I can nonetheless empathize with others who invested in the Klink a lot, and now feel abandoned. Maybe Roms shouldn't have been part of the topic title, even, as Roms are doing just fine. It's really the KDF that got the shaft over time.
I haven't played my Klingon enough to consider myself invested (because there's not enough ships which I really feel drawn to enough to really put the effort in levelling up to, even though I like the KDF storyline) But if there were more ships, I could certainly become invested
How is erm, Lauren Rowe, working out? ;p
"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
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Where did I say anything about account unlocks?
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Where did I say anything about account unlocks?
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
you do know that the games budget is rather dependent on selling the same ship multiple times per buyer. and thats not cover players like myself who would outright leave if they announced that. and if their profits are even half as bad as they act, that kill the game as surely as ignoring the feds would. if they thought they could get away with it they would have done it by now.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Where did I say anything about account unlocks?
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
you do know that the games budget is rather dependent on selling the same ship multiple times per buyer. and thats not cover players like myself who would outright leave if they announced that. and if their profits are even half as bad as they act, that kill the game as surely as ignoring the feds would. if they thought they could get away with it they would have done it by now.
It's not even possible to sell the same ship multiple times per buyer (unless they have multiple accounts anyway).
And if some few people actually did think being given some more options* on gear/clothes/ship to use is so horrible they'd leave because of it...the rest of us are just going to say "huh?" and get on enjoying our freedom.
* "Options," as in nobody has to use them if they don't want to. That word is surprisingly often misunderstood here.
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Where did I say anything about account unlocks?
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
you do know that the games budget is rather dependent on selling the same ship multiple times per buyer. and thats not cover players like myself who would outright leave if they announced that. and if their profits are even half as bad as they act, that kill the game as surely as ignoring the feds would. if they thought they could get away with it they would have done it by now.
It's not even possible to sell the same ship multiple times per buyer (unless they have multiple accounts anyway).
And if some few people actually did think being given some more options* on gear/clothes/ship to use is so horrible they'd leave because of it...the rest of us are just going to say "huh?" and get on enjoying our freedom.
* "Options," as in nobody has to use them if they don't want to. That word is surprisingly often misunderstood here.
They already HAVE those options-by rolling a character of the appropriate faction.
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Where did I say anything about account unlocks?
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
you do know that the games budget is rather dependent on selling the same ship multiple times per buyer. and thats not cover players like myself who would outright leave if they announced that. and if their profits are even half as bad as they act, that kill the game as surely as ignoring the feds would. if they thought they could get away with it they would have done it by now.
It's not even possible to sell the same ship multiple times per buyer (unless they have multiple accounts anyway).
And if some few people actually did think being given some more options* on gear/clothes/ship to use is so horrible they'd leave because of it...the rest of us are just going to say "huh?" and get on enjoying our freedom.
* "Options," as in nobody has to use them if they don't want to. That word is surprisingly often misunderstood here.
They already HAVE those options-by rolling a character of the appropriate faction.
That's not the option they want.
It's the option you HAVE, it's the option that makes the business model WORK.
No, it's not. It's the option that makes 2/3rds of the "factions" claimed unprofitable.
This man, the mighty Jeff Robb himself, the creator of the most powerful, most elegant and yet most functional D-70 Khin'Vagh, wants to enter the very next Contest.
OMG!!!
Poor federation...
We Klingons will rise again and woop yer behinds, claim our rightful spot as conquerors of the universe, as our ancestors had forseen this!
But serious, who knows what this man will throw at us: Borg, Fed, Romulan, Orion...
The above ship alone should say a thing or two about this designer.
I already asked him, if he had a super sleek, to Star Trek even futuristic but extremely functional and minimalist Klingon Battle Bridge.
It should feature all (and ONLY) functional things, no extras, no luxury, preferable black with red lines.
Hopefully he will draw something out, if he does... I so cannot wait to see the result...
Fingers crossed, folks.
OK, you understand that there are NO open contests for outside entries, right? Cryptic will not be soliciting or accepting unsolicited ship designs for inclusion in the game. You get that, right?
Seriously...
