep much longer. Problem being my KDF Lib. Borg Engie is also flying a Gorkon (in the Martok skin, because it's a Super Negh'var and everything about those words together is magnificent), and short of a T6 Kamarag, it's basically perfect for him. The idea of having two characters in the same ship is... distasteful to me, but there's nothing else Eng/Sci to drop her in that isn't wildly expensive or otherwise out of character...
I'm a fan of the Vor'cha design, my Klingon alt flies the mirror version as well as the Mirror Negh'var and both ships look stunning.
A T6 version of the Vor'cha with the same bridge seating as the T6 galaxy would be very nice indeed
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Less red colour pallet. More interest in the Klingons.
Are you aware that you can change the color palette of your game's UI whenever you want to which ever faction's colors you like? You can use the various FED UI colors if you prefer to.
I personally prefer KDF over Fed although I prefer Rom over both of them. I have 5 toons that are level 60 with another 3 that are 55+. Of those, 2 are Fed, 1 is Rom/Fed, my main is Rom/KDF and the rest are KDF.
I think this here is pretty symptomatic for threads like this.
Almost the only people that respond are those that already play KDF.
So the only thing we get in replies for a question like in the OP is the stuff that KDF players want. It's all fine and dandy if us KDF players get more stuff we want, but it doesn't mean we know what non-KDF players actually want, and thus us getting all the stuff we want would mean that we'd get more players.
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Mustrumridcully0, I think greyhame3 might mean a wider color palette for outfits.
Might also be that a lot of the KDF-ish players are offering suggestions that could entice new players, as well as a shift from veterans of "Big Blue" to the "Rough Red."
Would take nothing. My main is KDF. Imo the kdf are more entertaining to play. They get ships that actually look practical. The KDF storyline is quite well written compared to most of the fed's storyline. Tried playing a fed and it just didnt feel right. The whole blow TRIBBLE up first and ask questions later didnt fit. Be nice if they would even out the factions. if the other factions had the same content as feds get they would have considerably more players for each. But unfortunately they cater more toward fed due to the whiners/whales.
I'm a fan of the Vor'cha design, my Klingon alt flies the mirror version as well as the Mirror Negh'var and both ships look stunning.
A T6 version of the Vor'cha with the same bridge seating as the T6 galaxy would be very nice indeed
I agree on the Qu'Daj variant of the Negh'var. One of my favorite ship designs, just behind the T5 Bortasqu', as well as the Gorkon and Martok Bortasqu T6 variants.
I think you would need specific faction related mission rewards, and even some faction specific missions, which would add more reason to play another faction. I mean why play a kdf or rom faction when after a certain point the rewards, missions, and such are just rehashed fed story-lines. I mean sure having a singular story-line that we all fallow as an overarching one, but we should also have smaller more faction oriented story-arcs that shows what things specific to that faction are happening.
I mean all that is different between the factions is a small group of missions, some ship based mechanics, than really why roll that faction.
Some very good points and suggestions here (and some bickering but this is the forums). I play KDF since the beggining, when you had to level a fed to 25 before you could make a KDF. That charater is my most advanced, heck my highest fed is 59, and is that high because of admiralty. I have to admit that the KDF story feels dumb at points however the new(ish) 1-20 missions were not that bad. It's a pity that i haven't seen a pure kdf ship instead a new skin (as pretty as some have been) of a fed ship, but it's better than the drought we had a couple years ago. Still waiting on a "design your ship" event like we had for the Jupiter, so we can design a T6 carrier for the KDF (and the romulans as well). It's a pity that the story is the same, after a point, wether you're KDF, Romulan or Fed, diferente paths ending in the same last mission would have been great and many would love to explore the diferent viewes, unfortunatelly Cryptic seems unwilling (or uncapable) to do anything outsider of Fed stuff.
If not for the marks prize in the Aoy sidestory (it's not a faction) i wouldn't be playing a fed, no reason to do it normally, heck my fed from the last event it's in the 20's, that's how boring playing a fed is to me.
Klingons should be able to shoot Kobali in that wasted developer time ghost town some call a battle zone.
There is a reason (I guess) why FEDs have to toe the line. But KDF and Romulans should be able to just kick Harry Kim in the groin and start beaming in raiding parties.
