I happen to know the creator... I could always ask him for written permission.
That should clear up the air, right?
You would think that...but no. In this modern day of litigate everything, a written permission ain't enough. The creator would basically have to forfeit IP rights to make it "easy"...and that has a whole slew of issues in of itself.
Eh, I suppose if you want to do the whole "let the community design a new KDF or RR ship" thing, it could go up like it did with the Lukari ship design.
My thought:
1) Open design contest. Anyone can enter, so long as they are able to enter into a legally binding contract (no one under 18 can enter).
2) Design must be original. Copying an existing design is immediate disqualification.
3) Design must follow certain criteria, namely the standard design aesthetics for the faction or whatever else is necessary for the contest.
4) Once submitted, a committee from Cryptic will whittle down the competition, getting rid of non-compliant designs or just ridiculous ones (no ship in the game should be stupidly overpowered, overly large, or ridiculous in ability).
5) The basic design ideas can then be put into a public poll like the Lukari ship contest, with the public whittling down the competition.
6) At this point, the design still "belongs" to the creator.
7) Once we have a winner or winners, their legal department will then meet with the winner in person and have them sign off the legal rights and hand it over to the game itself, at which point the IP now officially, and completely, belongs to the company.
There are those, however, who would want to be compensated for the design, either in a lump sum, or in royalties for each one sold. Since STO is F2P and the company itself runs on a small and highly managed budget, I think hard cash money would be difficult at best, but an alternative would be to offer a lifetime subscription to the winners (or a lump sum of Zen, if they already have the LTS), combined with a small Zen stipend for each ship sold. It may not be hard cash, but it'll make life a bit easier in game and encourage them to design a ship that people not only want, but are willing to buy.
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
I happen to know the creator... I could always ask him for written permission.
That should clear up the air, right?
Personally speaking, yes, I would say that it would, but I doubt it would be good enough for the nay-sayers. Then again, I think Cryptic opening themselves up to an ongoing renounced-ownership submissions of completed models, to save themselves the work, is a good idea, so what do I know of such things
Thing is, it has to be a 100% compatible model to prevent glitching. It's not like a Sketchup model will be perfect if the standard modeling software they use is 3DSMax.
And yes, there are common file types, such as .STEP files or .DXF files, that allow you to translate a model from one software to another, but more often than not, there is still going to be issues with how the imported file type works, and that's just due to the translation from file-type to file-type. This means opening up each individual file, making sure it works with the system, and tweaking it if it doesn't.
The best analogy I can give you is using two different languages. Simple things are easy to translate between the two. When you get into complex examples, though, there will always be something lost in translation that you have to spend time to make up for.
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
That means that your language analogy simply wouldn't apply, because there would be no need to 'translate'. Or, say I was to sell you a shirt and say "I can only accept payment in US dollar bills" That would mean "Don't send me Euro bills, and expect me to get them exchanged for dollar bills - I will only take payment in US dollar bills." That's how any such submissions process would have to be. Anything outside of the formst Cryptic use, would simply get discarded.
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
I play almost exclusively KDF. There's no way this is going to happen...nor would I want it to. KDF and Romulans will get ships, but never at the same rate than the release of new Starfleet vessels. I would like to see a T6 Vor'cha, but the same rate or better than Federation ships...no way.
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
Looking at the trends of late i figure the T6 Vor'cha will most likely be released in a 3-pack with the T6 Patrol escort and a Romulan addition (can't think of anything which would be an equivalent of those two ships on the Romulan side)
This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
And?
If someone wants to be working in the industry, it's not unreasonable to believe that they may be paying such a licensing fee. I saw a comment the other day, about someone who was spending $1000 on the game on a regular basis (I forget if it was weekly or monthly) all the time there re people playing with those kind of resources, a $185/month license (for professional, industry-standard software) is chickenfeed
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
And?
If someone wants to be working in the industry, it's not unreasonable to believe that they may be paying such a licensing fee. I saw a comment the other day, about someone who was spending $1000 on the game on a regular basis (I forget if it was weekly or monthly) all the time there re people playing with those kind of resources, a $185/month license (for professional, industry-standard software) is chickenfeed
First of all, the person (or people) who shell out that amount of money for the game are in no way representative of the whole of the player base.