You got to be kidding, right?
What is considered "inside" entries?
Who's considered to be "in"?
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
this is what I said.
You made it a lot clearer though, Patrickngo.
Since they made these factions, they "must" put in as well the time, the effort, and resources equally as given to the Federation.
Now, I said "must" with quote marks, I don't want them to be precisely equal, I just want some serious time spent on the two factions, more than on the Federation faction.
They both deserve that.
The core of the real problem, is that Cryptic Studios can't afford a team big enough to do the job of work they've set out for themselves.
Now, that could be money, or it could be that the pool of talent to draw from simply doesn't exist in a 'free' (recruitable) state.
either way, no matter how the problem is sliced, it's a problem that has to b e solved, before they can bring this game to fulfill even forty percent of it's potential.
(I used "forty percent" because it's less than half, not a precise number, because in creative endeavours, potential isn't something you can objectively measure)..
How much of what's had to go into the blogs could have or would have been better if they had the resources to plow it into the game?
Answer: LOTS.
Imagine, if you will, what the Undine Advance could have been, if each of the factions had, during that final season of it, a selection of options and storyline elements that feed into the final whole, but each one was slightly, to very, different?
or how it would be in the leadup, if both KDF and Fed factions had missions to deal with infiltrators at home between deployments abroad? or, perhaps, if they each had different reasons to go into Fluidic space, with different tasks linked into the main storyline?
How about the Iconian War? Make it feel like a REAL war-Federation tasks like pulling out the wounded or screening a retreat, KDF missions to strike against occupied worlds, Romulans desperately rescuing civilians and trying to evade their way to a safe port, and for everyone, safe ports becoming unsafe, motivating last minute, last ditch frantic efforts like deploying Kahless and his elite bodyguard squad* (House of Pegh).
and so on.
formulate missions for KDF and Romulan characters where Cloaking is a viable option to finish the mission, rather than a short term DPS boost in a mission made for FAW. (and by viable option, meaning that you CAN just fawspam your way through it like a good little Starfleet captain, but using a stealthier approach actually has some meaning and lets you finish the mission without being forced to kill X number of spawns before hitting F)
Give federation players missions where they have to use that diplomacy they're vaunted to have, with choices in the dialogue that impact the outcome (done right, a lot more firepower on your side thn if done wrong in the final confrontation).
and maybe don't be afraid to kill major NPCs off, when the crisis is so bad that warring factions have to unite or die, nothing underscores it like having someone like T'Nae, or Temek, or Tovan Khev bite it on-screen, (Kahless doesn't count-he popped up once, during the Fek'Ihri arc, and then nothing until House of Pegh, which lacked the sense of desperation in spite of being a desperate move, because the entire arc, minus blog posts, feels like an inevitable god-blessed march to unquestioned victory. fights might be hard, but the outcome is so obviously predetermined...)
"Heroic" is heroic, because it's hard, not because it's braindead easy, or even tediously repetitive.
a mission where you could LOSE a bridge officer, or a contact, or where you end up having to retreat in spite of doing everything right (because someone else screwed up), it's hard to show in a game, the easiest way to do it, is for players to play through the retreat or the attempt to relieve a siege, or rescue a convoy (and count only losing half of them as a 'win'...)
THAT stuff builds the kind of tension. If by your player decisions and options in a previous mission you can 'save' more of that convoy, or prevent that death, or turn that retreat into a counter-attack, that makes it engaging, because as a player, you feel like (even if in reality it's a railroad) your choices matter, like you have agency, and that goes for everything up from the moment you first hit "create new character".
The present Romulan arc drives me nuts-because it's not the Player's story, it's Tovan Khev's, even when a player selects allied faction, it's meaningless, because it's still Tovan Khev's story-you do all the exact same things regardless of which ally you choose.
it could be so much more. The Federation has different priorities and procedures than the Klingons do, and as a Romulan ally, you should be exploring the differences, your missions should reflect those differences, your accolades and what you get for traits should as well.
not just your doffing options and how much dilithium you get from contraband turn ins, but things like interactions with other Romulans, including NPC's, should include different options to reflect the history of the Romulans in their interaction, give it some DEPTH, exploit the player agency of choosing a faction to open options besides what leveling ships you can fit in your admiralty stack.
Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
Klingons don't get drunk.
They just get less sober.
This man, the mighty Jeff Robb himself, the creator of the most powerful, most elegant and yet most functional D-70 Khin'Vagh, wants to enter the very next Contest.
OMG!!!
Poor federation...
We Klingons will rise again and woop yer behinds, claim our rightful spot as conquerors of the universe, as our ancestors had forseen this!
But serious, who knows what this man will throw at us: Borg, Fed, Romulan, Orion...
The above ship alone should say a thing or two about this designer.
I already asked him, if he had a super sleek, to Star Trek even futuristic but extremely functional and minimalist Klingon Battle Bridge.
It should feature all (and ONLY) functional things, no extras, no luxury, preferable black with red lines.
Hopefully he will draw something out, if he does... I so cannot wait to see the result...
Fingers crossed, folks.
OK, you understand that there are NO open contests for outside entries, right? Cryptic will not be soliciting or accepting unsolicited ship designs for inclusion in the game. You get that, right?
Seriously...
You got to be kidding, right?
What is considered "inside" entries?
Who's considered to be "in"?
Nothing is ever going to even up the "faction" numbers. So how to make klingon stuff profitable and worth creating? Let everyone buy it regardless of origin story. More people allowed to buy -> more people buying -> more profit.
It's silly thinking klingon stuff is somehow less popular than all the other random alien stuff. Klingons are the most famous non-Fed race in the franchise, their stuff should if anything be more popular. If only they weren't artificially restricted to a niche market.
The "factions" are origin stories. They stop making any difference in the plot around Delta Rising, after which we're all in the Alliance together and you could barely tell there were "factions" at all. The gameplay would be better to treat them the same way.
Warpangel, that's just continuing what they've been doing, it doesn't solve any problems, but it does create new ones. (Cryptic relies on Lockbox keys, putting stuff you either have to buy keys to get, or buy from someone who bought keys to get, into 'account unlock' status doesn't solve any problems at Cryptic. It creates NEW problems.)
Counterargument is simple: Stop Homogenizing the factions, and **** or get off the pot regarding whether this is a multi-faction game, or a single faction game.
IOW either develop the factions and stop fretting, or eliminate and delete them and toss everything into the Federation bin.
Assumed: Minority factions will always be minorities. Fine, if you MUST have multiple factions, give them a relevant reason to exist in the game. Specific mechanics, specific unit types, specific storyline elements, make these relevant, and even if it's always going to be a minority, it will at least be a minority that contributes to the quality of the game as a whole, rather than an embarrassment you're trying to forget.
Relevance doesn't mean a token NPC who's t here to make the player character or the Federation look smart, either. Relevant means that while you can single-faction your way through, you won't get everything, or even the best things, you have to actually play ALL the factions/sub-factions to get everything, to get the full storyline, to get the best rewards, etc. etc.
Make Factions relevant and numbers will take care of themselves.
this is what I said.
You made it a lot clearer though, Patrickngo.
Since they made these factions, they "must" put in as well the time, the effort, and resources equally as given to the Federation.
Now, I said "must" with quote marks, I don't want them to be precisely equal, I just want some serious time spent on the two factions, more than on the Federation faction.
They both deserve that.
The core of the real problem, is that Cryptic Studios can't afford a team big enough to do the job of work they've set out for themselves.
Now, that could be money, or it could be that the pool of talent to draw from simply doesn't exist in a 'free' (recruitable) state.
either way, no matter how the problem is sliced, it's a problem that has to b e solved, before they can bring this game to fulfill even forty percent of it's potential.
(I used "forty percent" because it's less than half, not a precise number, because in creative endeavours, potential isn't something you can objectively measure)..
How much of what's had to go into the blogs could have or would have been better if they had the resources to plow it into the game?
Answer: LOTS.
