I would love to see more work on carriers and pets. As well s a addition of rep specific carrier pets like how the romulan an tholian rep have. Imagine a repurposed undine carrier pet you could get from the undine rep or a reprogamed borg probe or even assimilated fed/kdf/dom fighters from the borg rep.
they also said on many occasions No end game Constitutions. Times, minds and leadership changes
While true, there is a whole lot more work involved with creating content like adventure zones versus a single ship. Ships they can sell or put into lootboxes. They cannot do that with adventure zones.
Anything can be put in a lockbox.
~ Random Cryptic spokesperson
More seriously: a new or expanded adventure zone could also bring with it new enemies, who use new powers, maybe new ground vehicles etc. Which all could be made the contents of new lock boxes and C-store releases.
And new content is going to be released anyway. Ultimately, it doesn't matter that much whether it comes in the form of episodes and TFO's - or a battlezone (extension). Personally, given how many TFO's there already are, I think a battlezone (extension) might just have a lot higher replay value too if I'm being honest.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
The old content that I would like to see restored and revamped would be as follows:
Arcs/Available/Episodes/Floor Trophies/Foundry Assets
The removed for revamping Klingon War
Spectres restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
The Breen Invasion or Cold War restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Wasteland restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Kobali Crisis or Delta Quadrant restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
State of Q as a standalone episode
The removed episodes from the Cardassian Struggle that dealt with the True Way, Pah'wraiths, the Mirror Universe, and Thomas Riker as standalone story arcs
The removed episodes from Romulan Mystery that can be added as standalone episodes or story arcs
Fleshing out the story of Franklin Drake by revamping the removed episodes that dealt with him
Creating the Children of Khan arc that never materialized
All floor trophies from removed missions, TFOs, and accolades being made available to players and able to be positioned on all ships
All outfits that previously were available in the Foundry but are not available in game
Revamped Available tab, renamed to something that corresponds to its function
Events:
The Shuttle Event
Mirror Universe Incursion
Red Alerts: Permanent, Event versions available during the Event
Borg Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Elachi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Na'Kuhl Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tholian Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tzenkethi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
TFOs:
The old PvE queue system that showed the number of players queueing without playing the waiting game
The Big Dig
Starbase 24
Terradome
Mine Trap
The original Kobayashi Maru or No Win Scenario
I'll admit, as somebody who pre-purchased Star Trek Online and played at game launch, I've no doubt I look back on the early years of the game through rose-tinted nostalgia goggles.
With that in mind, is there any old content that YOU would like to see return to the game, probably with a revamp? For me personally, I'd love to see Exploration Clusters return in some way (ideally without the Third Borg Dynasty), but to be honest I'd even settle for just the diplomatic/First Contact missions and make up for the rest by making the Alpha/Beta quadrant patrols replayable more than once per toon.
I also think it would be great to see the cut Cardassian Struggle missions make a revamped return. I always thought that the True Way was an interesting faction but I don't think the current Cardassian Struggle arc does them much justice.
Obviously the Foundry was retired, despite the devs' best efforts to keep it running for as long as possible, so I'm going to ignore that sad story in this case (as wonderful as it would be to have it back again).
Being a Pre-Order Player too, I'm in agreement : Bring all the deleted content back. Content is the life-blood of an MMO, imho. Heck, I want the old offline DOFF missions back! There is really no such thing as addition through subtraction when it comes to game content. The only point I differ on is The Foundry I want that back. It was an amazing addition to a live game and provided community content STO didn't have the resources to script themselves.
I miss the mission that told the story of Thomas Riker. It was a little tragic, and the mission it self was a bit annoying destroying those turrets, but it was a conclusion to a character that to me was interesting. I don't know with the mission no longer playable, if a new story of Thomas Riker will be made eventually, even with voice over, but it would be nice.
Running into Eeeevil Smiley O'Brien was fun too. Older episodes lack the quality of modern ones, but they still had their creative moments.
The original full length TFO's that contained space and ground portions. Those Federation Supply Crates had some of the best dialog this game has ever seen!
I could see bringing back the foundry in a form that is used a dil/zen sink. Like you can buy access to content packs that give you more options an features in the foundry to make missions (ships, factions, mechanics, locations, building assets, load outs, and even creating custom races). Had always heard people say the foundry was pretty good, but limited in what you could do with it.
I could see bringing back the foundry in a form that is used a dil/zen sink. Like you can buy access to content packs that give you more options an features in the foundry to make missions (ships, factions, mechanics, locations, building assets, load outs, and even creating custom races). Had always heard people say the foundry was pretty good, but limited in what you could do with it.
That one isn't happening; they've specifically said the Foundry is not coming back.