Secondly, they would not be "working in the industry." This is not an audition for a job. It's a chance, and a small one at that, for a few fan-made designs to get incorporated into the game. Basically, they'd be asking the people doing the designs to shell out an inordinate amount of money for a software that gets used once or twice with no guarantee of any kind of Return on Investment.
Third, even within the industry, there are numerous softwares that are used based on the needs of the particular company. This large number of software formats is what led to the creation of common filetypes to begin with, as not even a top end studio with a multimillion dollar operating budget in that one particular department is going to shell out the insane amounts of money to equip all their animators and designers with even the most commonly used software, let alone the lesser known ones. They only have between one and three 3D Modeling softwares installed, dependent on their particular expertise.
Fourth, Cryptic would STILL have to go into each model anyway and tweak it to add the locus points for the weapons-fire effects, pet launches, shield effects, console effects, player character/BOFF power effects, etc., as well make sure the various skins work on that model and that the quality is effective for gameplay.
Space Barbie Extraordinaire. Got a question about Space Barbie? Just ask.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
And?
If someone wants to be working in the industry, it's not unreasonable to believe that they may be paying such a licensing fee. I saw a comment the other day, about someone who was spending $1000 on the game on a regular basis (I forget if it was weekly or monthly) all the time there re people playing with those kind of resources, a $185/month license (for professional, industry-standard software) is chickenfeed
First of all, the person (or people) who shell out that amount of money for the game are in no way representative of the whole of the player base.
Secondly, they would not be "working in the industry." This is not an audition for a job. It's a chance, and a small one at that, for a few fan-made designs to get incorporated into the game. Basically, they'd be asking the people doing the designs to shell out an inordinate amount of money for a software that gets used once or twice with no guarantee of any kind of Return on Investment.
Third, even within the industry, there are numerous softwares that are used based on the needs of the particular company. This large number of software formats is what led to the creation of common filetypes to begin with, as not even a top end studio with a multimillion dollar operating budget in that one particular department is going to shell out the insane amounts of money to equip all their animators and designers with even the most commonly used software, let alone the lesser known ones. They only have between one and three 3D Modeling softwares installed, dependent on their particular expertise.
Fourth, Cryptic would STILL have to go into each model anyway and tweak it to add the locus points for the weapons-fire effects, pet launches, shield effects, console effects, player character/BOFF power effects, etc., as well make sure the various skins work on that model and that the quality is effective for gameplay.
1. I agree, I'm just pointing out that there are people with Deep Pockets who play the game.
2. Someone might already be working in the industry, and so have the software, it's my understanding that much of the Klingon content was created by a dev in their off-hours, so it's not unreasonable that someone have personal access to said software. Additionally, someone wanting to enter the industry, could avail themselves of the software, so they are producing work in line with current industry trends.
3. Sure, but again, all Cryptic would need to do, would be say "We can only accept submissions created in X Format." Either someone has the means to participate, or they don't, but because not everyone can participate, is no reason to not provide the opportunity for those who can
4. Indeed, but they would still be doing significantly less work than if they had to design the ship from scratch
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
I don't think Cryptic is going to do a contest like that, regardless. The legal ramifications are just too numerous. I think a Dev (Taco?) once said, that the only way they'll accept outside work, is if you simply get a job wth them, so that you're a Cryptic employee, and the work is legally theirs. Otherwise ppl might sue Cryptic later, after all (if the design is a huge success, for example). So they're playing it safe: their own design, or nothing.
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
I don't think Cryptic is going to do a contest like that, regardless. The legal ramifications are just too numerous. I think a Dev (Taco?) once said, that the only way they'll accept outside work, is if you simply get a job wth them, so that you're a Cryptic employee, and the work is legally theirs. Otherwise ppl might sue Cryptic later, after all (if the design is a huge success, for example). So they're playing it safe: their own design, or nothing.
Realistically; I know.
Unrealistically; They really should accept external KDF designs, because it would save them on the workload, and mean more ahips in the game, that I bet KDF-Players would snap up, so more in the bank for Cryptic
If there was a wider range of KDF ships, I would be more inclined to play more KDF
"I fight for the Users!" - Tron
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
It's truly time the Feds will be ignored for a year or 5, so both other factions, if STO is willing, can begin a catch up period. Which we surely need.