My main is KDF, so rather than asking "What would it take to get you to play KDF?", the better question is "What would it take to get you to play at all?"
I've liked Klingons since I saw Worf at Far Point Station (sp?) as a kid. Somewhere I have Klingon head makup that I picked up at a ST convention when I was in 3rd grade. I like them. I have three fed toons I don't play plus some Romulans. My Klingon is my main.
I'd like to see a full alliance between Klingons and the federation, including Klingon access to ESD and Starfleet Academy. Maybe access to sub-T5 federation ships too.
I don't expect to ever see more end-game Klingon content, but having Worf negotiate a merge of the federation and empire (similiar to the Vulcans joining the federation but still having their own ships) could make for an interesting episodic series and the merge might make me, as a Klingon, feel less like a second-class citizen.
At this point I'd switch factions if I could. I've spent close to 2 million dillithium on gear upgrades, done all the rep grinds, got almost 400 purple DOFFs, and unlocked a lot of $$$ in inventory. Just rolling a fed and re-grinding isn't in the cards. Rolling a fed and paying real money (probably around $2000 USD) to bring that new toon up to the power of my Klingon isn't realistic...that's the point where I uninstall and mail Cryptic a pineapple with instructions on which TRIBBLE to put it into.
okay, first off, the idea of a Voth calling a Gorn "Mammal" is frankly ridiculous. inserting the right triggers for Gorn characters and some alternate dialogue would be beyond awesome.
indeed, the Voth could want to help the Gorn to recover their freedom. A lot of missions in STO are so badly written than if this was not sad, this could be funny.
Basics here. to want to play KDF, you are already a Star Trek fan. relying solely on Trekkers, not all Trekkers fall into the "Curious about the Klingons" circle in the Venn Diagram.
Teh other overlap is "People who game" might want to play-they're really the only 'undecided' available, because "People who game" doesn't fall only into the Trekker circle in the Venn Diagram-but there IS overlap.
"People who game" will seek out the faction in a game that has the advantages, or has some aspect that is not shared by other factions. Some mechanic or role that the majority doesn't fill. (Horde vs. Alliance is an example, or Jedi/Sith, etcetera)
Non-Trek fans would most likely pick their first toon based on appearance, then notice that the Feds have all the exclusive stuff and switch to that. Unless they're checked up on the factions in advance in which case they'd already know the Feds have all the exclusive stuff and pick it from the start.
Which brings us back again to less restrictions = more equality.
Horde vs Alliance or Jedi vs Sith are not in the same position at all. There is no great pre-existing fan imbalance between them. It's not plausible to expect Fed/KDF/Rom to ever have equal numbers in STO. Because there is a fan imbalance. The Federation will always be the majority.
Homogeneity only serves to reduce appeal when you have a base starting imbalance as wide as the imbalance between Starfleet fans, and Klingon fans.
Homogenizing began with the Bortasque. Prior to that ship's release, the difference in the faction doctrines was clear and obvious-Klingon ships in the similar role were a touch faster, and were designed to use Cannon/Torpedo builds, in exchange for lower shield mods, slower recovery rates (the old, now abandoned crew mechanic). Federation cruisers were built to be insanely durable with fast recovery, and slightly better protection, but they were slower tier-for-tier than KDF ships. Until the Bortasque, which combined the ability to mount a narrow-arc weapon with the INABILITY TO USE IT EFFECTIVELY.
It was actually a poorer design,even with more tac consoles on the 'tactical' because of this-it turned slower than the Oddy, had less manuever due to poor inertial, was more vulnerable, carried fewer items, and the special consoles it was given didn't work, or didn't work correctly.
Thus, it did not sell-because the "Gamer" circle and the "Klingon" circle overlapped a bit more on release-thanks in part to a condition where KDF players had to start 'late' and rely on PvP to level, and the Bortasque was a boat-anchor of a ship for PvP or any other role where being able to bring the nose in line with a moving target had some significance.
The level of investment required AFTER the Cruiser revamp, still leaves the Bort as a white elephant-an expensive white elephant. Other T5 ships already in the inventory (even in the C-store) fit the role better for less investment.
The impact on the market was, however, crushing. Lack of sales and expense of artwork meant that Cryptic lost money on the Bortasque-kind of like Ford losing money on the Edsel.