Imagine, if you will, what the Undine Advance could have been, if each of the factions had, during that final season of it, a selection of options and storyline elements that feed into the final whole, but each one was slightly, to very, different?
or how it would be in the leadup, if both KDF and Fed factions had missions to deal with infiltrators at home between deployments abroad? or, perhaps, if they each had different reasons to go into Fluidic space, with different tasks linked into the main storyline?
How about the Iconian War? Make it feel like a REAL war-Federation tasks like pulling out the wounded or screening a retreat, KDF missions to strike against occupied worlds, Romulans desperately rescuing civilians and trying to evade their way to a safe port, and for everyone, safe ports becoming unsafe, motivating last minute, last ditch frantic efforts like deploying Kahless and his elite bodyguard squad* (House of Pegh).
and so on.
formulate missions for KDF and Romulan characters where Cloaking is a viable option to finish the mission, rather than a short term DPS boost in a mission made for FAW. (and by viable option, meaning that you CAN just fawspam your way through it like a good little Starfleet captain, but using a stealthier approach actually has some meaning and lets you finish the mission without being forced to kill X number of spawns before hitting F)
Give federation players missions where they have to use that diplomacy they're vaunted to have, with choices in the dialogue that impact the outcome (done right, a lot more firepower on your side thn if done wrong in the final confrontation).
and maybe don't be afraid to kill major NPCs off, when the crisis is so bad that warring factions have to unite or die, nothing underscores it like having someone like T'Nae, or Temek, or Tovan Khev bite it on-screen, (Kahless doesn't count-he popped up once, during the Fek'Ihri arc, and then nothing until House of Pegh, which lacked the sense of desperation in spite of being a desperate move, because the entire arc, minus blog posts, feels like an inevitable god-blessed march to unquestioned victory. fights might be hard, but the outcome is so obviously predetermined...)
"Heroic" is heroic, because it's hard, not because it's braindead easy, or even tediously repetitive.
a mission where you could LOSE a bridge officer, or a contact, or where you end up having to retreat in spite of doing everything right (because someone else screwed up), it's hard to show in a game, the easiest way to do it, is for players to play through the retreat or the attempt to relieve a siege, or rescue a convoy (and count only losing half of them as a 'win'...)
THAT stuff builds the kind of tension. If by your player decisions and options in a previous mission you can 'save' more of that convoy, or prevent that death, or turn that retreat into a counter-attack, that makes it engaging, because as a player, you feel like (even if in reality it's a railroad) your choices matter, like you have agency, and that goes for everything up from the moment you first hit "create new character".
The present Romulan arc drives me nuts-because it's not the Player's story, it's Tovan Khev's, even when a player selects allied faction, it's meaningless, because it's still Tovan Khev's story-you do all the exact same things regardless of which ally you choose.
it could be so much more. The Federation has different priorities and procedures than the Klingons do, and as a Romulan ally, you should be exploring the differences, your missions should reflect those differences, your accolades and what you get for traits should as well.
not just your doffing options and how much dilithium you get from contraband turn ins, but things like interactions with other Romulans, including NPC's, should include different options to reflect the history of the Romulans in their interaction, give it some DEPTH, exploit the player agency of choosing a faction to open options besides what leveling ships you can fit in your admiralty stack.
Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
^^^^
You mean the other two factions whose players DON'T buy new Klingon/Romulan ships in sufficient numbers to make a profit from the money spent doing the work (salaries, etc.) - IE: Bad return on investment?
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..."
Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
Hypothetical: you have 100 customers who come to your bakery every day. Every day 11 customers ask for eclairs, and another 22 ask for fritters. That's one third of your customer base, so it might make sense to give them what they want, right?
However, your bakery is the only one on the island so those guys aren't able to go to your competition for what they want. Because wages on the island are low it is difficult to entice a new baker to come to the island, which means it is not so easy to create a new product while maintaining a satisfied majority of your customers.
The apprentice baker you do have can hardly keep up with regular donut production, so it becomes an either/or situation. With 67 customers wanting the regular donuts and the remaining 33 wanting something else but still buying the regular donuts, does it make sense to stop serving the 67 regular customers while you train your baker to make fritters?