The old content that I would like to see restored and revamped would be as follows:
Arcs/Available/Episodes/Floor Trophies/Foundry Assets
The removed for revamping Klingon War
Spectres restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
The Breen Invasion or Cold War restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Wasteland restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Kobali Crisis or Delta Quadrant restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
State of Q as a standalone episode
The removed episodes from the Cardassian Struggle that dealt with the True Way, Pah'wraiths, the Mirror Universe, and Thomas Riker as standalone story arcs
The removed episodes from Romulan Mystery that can be added as standalone episodes or story arcs
Fleshing out the story of Franklin Drake by revamping the removed episodes that dealt with him
Creating the Children of Khan arc that never materialized
All floor trophies from removed missions, TFOs, and accolades being made available to players and able to be positioned on all ships
All outfits that previously were available in the Foundry but are not available in game
Revamped Available tab, renamed to something that corresponds to its function
Events:
The Shuttle Event
Mirror Universe Incursion
Red Alerts: Permanent, Event versions available during the Event
Borg Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Elachi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Na'Kuhl Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tholian Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tzenkethi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
TFOs:
The old PvE queue system that showed the number of players queueing without playing the waiting game
The Big Dig
Starbase 24
Terradome
Mine Trap
The original Kobayashi Maru or No Win Scenario
Character creator/customization. Hands down. It isn't bad, especially compared to never winter, but it could definitely be a LOT better. More options, better resolution for older models, more non-white human options, a MUCH better and more unified color wheel, more options for prosthetics and such, more inclusive/non-binary options, options that allow cross gender customizations since those are specifically built to be one or the other. There are even a few body sliders and such that champions has that would have been nice to be included. Why can't we make decent fat people, especially with the Playable tellarites? More options added to the alien generator, like the ability to NAME the custom species.
It's not as bad as other MMO's, especially at launch, but it would be nice if that got some love more often BEYOND just a UI change.
Character creator/customization. Hands down. It isn't bad, especially compared to never winter, but it could definitely be a LOT better. More options, better resolution for older models, more non-white human options, a MUCH better and more unified color wheel, more options for prosthetics and such, more inclusive/non-binary options, options that allow cross gender customizations since those are specifically built to be one or the other. There are even a few body sliders and such that champions has that would have been nice to be included. Why can't we make decent fat people, especially with the Playable tellarites? More options added to the alien generator, like the ability to NAME the custom species.
It's not as bad as other MMO's, especially at launch, but it would be nice if that got some love more often BEYOND just a UI change.
Agreed with a lot of these things.
Better standardization of the colours and more alien-like parts are the things I would like to see most. Including things like more horn types, allowing for asymmetricity like having a third limb, translucent skin, floating abilities, having an additional set of eyes, 'weird' body parts like breathing tubes...
I want my aliens to look truly alien.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
The old content that I would like to see restored and revamped would be as follows:
Arcs/Available/Episodes/Floor Trophies/Foundry Assets
The removed for revamping Klingon War
Spectres restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
The Breen Invasion or Cold War restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Wasteland restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Kobali Crisis or Delta Quadrant restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
State of Q as a standalone episode
The removed episodes from the Cardassian Struggle that dealt with the True Way, Pah'wraiths, the Mirror Universe, and Thomas Riker as standalone story arcs
The removed episodes from Romulan Mystery that can be added as standalone episodes or story arcs
Fleshing out the story of Franklin Drake by revamping the removed episodes that dealt with him
Creating the Children of Khan arc that never materialized
All floor trophies from removed missions, TFOs, and accolades being made available to players and able to be positioned on all ships
All outfits that previously were available in the Foundry but are not available in game
Revamped Available tab, renamed to something that corresponds to its function
Events:
The Shuttle Event
Mirror Universe Incursion
Red Alerts: Permanent, Event versions available during the Event
Borg Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Elachi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Na'Kuhl Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tholian Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tzenkethi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
TFOs:
The old PvE queue system that showed the number of players queueing without playing the waiting game
The Big Dig
Starbase 24
Terradome
Mine Trap
The original Kobayashi Maru or No Win Scenario
So, basically everything? Yes, I support that. A lot of that old content got me into this STO business. There really shouldn't be a choice between old and new, it's all content and it should still be in the game.
I miss a lot of the old missions; one had Admiral Leonard James Akaar, another the Guardian of Forever, and another with Gul Madred (you know, the "there are four lights" guy).
Character creator/customization. Hands down. It isn't bad, especially compared to never winter, but it could definitely be a LOT better. More options, better resolution for older models, more non-white human options, a MUCH better and more unified color wheel, more options for prosthetics and such, more inclusive/non-binary options, options that allow cross gender customizations since those are specifically built to be one or the other. There are even a few body sliders and such that champions has that would have been nice to be included. Why can't we make decent fat people, especially with the Playable tellarites? More options added to the alien generator, like the ability to NAME the custom species.
It's not as bad as other MMO's, especially at launch, but it would be nice if that got some love more often BEYOND just a UI change.
Agreed with a lot of these things.
Better standardization of the colours and more alien-like parts are the things I would like to see most. Including things like more horn types, allowing for asymmetricity like having a third limb, translucent skin, floating abilities, having an additional set of eyes, 'weird' body parts like breathing tubes...
I want my aliens to look truly alien.
Also add a Chestburster trait that deals 25% DoT to organic enemies for aliengen characters.