Proportionally, the difference was that Cryptic's ship guys didn't have a Lee Iacocca to design the Thunderbird or Mustang equivalent, instead, the heads (Geko) declared KDF unprofitable and no new ships were done for the next three years for the C-store market.
They declared the KDF unprofitable because it is. Obviously it's more profitable to sell a product to 70% than to 15% of the playerbase. Cryptic is profiting off the imbalance.
Yes, Cryptic could attract non-fans to KDF with exclusive gimmicks. But to what end? It would still be less profitable than yet another toy for the majority.
In fact, even if they somehow miraculously managed to even up the factions so that each would have 1/3rd of the population and spending, that would only mean they'd have lost the ability to make only one ship and sell it to most of the playerbase. With a three-faction pack, the total customer base always adds up to 100%, but when making a single ship, it's better to have one 70% market than three 33% ones.
As much as some KDF fans think the faction restrictions mean Cryptic "must" make KDF ships, reality says they're willing and able to just ignore the few that won't buy Fed ships whenever it suits them. Thus Feds are the only ones who get single ship releases.
The company does not profit from faction equality. The only way to make Klingons and Romulans as profitable as the majority is to make them part of the majority. That's the only way we'll ever get a non-Fed single ship release ever again.
A Fed can fly an Undine ship, but a Klingon ship is beyond their capability.
A Klingon can fly a Tholian ship, but a Federation one is beyond their capability.
The temporal ships in particular are an unholy mess of "this ship has different versions for each faction," "that ship is Fed-only," "those ships are cross-faction" and so on with no rhyme or reason.
And clothes are restricted in even more arbitrary manner, right down to individual species. No, you can't wear that skirt, it's DNA-locked! Even some hairstyles are restricted, as if by some magic your hair was incapable of being cut in specific styles based on race.
More like government locked. KDF not selling their ships to the Fed, the Fed not selling their ships to the KDF. Which made sense when the factions were separate and antagonistic, but not anymore.
I don't see the Dominion, the Iconians, the Voth, etc selling their ships to us either. Yet we're still flying them all the time.
So I've played all three factions, but to get me to go back to my Klingon and Romulan characters, they'd have to lessen the grind by alot, which we know will never happen. By mid-way through any "event" I'm already banging my head against the keyboard from having to do the same thing for a month on one character, let alone three or more. The grind of the rep system, while lessened, is hardly lessened that much, and it can be difficult to get new marks for old reps whose queues don't pop anymore. Oh and a proper faction science ship for both factions, and I mean a true faction T-6 science ship, not a lock box or lobi ship or an event ship from some race that is barely mentioned in Star Trek lore, but a true faction specific T-6 science ship.
Which is exactly why I'm so hopeless I'll ever get those ships. There's no way they'd ever do another KDF alien species ship before a proper KDF ship, so if they haven't even given us that, what possible hope do I have for an Orion FDC?
I'm really seriously beginning to consider dropping my Orion into a Gorkon or something. Her Fleet T5U Corsair isn't the best ship to start with, and even with a few decent traits, it's just not going to hold up under power creep much longer. Problem being my KDF Lib. Borg Engie is also flying a Gorkon (in the Martok skin, because it's a Super Negh'var and everything about those words together is magnificent), and short of a T6 Kamarag, it's basically perfect for him. The idea of having two characters in the same ship is... distasteful to me, but there's nothing else Eng/Sci to drop her in that isn't wildly expensive or otherwise out of character...
I'm a fan of the Vor'cha design, my Klingon alt flies the mirror version as well as the Mirror Negh'var and both ships look stunning.
A T6 version of the Vor'cha with the same bridge seating as the T6 galaxy would be very nice indeed
So, a command version of the Qib intel battlecruiser? It doesn't really look like a Vor'cha, but inspired by it.
Less red colour pallet. More interest in the Klingons.
Are you aware that you can change the color palette of your game's UI whenever you want to which ever faction's colors you like? You can use the various FED UI colors if you prefer to.
The UI doesn't bother me as much as just the overall redness. I have played a Klingon to higher levels, but I always hated the red everywhere. To be fair, I understand this colour scheme matches the show but I don't particularly like it there either.
Doesn't mean I don't like Klingons, but I just can't get into playing them partially because of the colours.
Which prominent Orion was a member of the KDF? Admittedly, I only played through the Wasteland arc last week on my AoY character, so my memory is probably bad.
