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Two ideas for STO
worf1981
Member Posts: 5 Arc User
The first idea I have should be self evident. I’m playing two Jem’Hadar characters. I found that the Dominion eye device is not available to them. I believe this should be changed. Especially for the Dominion characters. My main star fleet character has it.
The second involves the cardasians. Like the federation or Klingons. To a lesser extent the Romulans. I think they should give the Cardasians their own playable story arc. Perhaps like the Romulans or Dominion as allies of the Federation or Klingons.
I know you can have a playable character and that’s fine. But I think they deserve their own story arc. Perhaps rebuilding after the Dominion war ext.
Please respond and let me know your thoughts.
The second involves the cardasians. Like the federation or Klingons. To a lesser extent the Romulans. I think they should give the Cardasians their own playable story arc. Perhaps like the Romulans or Dominion as allies of the Federation or Klingons.
I know you can have a playable character and that’s fine. But I think they deserve their own story arc. Perhaps rebuilding after the Dominion war ext.
Please respond and let me know your thoughts.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Comments
The-Grand-Nagus
Join Date: Sep 2008
Technically it isn't even really the Dominion itself as such in the sense of it being a whole civilization like the other factions, it is just Odo's expeditionary force on detached duty. I wish they would do more with it and offer more than just the clone troopers as playable characters but I get the distinct feeling it really isn't well liked by the devs.
As for "not well liked by the devs", I'd rather not put words in their mouth on if they like them or not myself. It is something better asked when we have a chance to actually speak with the Devs IMO. For now... the focus is on the Klingons.
Don't say thay haven't done much of anything with the Jem'Hadar. They did exactly what they planned to do with them, finished them up, and moved on. They were not cut short at all. You'll hear that in a few minutes, don't you know.
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.'
It would be nice to see Cardassian Struggle revamped, revised, and even expanded a little for sure!
I guess they will plan and evaluate based on how they feel the story evolves or needs to update with several new Star Trek shows coming to air in the foreseeable future. Still it honestly be nice to see more Episodes, if not new at least remastered in the future...
Exactly my point, they had their "laser like focus" on the Jem'Hadar and (according to answers they already gave to people who asked) really were not interested in doing the Dominion in of itself, but rather as a simple framework to support their entry onto the 'race/class that starts at endgame' bandwagon: the Jem'Hadar. The rolled out the novelty character type and did a normal season with a gamma quadrant theme from the viewpoint of the alpha/beta quadrant similar to the delta quadrant season, as intended.
My comment was in regard to the people wanting a Cardassian faction, much as they might want it they are as highly unlikely to get it as the people wanting a more canon-accurate representation of the Dominion with the character types necessary for that are.
It is not a rant, just an observation. And it is actually a sound strategy too, if the industry shifted to the "no leveling" style in a big way then STO needs to adapt like that. The fact that the endgame only character concept never really took off for long is irrelevant, being prepared in case it did is the important part.
So, why don't you give an idea of what you'd like them to focus in on with a Cardassian story?
The Dominion War only ended like 12 years before the Hobus event. And the Dominion War was a conflict that devastated the entire quadrant. There's not that much official canon that is set in the 2380's. But we do know (from dialogue included in Insurrection for example) that right after the DW, the Federation was almost brought to its knees.
All this means that the capability to support Cardassia was greatly diminished compared to just after the Hobus event. Besides, although they did not lose their entire planet, Garak mentions how many of Cardassia's great minds, the people responsible for their cultural progress, their leadership, had been eradicated. That's leaving out the possibilities of subjected worlds breaking away, mutiny within the military, political infighting and so on.
There's little reason to assume that, by the time we arrive in 2409, there's more damage remaining or problems to be solved stemming from the Hobus event when compared to the DW. Some effects of the DW on Cardassia(ns) could definitely be lingering around and remain noticeable even throughout STO's timeline.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Please forgive my slowness in not catching on to a Cardasian centric story being very similar to the Romulans.
Both suffered terrible loss and both had to rebuild their culture.
I stand by my belief that such a story would be interesting to play through. Perhaps with Garek as the new leader.
Still everyone is right it would be too close to the Romulans story.
That said anyone should catch on to the fact that the distraction of the DW would still have lasting effects decades into the future. Even past the current STO timeline.
Thanks to you all.
Not everything has to be driven by a grand (or even galactic) conspiracy to be good plot material, stories about flareups in a long, low intensity struggle work out quite well (that was the basis of a lot of TOS and TNG plots for instance, and DS9 was almost entirely based on it before the Dominion war).
And yes, the True Way Alliance is gone but there is no way they could have caught every single person in the organization. In the real world whenever a terrorist group like that is smashed or evolves into a less militant form they very often calve off a more militant faction and the cycle starts anew (for instance look at the history of the IRA, it is a prime example of that). The True Way Alliance could have given way to the The Truer Way, which spawns The True Way Refocused when it disbands or whatever, then True Believers of the True Way, and on and on.