If I were God and I could run STO however I wanted with money not being a consideration, I would love to do this. I would love to have a fully fledged multi-faction setup with 100% different story lines and T6 ships as far as the eye could see for every faction. I would have a full separate faction experience for...
The Federation
The Klingons
The Romulans
The Cardassians
The Dominion
The Borg
etc.
etc.
I would love for all this to happen. But since we don't have infinite money and we can't just do whatever we want, and we don't want the game to die, your above quoted idea will never happen.
When you see "TRIBBLE" in my posts, it's because I manually typed "TRIBBLE" and censored myself.
So are you playing on console? Because the last thing to hit the store that I'm aware of was a rework of a T1 as a T6 and -- wait for it -- two entirely new hulls for KDF and Romulans. Not only is that not 'NADA' it's in fact a somewhat miraculous reversal of previous behavior. It also shows that Cryptic's in-house design team are quite capable of delivering their own non-Federation designs without chasing after random fan art. In fact, I think it's what they're paid to do.
Not sure what more you want, but whatever it is, I doubt you're getting it . Some sort of 'atonement' for past inequities ain't on the table and never was. What I want is to keep seeing T6 cross-faction 3 and 9 ship bundles like the last couple. If one of them is a Science/Pilot ship that bears as striking resemblance to the Nova/Rhode Island family, I'm all for it. I say that as someone who mains Romulan: whatever new spin off SciPilot warbird we get out of the deal will be just fine with me.
So have a criteria in the submission process, simply states: All submissions must be in X Format (whichever it is that the game is rendered in)
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
you can get 3DS max for free if you apply for a student license, even if you aren't an actual student
yeah, it's dishonest, but so is price-gouging
that's most likely how a good portion of all those people who have ever made models for armada/armada 2, bridge commander, legacy, empire at war and other games whose export plugins only work with 3DS max got their copies
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch." "We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Passion and Serenity are one.
I gain power by understanding both.
In the chaos of their battle, I bring order.
I am a shadow, darkness born from light.
The Force is united within me.
The Klingon Empire and even more so the Romulan Republic are economically dwarfed by the Federation. It's totally normal that we don't have as many different ship types.
And imho there is no need for parity in numbers. As long as we have quality on our side the Feds can get all the quantity they want.
One example: With the introduction of fleet ships, the Fleet Negh'var received an Ensign universal seat. It was a Star Cruiser, Assault Cruiser and Exploration Cruiser rolled into one ship. Better handling, dual heavy cannons and a cloak on top of that. Quality over quantity.
Romulans still get always the best ship from a x-faction bundle and the Scimitard was for quite some time the benchmark for firepower. Now that there are even multiple science ships available for Rom and KDF and the pancake Dreads are basically pimped carriers red and green are not that far behind anymore.
And considering I still can handle all available content with my T5U Tor'kaht I'm quite relaxed about a T6 Vor'cha. I can only buy one if Cryptic cares to offer one.
I believe, if Cryptic would pay some attention to both KDF and Roms, more people would play them.
The sheer lack of everything makes them unwanted.
And let's be very honest: save for Picard the Federation consists of fools. :P
^^^^
That ship (and argument) sailed a LOONG time ago. Just saying.
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012 PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
The Klingon Empire and even more so the Romulan Republic are economically dwarfed by the Federation. It's totally normal that we don't have as many different ship types.
And imho there is no need for parity in numbers. As long as we have quality on our side the Feds can get all the quantity they want.
One example: With the introduction of fleet ships, the Fleet Negh'var received an Ensign universal seat. It was a Star Cruiser, Assault Cruiser and Exploration Cruiser rolled into one ship. Better handling, dual heavy cannons and a cloak on top of that. Quality over quantity.
Romulans still get always the best ship from a x-faction bundle and the Scimitard was for quite some time the benchmark for firepower. Now that there are even multiple science ships available for Rom and KDF and the pancake Dreads are basically pimped carriers red and green are not that far behind anymore.
And considering I still can handle all available content with my T5U Tor'kaht I'm quite relaxed about a T6 Vor'cha. I can only buy one if Cryptic cares to offer one.
Honestly I think it's really a matter of when they make one, and not if. They just haven't gotten to it yet.