Erm, wait, there have been contests like this, no?
By non-employees?
Players, for one?
Or am I mistaken?
One. There was exactly one such contest, and it went so horribly bad for Cryptic that there will not be another. That's why all the other "contests" we've had have consisted exclusively of Cryptic designs. We vote on in-house designs only. Designs by Cryptic employees. You're not going to see unsolicited, outside designs brought into the game.
Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
You're still not getting that your "solution" is impractical and never going to happen. There are now 6 pages explaining why it is impractical and never going to happen. What we're getting now is the best that we're going to get. I hate to be so frustratingly blunt, but there are SIX pages of explanations as to why.
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Views and Opinions May Not Reflect the Views and Opinions of Gearbox/Cryptic
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
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'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
Hypothetical: you have 100 customers who come to your bakery every day. Every day 11 customers ask for eclairs, and another 22 ask for fritters. That's one third of your customer base, so it might make sense to give them what they want, right?
However, your bakery is the only one on the island so those guys aren't able to go to your competition for what they want. Because wages on the island are low it is difficult to entice a new baker to come to the island, which means it is not so easy to create a new product while maintaining a satisfied majority of your customers.
The apprentice baker you do have can hardly keep up with regular donut production, so it becomes an either/or situation. With 67 customers wanting the regular donuts and the remaining 33 wanting something else but still buying the regular donuts, does it make sense to stop serving the 67 regular customers while you train your baker to make fritters?
I'd get me a second baker to meet demands.
And no, I am dead serious.
The ones that buy the eclairs also deserve their eclairs.
If I were the one in the chair for STO, it would NEVER had come to this situation in the first place.
If you decide to bring in a new faction, then make it EQUAL to the existing ones.
Because THAT is the RIGHT way.
Period.
One. There was exactly one such contest, and it went so horribly bad for Cryptic that there will not be another. That's why all the other "contests" we've had have consisted exclusively of Cryptic designs. We vote on in-house designs only. Designs by Cryptic employees. You're not going to see unsolicited, outside designs brought into the game.
Ah, drats.
But yes, because human nature.
So... frikken typical...
It's why I am so "anti-human".
They are such fu.. ups.
Klingons don't get drunk.
They just get less sober.
Brians's example is overly dramatic. It makes it sound like no one is doing any development on KDF ships. If that was true we wouldn't have a Ferasan escort....
Brians's example is overly dramatic. It makes it sound like no one is doing any development on KDF ships. If that was true we wouldn't have a Ferasan escort....
The Ferasan escort is just a colour changed Caitan escort though-not exactly a lot of effort to switch faction and reduce the available color palette.
Have you actually SEEN the two escorts? They only look superficially similar. The details make them look decidedly different.
Saying that the two are the same ship but with a color change is like saying that the Constitution-class and the Sovereign-class are the same ship, but with a color change. It's just blatantly not true.
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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'd get me a second baker to meet demands.
And no, I am dead serious.
The ones that buy the eclairs also deserve their eclairs.
Deserve? Feeling a bit entitled, aren't we?
But where are you going to find this baker willing to move to the island, and how are you going to pay him? The money has to come from somewhere, and it has to come months ahead of making profit off the new guy, and it has to be enough to entice a skilled craftsman to leave where s/he is now.
And what if the new guy falls short of expectations? How can you possibly recoup your investment?
STO is in the position of any service provider. They have a product that sells enough to keep the lights on, but to invest in expanding the product line risks capital the company needs in order to maintain satisfaction among its current customer base. If the regular customers become dissatisfied, there won't be enough new customers to pay the bills.
So, why should they risk losing their existing customers, and their jobs, when what they are doing now not only appears to be working, but is actually out-performing their peers in the industry?
Comments
How is erm, Lauren Rowe, working out? ;p
"I was here before you, I will be here after you are gone. I am here, regardless of your acknowledgement or acceptance..." - The Truth
My character Tsin'xing
This isn't a multi-faction game. It's a multi-origin story game. AoY showed the model for future "faction" development. I don't think they should be called "factions" anymore (if they ever should have), but whatever. Faction, origin story, semantics.