But you ignore the fact that
A. The Gorn appeared in 2 episodes across all the shows
B. The Letheans appeared in 2 episodes across all the shows
A. Orions appeared in 7 episodes across all the shows
C. Nausicaans appeared in 11 episodes across all the shows
And even then, in many cases with the Orions and Nausicaans, they were simply background characters.
There's nothing for Cryptic to build on in regards to those species, the gorn Ambassador S'taass has had more screen time in STO then the Gorn got in all the TV shows combined.
Nothing for Cryptic to build on. Nothing? Cryptic as never taken any race from the shows that appeared in maybe a handful of episiodes and gave them thier own story arcs (Elatchi, Vaadwaur, Voth, Iconians, freaking Bluegills)? Maybe used their creative talents create something new and fun to add depth and lore to the STO universe?
I think you and I are playing different games.
We've seen Cryptic do this before. The developer blogs on the Voth were very extensive (and enjoyable). We know they can do this. Why is the KDF any different? The KDF is Cryptic's own invention. Why would the lore of a player faction be less developed than the Bluegills.
I've got 3 KDF 'toons; one alien, one Romulan and one Orion. AoY made me roll another Fed 'toon, so now I must roll a Klingon tactical 'toon to restore equilibrium between my fleets...
Expendables Fleet: Andrew - Bajoran Fed Engineer Ken'taura - Rom/Fed Scientist Gwyllim - Human Fed Delta Tac Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
I always do some research into any game I decide to play.
Yes my first character was a Vulcan Science Officer (since deleted) but my 2nd character was, and still is, a Klingon Tactical Officer, admittedly I don't use her anymore, mostly because the story is exactly the same for all three factions at end-game but mainly because there's nothing else to do on her at the moment.
However, even if I had noticed that the KDF was a neglected faction, which I hadn't, I'm one of those who the more you try to push something onto me the more likely I'll do the exact opposite.
So the more they push the Federation as the only faction to play the more I'm going to both make and use KDF characters.
As for dumb dialogue options with the Voth there's the Saurians as well as the Gorn needing different options then the generic 'you mammal, you stoopiid'.
Why bother adding different races with unique traits and abilities if you're not even going to bother giving them unique dialogue options?
Then again they have demonstrated a lack of or unwillingness to even do simple spellchecks and proof-reading with item descriptions, so do we really want them to try and do different dialogue options?
Do we actually trust them to get it right without TRIBBLE it up somehow?
You can bet if they TRIBBLE up anything for the KDF it won't get fixed until someone does it on their own time so it'll take years.
That seems to be the norm for them, release something then let it wither while they work on something 'new' rather then fix or improve things they've already released.
I for one would be both happier and less likely to 'bash' on cryptic if they actually fixed long-standing bugs and issues, updated things they haven't touched since they introduced them in state they later admit isn't what they want.
First off - I'll apologize in advance for the amount of text here- trying to cover a lot of different areas. Keep in mind this is MY opinion, and YMMV.
We've seen gradual decline of PvP focus and eventual convolution of the faction system over the years to an eventual incline of PvE gameplay. This is likely due to the lack of focus/development on PvP, but it's also due to the release of mainly Fed content over the years in the form of ships available, the quality of episodic content, and storylines.
It really does not take someone with a P.h.D. in Theoretical Physics to understand why Fed is more profitable than KDF here. The shift has caused most of the player base to gravitate towards the Fed side because of everything mentioned beforehand. Some players will still play KDF only because they're hardcore KDF fans, but the majority will seek the path of least resistance.
Romulans are a whole different ball of wax here- the introduction of yet another "faction" but giving the option of aligning with ONLY the Fed or KDF sides constitutes that the Romulans are indeed not their OWN faction, they are either Fed or KDF- then to further the complication, their later tier ships are restricted above Tier 4, but they're still only Fed or KDF allied. They still don't have their own "faction" regardless of having their own set of ships above Tier 5. (Again- your ship isn't your "identity", it's a tool you utilize to get a specific job done.)