Honestly I think it's really a matter of when they make one, and not if. They just haven't gotten to it yet.
I have to admit there were a few more wrinkles on my forehead than usual when the T6 assault cruiser was announced and they "forgot" the Vor'cha.
Problem may be even with expectations. When the Tor'kaht was released it was imho the best combat cruiser in STO. If the T6 Vor'cha is anything less disappointment may follow.
Well, they gave us a T6 Varanus didn't they? Heck the people wanting a T6 D'Kyr got one of those too!.... for the other flavor of space elves, but it's there.
no, not really; neither the blog nor the ingame description says anything about them being an evolution of the varanus
it's the same situation as the phantom and pilot escorts - both have a similar design profile to the defiant, but it was ultimately the valiant that ended up being the T6 version of it, and the devs made sure to specifically mention that
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch." "We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
Passion and Serenity are one.
I gain power by understanding both.
In the chaos of their battle, I bring order.
I am a shadow, darkness born from light.
The Force is united within me.
LOL. There was a time, in a not too distant past, when peeps were complaining Roms got all the good stuff.
Because not too long ago, they DID. (this was even verbally acknowledged and stated by Geko himself-as an intentional situation.)
What changed then? Feds got a few extra ships?! Even on my Rom Tact, I got more than enough ships. I'm not jelly. A few Rom bridges would be nice, though.
LOL. There was a time, in a not too distant past, when peeps were complaining Roms got all the good stuff.
Because not too long ago, they DID. (this was even verbally acknowledged and stated by Geko himself-as an intentional situation.)
What changed then? Feds got a few extra ships?! Even on my Rom Tact, I got more than enough ships. I'm not jelly. A few Rom bridges would be nice, though.
I suspect the goal was to get more Romulan players. But they probably reached a point where it either stopped working, or it never really worked at all. And there is only so much power creep they could have before it would get too much out of hand (between the factions. We know it already got out of hand against NPCs )
Either way, it's back to the "core business".
Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
Powercreep was also key to Agents of Yesterday, with the introduction of powers that had no counters, but aside from Cryptic assertions that it was a 'new faction', players were largely not fooled by Starfleet's new starter zone, they were, however, excited by getting all the new ships, plus powers, power-creep, etc. that released...right up to the point that Cryptic put a minor braking action on that power-creep this year. (an effort that is already in the process of being reversed. Be sure to thank Borticus and Geko when you see them for listening to your lobbying, Meimei.)
I smiled at the little dig at me towards the end. Especially since, ironically, I was just thinking the same thing about you: "Be sure to thank Borticus and Geko when you see them for all the nerfs you caused, patrickngo." For the all of, what, 9 people stll PvP-ing, your little group still seems to wield an enormous amount of power over the Devs. They even went so far as to create Competive games for you; not that you appreciated it, but still.
LOL. There was a time, in a not too distant past, when peeps were complaining Roms got all the good stuff.
Because not too long ago, they DID. (this was even verbally acknowledged and stated by Geko himself-as an intentional situation.)
What changed then? Feds got a few extra ships?! Even on my Rom Tact, I got more than enough ships. I'm not jelly. A few Rom bridges would be nice, though.
I suspect the goal was to get more Romulan players. But they probably reached a point where it either stopped working, or it never really worked at all. And there is only so much power creep they could have before it would get too much out of hand (between the factions. We know it already got out of hand against NPCs )
Either way, it's back to the "core business".
Realistically, we've gotten plenty of Romulan ships recently. Science 3-pack was quite nice.
Comments
Eh, I suppose if you want to do the whole "let the community design a new KDF or RR ship" thing, it could go up like it did with the Lukari ship design.
My thought:
1) Open design contest. Anyone can enter, so long as they are able to enter into a legally binding contract (no one under 18 can enter).
2) Design must be original. Copying an existing design is immediate disqualification.
3) Design must follow certain criteria, namely the standard design aesthetics for the faction or whatever else is necessary for the contest.
4) Once submitted, a committee from Cryptic will whittle down the competition, getting rid of non-compliant designs or just ridiculous ones (no ship in the game should be stupidly overpowered, overly large, or ridiculous in ability).