The "factions" are relevant in their storylines and that's worth retaining. That's their value. But the storylines all come together eventually and toss us all into the same bin, as you say. The gameplay should reflect that and let us play with all the stuff from the same bin, too.
As opposed to this decidedly silly situation where we can get all the stuff in existence, spanning three universes and a thousand years of history...except that of our own closest allies.
you do know that the games budget is rather dependent on selling the same ship multiple times per buyer. and thats not cover players like myself who would outright leave if they announced that. and if their profits are even half as bad as they act, that kill the game as surely as ignoring the feds would. if they thought they could get away with it they would have done it by now.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
And if some few people actually did think being given some more options* on gear/clothes/ship to use is so horrible they'd leave because of it...the rest of us are just going to say "huh?" and get on enjoying our freedom.
* "Options," as in nobody has to use them if they don't want to. That word is surprisingly often misunderstood here.
By non-employees?
Players, for one?
Or am I mistaken? Solution: "Halt" the Fed work, focus on the other 2?
If they can work on the Federation, then they can shift that work to the 2 others, right?
They just get less sober.
You mean the other two factions whose players DON'T buy new Klingon/Romulan ships in sufficient numbers to make a profit from the money spent doing the work (salaries, etc.) - IE: Bad return on investment?
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..."
original join date 2010
Member: Team Trekyards. Visit Trekyards today!
Hypothetical: you have 100 customers who come to your bakery every day. Every day 11 customers ask for eclairs, and another 22 ask for fritters. That's one third of your customer base, so it might make sense to give them what they want, right?
However, your bakery is the only one on the island so those guys aren't able to go to your competition for what they want. Because wages on the island are low it is difficult to entice a new baker to come to the island, which means it is not so easy to create a new product while maintaining a satisfied majority of your customers.
The apprentice baker you do have can hardly keep up with regular donut production, so it becomes an either/or situation. With 67 customers wanting the regular donuts and the remaining 33 wanting something else but still buying the regular donuts, does it make sense to stop serving the 67 regular customers while you train your baker to make fritters?
One. There was exactly one such contest, and it went so horribly bad for Cryptic that there will not be another. That's why all the other "contests" we've had have consisted exclusively of Cryptic designs. We vote on in-house designs only. Designs by Cryptic employees. You're not going to see unsolicited, outside designs brought into the game.
You're still not getting that your "solution" is impractical and never going to happen. There are now 6 pages explaining why it is impractical and never going to happen. What we're getting now is the best that we're going to get. I hate to be so frustratingly blunt, but there are SIX pages of explanations as to why.
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How can you not love that face already?
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
My character Tsin'xing
And no, I am dead serious.
The ones that buy the eclairs also deserve their eclairs.
If I were the one in the chair for STO, it would NEVER had come to this situation in the first place.
If you decide to bring in a new faction, then make it EQUAL to the existing ones.
Because THAT is the RIGHT way.
Period.
But... that's me. Ah, drats.
But yes, because human nature.
So... frikken typical...
It's why I am so "anti-human".
They are such fu.. ups.
They just get less sober.
My character Tsin'xing
Have you actually SEEN the two escorts? They only look superficially similar. The details make them look decidedly different.
Saying that the two are the same ship but with a color change is like saying that the Constitution-class and the Sovereign-class are the same ship, but with a color change. It's just blatantly not true.
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!
Deserve? Feeling a bit entitled, aren't we?
But where are you going to find this baker willing to move to the island, and how are you going to pay him? The money has to come from somewhere, and it has to come months ahead of making profit off the new guy, and it has to be enough to entice a skilled craftsman to leave where s/he is now.
And what if the new guy falls short of expectations? How can you possibly recoup your investment?
STO is in the position of any service provider. They have a product that sells enough to keep the lights on, but to invest in expanding the product line risks capital the company needs in order to maintain satisfaction among its current customer base. If the regular customers become dissatisfied, there won't be enough new customers to pay the bills.
So, why should they risk losing their existing customers, and their jobs, when what they are doing now not only appears to be working, but is actually out-performing their peers in the industry?