Now, in terms of game evolution- either they'll continue to ignore development of the faction-based meta in the game, or they'll round back to the faction-based development and square it off with more definition as it should be. I personally don't believe they should have abandoned the faction system itself with forcing Romulans to be aligned with either KDF or Fed, unless they had decided to NOT restrict the use of ships with their alignment above Tier 4. They had already the development of "New Romulus" and had a Fleet, so why was/is there no 3rd "Romulan" choice available? That said, it's pretty apparent that the intent/goal here was not to fully develop the Romulan "faction", but to add more variety in terms of playable race choice.
My impression of the Romulan "faction" release was that it was half-baked, becuase they didn't flesh it out like they did with the other two complete factions that were available (KDF/Fed) but rather relegated the story to eventual alignment with the other two. We can only speculate as to the "reasons" here- whether it be it would cause discontent with players who wanted other races to become factions (which we've seen numerous threads about, Cardassians, Ferengi, Klingons, etc.) or just plain lack of development funding/focus.
While I'd love to see them add more definition, I don't have a lot of faith in it happening- with the release of AOY, it appears their intended focus is solely on PvE gameplay, and continued gradual erasure of the faction system as a result.
I've trudged through episodic content with my KDF character- and will likely try and continue to do so, but I think ultimately unless there's "more" to it later on, I'll end up gravitating toward the Fed side again specifically because there's really more to offer in terms of not only gameplay and content but also in terms of available players as a community, etc.
It's not you- it's me. I just need my space.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
Which prominent Orion was a member of the KDF? Admittedly, I only played through the Wasteland arc last week on my AoY character, so my memory is probably bad.
Technically.... Hassan. He's Syndicate, not true KDF, but both groups report to the same people.
Tuvok mission..."yeah, riiiighhht..." no way to suggest alterations here, but if there were...but there ain't, and it IS critical to the metastory (both Tuvok missions).
['Temporal ****'...
this one makes no sense-the opening mission is in Federation controlled space, and the KDF don't do pure exploration missions inside the borders of known interstellar states. A Klingon made aware of the thox utat would've sought a means to prevent both the Na'khul homeworld from being destroyed, and the subsequent Temporal Accords surrender document, by going back to before the Tholians got ahold of it on Risa, and destroyed the goddam thing instead of hiding it. (maybe replacing it with a dirty replica) this is hardware up there with Genesis devices-hiding it would not be a 'thing' for Klingons, only study and elimination.
Putting the damn thing in a cave is akin to leaving a nuclear bomb with 'no control codes' in a preschool! Feds might do it, but Klingons aren't so 'optimistic'-they'd either take it for themselves to study it, or, considering the impact it's continued presence in the past had, they'd make sure nobody, anywhere, any time, would be able to use the damn thing.
Break it in some unfixable way, toss it in a black hole, um...something. it would NOT be there for the Tholians to find-they don't find it, they don't take out the Na'Kuhl sun, the Na'Kuhl don't go back and attack the Colony fleet, because they never get ahold of time-travel tech with a vengeful mindset.
oh, and if we HAVE to have it, a Klingon, Lethean, Nausicaan, Gorn...even an Orion would've just looked for a way to Kill Noye outright before he stole the timeship (or gone back and scuttled the project, thus preventing the Iconians from surviving into the future to attack everyone. Losing the "World Heart" isn't that big a loss.) No Timeship, no Iconian War, the Iconians were exterminated by their enemies and it was their fault and it's not our responsibility to preserve them to attack us later.
meanwhile, Temporal Accords get to happen in the 29th century like they were SUPPOSED TO, instead of 2413 like they're going to-because Daniels is a meddling twit. maybe if we just STAB HIM IN THE FACE?? (maybe we can have those temporal accords anyway-and go around hunting down 'future people' who are trying to **** with our futures in their past-and stab them in the face? Please?? "If I catch you in the present and you're from the future, you won't have a future. That's the new "Temporal Prime Directive"-time travellers will be shot, if they live, they will be shot again!! If you come from the PAST, you're never going back!")
Reasoning: "There is no glory if the outcome is already known, only futility or false destiny."
See bold italicized phrases. I have a few thoughts.