5) The basic design ideas can then be put into a public poll like the Lukari ship contest, with the public whittling down the competition.
6) At this point, the design still "belongs" to the creator.
7) Once we have a winner or winners, their legal department will then meet with the winner in person and have them sign off the legal rights and hand it over to the game itself, at which point the IP now officially, and completely, belongs to the company.
There are those, however, who would want to be compensated for the design, either in a lump sum, or in royalties for each one sold. Since STO is F2P and the company itself runs on a small and highly managed budget, I think hard cash money would be difficult at best, but an alternative would be to offer a lifetime subscription to the winners (or a lump sum of Zen, if they already have the LTS), combined with a small Zen stipend for each ship sold. It may not be hard cash, but it'll make life a bit easier in game and encourage them to design a ship that people not only want, but are willing to buy.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
That means that your language analogy simply wouldn't apply, because there would be no need to 'translate'. Or, say I was to sell you a shirt and say "I can only accept payment in US dollar bills" That would mean "Don't send me Euro bills, and expect me to get them exchanged for dollar bills - I will only take payment in US dollar bills." That's how any such submissions process would have to be. Anything outside of the formst Cryptic use, would simply get discarded.
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
Okay, let's say that STO uses 3DS Max to create and render a design (I don't know what they use, I'm just using this as an example)...
Do you have any idea of the cost of a 3DS Max license?
I do.
For a single license, it costs $185/month, $1470/year, or $4410/3 yrs.
The average person is not going to want to pay for that. Not when there are cheaper, or even free options out there.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
If someone wants to be working in the industry, it's not unreasonable to believe that they may be paying such a licensing fee. I saw a comment the other day, about someone who was spending $1000 on the game on a regular basis (I forget if it was weekly or monthly) all the time there re people playing with those kind of resources, a $185/month license (for professional, industry-standard software) is chickenfeed
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
First of all, the person (or people) who shell out that amount of money for the game are in no way representative of the whole of the player base.
Secondly, they would not be "working in the industry." This is not an audition for a job. It's a chance, and a small one at that, for a few fan-made designs to get incorporated into the game. Basically, they'd be asking the people doing the designs to shell out an inordinate amount of money for a software that gets used once or twice with no guarantee of any kind of Return on Investment.
Third, even within the industry, there are numerous softwares that are used based on the needs of the particular company. This large number of software formats is what led to the creation of common filetypes to begin with, as not even a top end studio with a multimillion dollar operating budget in that one particular department is going to shell out the insane amounts of money to equip all their animators and designers with even the most commonly used software, let alone the lesser known ones. They only have between one and three 3D Modeling softwares installed, dependent on their particular expertise.
Fourth, Cryptic would STILL have to go into each model anyway and tweak it to add the locus points for the weapons-fire effects, pet launches, shield effects, console effects, player character/BOFF power effects, etc., as well make sure the various skins work on that model and that the quality is effective for gameplay.
Things I want in STO:
1) More character customization options such as more clothing options, letting the toon complexion affect the entire body, not just the head. Also a true RGB color picker applied to all costume and appearance options, which would allow for true appearance customization and homogenous colors instead of "this same exact color looks vastly different on two different pieces."
2) Bridge customization, not bridge packs. Let us pick a general layout and adjust the color palette, console appearance, and chair types, as well as more ready room layout options.
3) Customizable ground weapons, i.e. The aesthetic look of phaser dual pistols but they shoot antiproton bolts. For obvious reasons this would only apply to standard ground weapons.
4) For the love of Q please revamp Plasma Ground Weapons. They look like demented Supersoakers right now.
5) True Vanity Impulse and Deflector effects similar to Vanity Shields.
6) A greater payout for hitting T6 Reputations. Currently it takes more time and resources to get from T5 to T6 than it does to get from nothing to T5. Make that grind really pay out at the end.
7) Mirrorverse Refugee event similar to AoY/Delta/Gamma, complete with new Mirrorverse recruits for all factions.
8) Independent Faction, because yo ho yo ho a pirate's life for me!
1. I agree, I'm just pointing out that there are people with Deep Pockets who play the game.
2. Someone might already be working in the industry, and so have the software, it's my understanding that much of the Klingon content was created by a dev in their off-hours, so it's not unreasonable that someone have personal access to said software. Additionally, someone wanting to enter the industry, could avail themselves of the software, so they are producing work in line with current industry trends.