Groups like that could be operating out of secret bunkers set up before the war, possibly with some shipbuilding facilities. If the devs wanted they could get really crazy and have the new True Way organization in possession of one of the alien automated facilities like the one in ENT. If they did they could take it in either of two main directions, it could either be a limited thing and taking it out would end that iteration of the True Way (and make way for yet another), or it could turn out to be some kind of subversive AI weapon system (sort of like the CIA arming extremists to make trouble for the Soviets) from a long forgotten war and lead to yet another big arc where the things link up with some other mechanoid/AI whatever type as a truly major threat, or simply spread wide enough that they kick off a rash of potentially destabilizing brush wars all over the galaxy.
Anyway, DS9, like all of last century's Trek series had a lot of analogies to then-current real-world issues (from ENT onward they tend to be more inwardly focused and thus have less of that), and at least at the start of the series a lot of those threads had to do with the situation in the Middle East, and while it is evolving that situation is still going today so the Cardassians (and the others in the area) could still be having the same problems they had before with a slightly different face.
As for the Dominion, some of the throwaway dialog in the new "Khitomer Discord" scenario points out that the Dominon really does not have a full formal diplomatic presence in the Alliance yet, just some representatives they send to functions and meetings without any facilities of their own in the quadrant as of yet.
There is a lot of potential there to expand the Dominion out into something more than a single-race unlock (worse yet, one that is gender locked) with a single sketchy character origin/training scenario, and add canon races like the Vorta and the others (even if it is just by adding an "alien" character generation option, though Vorta are major enough to have their own custom one like all the other factions have for their major races) as part of their settling further into the Alliance.
Right now Cardassia is a Federation (and apparently in STO a Klingon) protectorate, so for most practical purposes they are Federation associates and would probably just go though Starfleet academy before joining Starfleet or returning to their own local police fleet or whatever they have now (and some doing the same with the Klingons).
While that means that it does not make sense for them to be an independent faction it does not mean that there is nothing more to do with them story wise, just that the stories would logically be open to the other factions (something the game does for all the new stuff anyway).
On the player side it would be possible to use that protectorate status get something like a faction without an actual new faction. For instance, one rather simple thing would be to have a coupon for a playable low-tier Hideki-class as part of the race unlock (or for a small additional fee with the race unlock), and having a Cardassian starter ship like that could encourage Cardassian fans to buy one of the full T6 ships to keep their Cardassian captain in a genuine Cardassian ship.
With the situation it would make perfect sense for the character to go though the Federation or Klingon tutorial as an exchange officer and transfer back aboard a Cardassian defense fleet vessel on detached duty with the appropriate host faction upon graduation. If the devs were really feeling frisky they could probably put a flag in to trigger a small cutscene or dialog change to refer to that exchange officer status.
And if STO ever goes back and revisits the DS9 region with scenarios involving the Cardassians as discussed earlier the player character could jump to those for a Cardi-centric feel to start with. In fact, with the high number of events characters can hit top end very quickly with nothing but the tutorial and a small handful of missions along with the event stuff.
I agree with Phoenix’s points above about Cardassia and it being a protectorate. She makes some good points with a starter ship and And some Cardassian themed content.
I have worked with the STO framework to create a whole backstory for my character. Past assignments as a Federation exchange officer. Joint operations with Starfleet. My Galor crew is a mix of Cardassians and Bajorans as part of a “reconciliation” initiative. I have had a lot of fun building up a back story and incorporation some of the fan fiction out there on Cardassia post Dominion War.
I have the idea of Central Command replaced by a “Defense Command.” Roughly following the model of Japan post WW2. Role of defense of Cardassian space, free and safe navigation patrols, exploration, assisting colonies, internal security/policing, and action against the True Way. Cardassian military ships only leave Cardassian space at the invitation and permission of Starfleet.
I am quite content with that and like that my Cardassian toon is Federation aligned. It plays well into the theme I have for him.
STO Romulans 'recovery story' was given a mystery, an objective that we needed to solve, on top of an active and oppressive regime that wanted to maintain it's iron grip on power. They lost BILLIONS, have not recovered, and are still rebuilding after decades.
That folks is why Cardassia doesn't need a faction story of it's own.
Yeah that could make sense, though it probably can't be that slowly as you need to have "picked a side" by the time you hit your first TFO.
The way I could see that working is that you start off as fairly new recruit for the True Way and you're told you're doing missions for "the restoration of the Glory of Cardassia" and how you're gonna make everyone fear and respect the cardassians again but it involves you bullying unarmed colonists and raiding poor protected civilian transports that best protected by Mirandas or Galors in desperate need of a refit.
All this culminating in your leaders sending you against a larger convoy of civilian transports, with them thinking it's an easy prey, while you notice that's it's an obvious trap but the leaders dismiss you due to arrogance. So when it turns out that it was indeed a trap they blame you and tell you to "fix it" meaning you have to sacrifice yourself so they can feel, that being the final straw that sparks your turn to the Alliance side (obviously with a faction pick as a "sponsor".