One: Why in the hell would my character(s) that are KDF not go on a rampage of my own while orbiting Terra during the battle with the Undine, or go on a similar rampage while fighting on ESD against said Undine? So many opportunities to misbehave while there. Hell, I'd even find a way to do something like sabotage the replicators to produce Cheese Veggie MREs or something just as awful instead root beer and juice drinks, or put spatial charges in all the toilets with pressure plates attached. Maybe find a Starfleet wounded that I would have the option of killing, because carrying him would slow me down...Would also give the opportunity to see if Tuvok gets a little twitch in his eye at seeing one of his faction put down rather than stuffed into a doggie bag to be saved. It's not like shenanigans can't happen. I mean, KDF characters DO attack the shipyards of Mars...KDF players would be happy as a horned up Targ mounting a Tellarite if they got even a small window of mischief to play against a Starfleet stronghold.
Two: Beginning of Temporal Front arc wasn't bad. Get to meet a new race that can be welcomed into the KDF, one that according to the dialogue, is extremely grateful, and has a lot of motivation for becoming even friends. Taking and letting the Feds have jurisdiction over the star altering jack-in-the-box was awfully hokey as well. If anything, the KDF would've either slagged it, or taken it to study. Though my character(s) would've kept the item for themselves(opportunity to make it either as a personal ground device, non-consumable ship device with a long cooldown, or console was wasted there).
Three: I definitely agree with putting Daniels down. He's become a rabid dog when it comes to altering time stuff, with nobody keeping him in rein, no REAL oversight for the "temporal police." Yet he and others have no qualms about putting a choke collar on time travel for others.
Comments
I'm a fan of the Vor'cha design, my Klingon alt flies the mirror version as well as the Mirror Negh'var and both ships look stunning.
A T6 version of the Vor'cha with the same bridge seating as the T6 galaxy would be very nice indeed
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Are you aware that you can change the color palette of your game's UI whenever you want to which ever faction's colors you like? You can use the various FED UI colors if you prefer to.
I think this here is pretty symptomatic for threads like this.
Almost the only people that respond are those that already play KDF.
So the only thing we get in replies for a question like in the OP is the stuff that KDF players want. It's all fine and dandy if us KDF players get more stuff we want, but it doesn't mean we know what non-KDF players actually want, and thus us getting all the stuff we want would mean that we'd get more players.
Might also be that a lot of the KDF-ish players are offering suggestions that could entice new players, as well as a shift from veterans of "Big Blue" to the "Rough Red."
Would take nothing. My main is KDF. Imo the kdf are more entertaining to play. They get ships that actually look practical. The KDF storyline is quite well written compared to most of the fed's storyline. Tried playing a fed and it just didnt feel right. The whole blow TRIBBLE up first and ask questions later didnt fit. Be nice if they would even out the factions. if the other factions had the same content as feds get they would have considerably more players for each. But unfortunately they cater more toward fed due to the whiners/whales.
I agree on the Qu'Daj variant of the Negh'var. One of my favorite ship designs, just behind the T5 Bortasqu', as well as the Gorkon and Martok Bortasqu T6 variants.
But play KDF Never
I mean all that is different between the factions is a small group of missions, some ship based mechanics, than really why roll that faction.
If not for the marks prize in the Aoy sidestory (it's not a faction) i wouldn't be playing a fed, no reason to do it normally, heck my fed from the last event it's in the 20's, that's how boring playing a fed is to me.
There is a reason (I guess) why FEDs have to toe the line. But KDF and Romulans should be able to just kick Harry Kim in the groin and start beaming in raiding parties.
I've liked Klingons since I saw Worf at Far Point Station (sp?) as a kid. Somewhere I have Klingon head makup that I picked up at a ST convention when I was in 3rd grade. I like them. I have three fed toons I don't play plus some Romulans. My Klingon is my main.
I'd like to see a full alliance between Klingons and the federation, including Klingon access to ESD and Starfleet Academy. Maybe access to sub-T5 federation ships too.
I don't expect to ever see more end-game Klingon content, but having Worf negotiate a merge of the federation and empire (similiar to the Vulcans joining the federation but still having their own ships) could make for an interesting episodic series and the merge might make me, as a Klingon, feel less like a second-class citizen.
At this point I'd switch factions if I could. I've spent close to 2 million dillithium on gear upgrades, done all the rep grinds, got almost 400 purple DOFFs, and unlocked a lot of $$$ in inventory. Just rolling a fed and re-grinding isn't in the cards. Rolling a fed and paying real money (probably around $2000 USD) to bring that new toon up to the power of my Klingon isn't realistic...that's the point where I uninstall and mail Cryptic a pineapple with instructions on which TRIBBLE to put it into.
indeed, the Voth could want to help the Gorn to recover their freedom. A lot of missions in STO are so badly written than if this was not sad, this could be funny.