3. Sure, but again, all Cryptic would need to do, would be say "We can only accept submissions created in X Format." Either someone has the means to participate, or they don't, but because not everyone can participate, is no reason to not provide the opportunity for those who can
4. Indeed, but they would still be doing significantly less work than if they had to design the ship from scratch
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
That's why there are programs like Blender out there.
I don't think Cryptic is going to do a contest like that, regardless. The legal ramifications are just too numerous. I think a Dev (Taco?) once said, that the only way they'll accept outside work, is if you simply get a job wth them, so that you're a Cryptic employee, and the work is legally theirs. Otherwise ppl might sue Cryptic later, after all (if the design is a huge success, for example). So they're playing it safe: their own design, or nothing.
Unrealistically; They really should accept external KDF designs, because it would save them on the workload, and mean more ahips in the game, that I bet KDF-Players would snap up, so more in the bank for Cryptic
If there was a wider range of KDF ships, I would be more inclined to play more KDF
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
The Federation
The Klingons
The Romulans
The Cardassians
The Dominion
The Borg
etc.
etc.
I would love for all this to happen. But since we don't have infinite money and we can't just do whatever we want, and we don't want the game to die, your above quoted idea will never happen.
So are you playing on console? Because the last thing to hit the store that I'm aware of was a rework of a T1 as a T6 and -- wait for it -- two entirely new hulls for KDF and Romulans. Not only is that not 'NADA' it's in fact a somewhat miraculous reversal of previous behavior. It also shows that Cryptic's in-house design team are quite capable of delivering their own non-Federation designs without chasing after random fan art. In fact, I think it's what they're paid to do.
Not sure what more you want, but whatever it is, I doubt you're getting it
you can get 3DS max for free if you apply for a student license, even if you aren't an actual student
yeah, it's dishonest, but so is price-gouging
that's most likely how a good portion of all those people who have ever made models for armada/armada 2, bridge commander, legacy, empire at war and other games whose export plugins only work with 3DS max got their copies
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
And imho there is no need for parity in numbers. As long as we have quality on our side the Feds can get all the quantity they want.
One example: With the introduction of fleet ships, the Fleet Negh'var received an Ensign universal seat. It was a Star Cruiser, Assault Cruiser and Exploration Cruiser rolled into one ship. Better handling, dual heavy cannons and a cloak on top of that. Quality over quantity.
Romulans still get always the best ship from a x-faction bundle and the Scimitard was for quite some time the benchmark for firepower. Now that there are even multiple science ships available for Rom and KDF and the pancake Dreads are basically pimped carriers red and green are not that far behind anymore.
And considering I still can handle all available content with my T5U Tor'kaht I'm quite relaxed about a T6 Vor'cha. I can only buy one if Cryptic cares to offer one.
That ship (and argument) sailed a LOONG time ago. Just saying.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
My character Tsin'xing
I have to admit there were a few more wrinkles on my forehead than usual when the T6 assault cruiser was announced and they "forgot" the Vor'cha.
Problem may be even with expectations. When the Tor'kaht was released it was imho the best combat cruiser in STO. If the T6 Vor'cha is anything less disappointment may follow.
My character Tsin'xing
it's the same situation as the phantom and pilot escorts - both have a similar design profile to the defiant, but it was ultimately the valiant that ended up being the T6 version of it, and the devs made sure to specifically mention that
#LegalizeAwoo
A normie goes "Oh, what's this?"
An otaku goes "UwU, what's this?"
A furry goes "OwO, what's this?"
A werewolf goes "Awoo, what's this?"
"It's nothing personal, I just don't feel like I've gotten to know a person until I've sniffed their crotch."
"We said 'no' to Mr. Curiosity. We're not home. Curiosity is not welcome, it is not to be invited in. Curiosity...is bad. It gets you in trouble, it gets you killed, and more importantly...it makes you poor!"
What changed then? Feds got a few extra ships?! Even on my Rom Tact, I got more than enough ships. I'm not jelly. A few Rom bridges would be nice, though.
Either way, it's back to the "core business".
I smiled at the little dig at me towards the end.
My character Tsin'xing