Which brings us back again to less restrictions = more equality.
Horde vs Alliance or Jedi vs Sith are not in the same position at all. There is no great pre-existing fan imbalance between them. It's not plausible to expect Fed/KDF/Rom to ever have equal numbers in STO. Because there is a fan imbalance. The Federation will always be the majority. They declared the KDF unprofitable because it is. Obviously it's more profitable to sell a product to 70% than to 15% of the playerbase. Cryptic is profiting off the imbalance.
Yes, Cryptic could attract non-fans to KDF with exclusive gimmicks. But to what end? It would still be less profitable than yet another toy for the majority.
In fact, even if they somehow miraculously managed to even up the factions so that each would have 1/3rd of the population and spending, that would only mean they'd have lost the ability to make only one ship and sell it to most of the playerbase. With a three-faction pack, the total customer base always adds up to 100%, but when making a single ship, it's better to have one 70% market than three 33% ones.
As much as some KDF fans think the faction restrictions mean Cryptic "must" make KDF ships, reality says they're willing and able to just ignore the few that won't buy Fed ships whenever it suits them. Thus Feds are the only ones who get single ship releases.
The company does not profit from faction equality. The only way to make Klingons and Romulans as profitable as the majority is to make them part of the majority. That's the only way we'll ever get a non-Fed single ship release ever again.
My character Tsin'xing
Wait- did you say theres no great fan imbalance between Jedi and Sith?
LOL
The UI doesn't bother me as much as just the overall redness. I have played a Klingon to higher levels, but I always hated the red everywhere. To be fair, I understand this colour scheme matches the show but I don't particularly like it there either.
Doesn't mean I don't like Klingons, but I just can't get into playing them partially because of the colours.
Including a Delta recruit and TOS Agent of Yesterday character too.
Nothing for Cryptic to build on. Nothing? Cryptic as never taken any race from the shows that appeared in maybe a handful of episiodes and gave them thier own story arcs (Elatchi, Vaadwaur, Voth, Iconians, freaking Bluegills)? Maybe used their creative talents create something new and fun to add depth and lore to the STO universe?
I think you and I are playing different games.
We've seen Cryptic do this before. The developer blogs on the Voth were very extensive (and enjoyable). We know they can do this. Why is the KDF any different? The KDF is Cryptic's own invention. Why would the lore of a player faction be less developed than the Bluegills.
Savik - Vulcan Fed Temporal Sci
Dahar Masters Fleet: Alphal'Fa - Alien KDF Engineer Qun'pau - Rom/KDF Engineer D'nesh - Orion KDF Scientist Ghen'khan - Liberated KDF Tac
Welcome to StarBug Online - to boldly Bug where no bug has been before!
STO player since November 2013
Yes my first character was a Vulcan Science Officer (since deleted) but my 2nd character was, and still is, a Klingon Tactical Officer, admittedly I don't use her anymore, mostly because the story is exactly the same for all three factions at end-game but mainly because there's nothing else to do on her at the moment.
However, even if I had noticed that the KDF was a neglected faction, which I hadn't, I'm one of those who the more you try to push something onto me the more likely I'll do the exact opposite.
So the more they push the Federation as the only faction to play the more I'm going to both make and use KDF characters.
As for dumb dialogue options with the Voth there's the Saurians as well as the Gorn needing different options then the generic 'you mammal, you stoopiid'.
Why bother adding different races with unique traits and abilities if you're not even going to bother giving them unique dialogue options?
Then again they have demonstrated a lack of or unwillingness to even do simple spellchecks and proof-reading with item descriptions, so do we really want them to try and do different dialogue options?
Do we actually trust them to get it right without TRIBBLE it up somehow?
You can bet if they TRIBBLE up anything for the KDF it won't get fixed until someone does it on their own time so it'll take years.
That seems to be the norm for them, release something then let it wither while they work on something 'new' rather then fix or improve things they've already released.
I for one would be both happier and less likely to 'bash' on cryptic if they actually fixed long-standing bugs and issues, updated things they haven't touched since they introduced them in state they later admit isn't what they want.
We've seen gradual decline of PvP focus and eventual convolution of the faction system over the years to an eventual incline of PvE gameplay. This is likely due to the lack of focus/development on PvP, but it's also due to the release of mainly Fed content over the years in the form of ships available, the quality of episodic content, and storylines.
It really does not take someone with a P.h.D. in Theoretical Physics to understand why Fed is more profitable than KDF here. The shift has caused most of the player base to gravitate towards the Fed side because of everything mentioned beforehand. Some players will still play KDF only because they're hardcore KDF fans, but the majority will seek the path of least resistance.
Romulans are a whole different ball of wax here- the introduction of yet another "faction" but giving the option of aligning with ONLY the Fed or KDF sides constitutes that the Romulans are indeed not their OWN faction, they are either Fed or KDF- then to further the complication, their later tier ships are restricted above Tier 4, but they're still only Fed or KDF allied. They still don't have their own "faction" regardless of having their own set of ships above Tier 5. (Again- your ship isn't your "identity", it's a tool you utilize to get a specific job done.)
Now, in terms of game evolution- either they'll continue to ignore development of the faction-based meta in the game, or they'll round back to the faction-based development and square it off with more definition as it should be. I personally don't believe they should have abandoned the faction system itself with forcing Romulans to be aligned with either KDF or Fed, unless they had decided to NOT restrict the use of ships with their alignment above Tier 4. They had already the development of "New Romulus" and had a Fleet, so why was/is there no 3rd "Romulan" choice available? That said, it's pretty apparent that the intent/goal here was not to fully develop the Romulan "faction", but to add more variety in terms of playable race choice.
My impression of the Romulan "faction" release was that it was half-baked, becuase they didn't flesh it out like they did with the other two complete factions that were available (KDF/Fed) but rather relegated the story to eventual alignment with the other two. We can only speculate as to the "reasons" here- whether it be it would cause discontent with players who wanted other races to become factions (which we've seen numerous threads about, Cardassians, Ferengi, Klingons, etc.) or just plain lack of development funding/focus.
While I'd love to see them add more definition, I don't have a lot of faith in it happening- with the release of AOY, it appears their intended focus is solely on PvE gameplay, and continued gradual erasure of the faction system as a result.
I've trudged through episodic content with my KDF character- and will likely try and continue to do so, but I think ultimately unless there's "more" to it later on, I'll end up gravitating toward the Fed side again specifically because there's really more to offer in terms of not only gameplay and content but also in terms of available players as a community, etc.
Being critical doesn't take skill. Being constructively critical- which is providing alternative solutions or suggestions to a demonstrated problem, however, does.
My character Tsin'xing
See bold italicized phrases. I have a few thoughts.
One: Why in the hell would my character(s) that are KDF not go on a rampage of my own while orbiting Terra during the battle with the Undine, or go on a similar rampage while fighting on ESD against said Undine? So many opportunities to misbehave while there. Hell, I'd even find a way to do something like sabotage the replicators to produce Cheese Veggie MREs or something just as awful instead root beer and juice drinks, or put spatial charges in all the toilets with pressure plates attached. Maybe find a Starfleet wounded that I would have the option of killing, because carrying him would slow me down...Would also give the opportunity to see if Tuvok gets a little twitch in his eye at seeing one of his faction put down rather than stuffed into a doggie bag to be saved. It's not like shenanigans can't happen. I mean, KDF characters DO attack the shipyards of Mars...KDF players would be happy as a horned up Targ mounting a Tellarite if they got even a small window of mischief to play against a Starfleet stronghold.
Two: Beginning of Temporal Front arc wasn't bad. Get to meet a new race that can be welcomed into the KDF, one that according to the dialogue, is extremely grateful, and has a lot of motivation for becoming even friends. Taking and letting the Feds have jurisdiction over the star altering jack-in-the-box was awfully hokey as well. If anything, the KDF would've either slagged it, or taken it to study. Though my character(s) would've kept the item for themselves(opportunity to make it either as a personal ground device, non-consumable ship device with a long cooldown, or console was wasted there).
Three: I definitely agree with putting Daniels down. He's become a rabid dog when it comes to altering time stuff, with nobody keeping him in rein, no REAL oversight for the "temporal police." Yet he and others have no qualms about putting a choke collar on time travel for others.