I'd like the old Alpha Quadrant/Beta Quadrant patrols to be made playable more than once per character. They can be great little vignettes for character building despite how janky they can be and how out of place they can feel against modern STO design. On my most recent character I made a point of diving into them and it turned out to be my most enjoyable rerun in a long time (as the old patrols created much needed downtime between big narratives and action. Sometimes, scanning 5 random things on a barren planet is just what you need to feel like a starship captain). I'd like to play with them more (ex. on long established characters), but as is you can only dive in on new characters if you've burned through them already.
And of all possible options it seems one of the most feasible (no revamps or reorganization, just change the access behavior. Hopefully the legacy-coded permissions mechanism isn't too nightmarish for the systems team to deal with.)
More options added to the alien generator, like the ability to NAME the custom species.
I also want to give this a shoutout, it'd be fantastic for alien-gen to have a little more feeling of representation for our creations (especially original species). We're never, for example, going to get codified species options from Foundry highlights. It would just feel nice to be able to have a specific species label for something we've spent years playing with (either our own species or species we loved from other authors). The "bio" field can host a lot but the species field can extend the reach of player creativity just a little bit more. And there aren't many other (feasible-sounding) things one can suggest in that area.
I could see bringing back the foundry in a form that is used a dil/zen sink. Like you can buy access to content packs that give you more options an features in the foundry to make missions (ships, factions, mechanics, locations, building assets, load outs, and even creating custom races). Had always heard people say the foundry was pretty good, but limited in what you could do with it.
And while I'm here and an authority figure on the subject: we in the Foundry community had long talks about whether monetizing the Foundry more would have been a good thing. Short version: it comes at costs to accessibility and the Foundry audience wasn't *that* large to begin with (lots of great folks but demonstrably not enough to make/break the life of the game). So for what little revenue was generated there'd probably be bigger costs in audience building/retention (which given the scale of the Foundry community could have been hugely problematic). If the game was pushing hard on UGC, making it a core feature, then maybe content packs would be sustainable. But given Cryptic's realized strategy, it wasn't.
What the Foundry needs for a come back is 1. massive fixes and 2. a stable operating environment to keep it fixed (which is what sunset the system. It was built as a separate game operating in STO, essentially, and the longer STO lived the more it diverged from the code-base the Foundry was built for. It became rampant, like Cortana in Halo 4) Those, in turn, would only come with a long-term software campaign to fix the Foundry (huge investment that the company isn't eager to make) and STO content development ceasing and the game entering terminal maintenance mode. No new updates, no/little chance of the Foundry spontaneously self-destructing if it could be brought back into shape. That or some magic fix for the Foundry's code (to work with the current pace/scale of development) but short of AI-driven coding miracles I see maintenance mode as the more likely return window (though not likely overall).
Maybe there's a discussion to have years down the road when maintenance mode is looming and a last gasp for the game is an active/reasonable point of discussion. The Foundry could make more sense then (best way to keep a population if content development has ceased.) But as is there's no foreseeable prospect of STO hitting a Champions-like maintenance mode (with new Trek it *could* have a significantly higher floor in its population than champs and never *actually* halt active development so long as Microsoft Windows supports the game) and thus STO isn't likely to fix the problems it had with the Foundry *any* time soon. But it's still good to mention the Foundry in threads like this because 1) it was an important facet of constructive community building that, even if gone we should still strive for, 2) it helps those that invested so much in the Foundry feel like they haven't been cast off, and 3) maybe someday circumstances change to make the Foundry make more sense (if not for STO then for future games. The classic F2P model is struggling like mad in the current industry and the Foundry *was* a shining USP for STO and NW. For as much as STO is touted as a Trek theme park by the team, I think it has deeper resonance as a model train set. Some day I hope Cryptic runs with that mentality again.)
Post edited by duncanidaho11 on
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
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..."
I'd love to see the Breen Story Arc added back in as it ties in with the current Iconian Story episode "Blood of the Ancients" plus it is a good arc to play. It should be slotted in between the Delta Arc and Iconian Arc. It also has the best looking Warp engines in game
More seriously: a new or expanded adventure zone could also bring with it new enemies, who use new powers, maybe new ground vehicles etc. Which all could be made the contents of new lock boxes and C-store releases.
And new content is going to be released anyway. Ultimately, it doesn't matter that much whether it comes in the form of episodes and TFO's - or a battlezone (extension). Personally, given how many TFO's there already are, I think a battlezone (extension) might just have a lot higher replay value too if I'm being honest.
IIRC it was mentioned in a few livestreams that Cryptic would not be developing any future adventure zone content.
Can confirm this from TFW. The three major factors variously mentioned are...
1. there's little appetite to try again after the Tzenkethi battlezone ran into such deep systems issues and more player frustration than enthusiasm for the concept
2. Zones were pushed by old EP's (presumably Salami and/or Zero)
3. Zones are huge investments and the team would rather spend that work on other forms of content (ex. more investment in the quality of episodes, or patrols which have become a much more regular supplement to mission/TFO content)
TFO's meanwhile are a major staple, and while there's a lot of them player interest in this core feature type needs refreshing with more content. It's a Red Queen problem. We still see Cryptic branch out into other things but those of late have been patrols, ie. bite sized content. More of that in other forms would be very interesting, but I don't think we'll see larger scale content forms for the foreseeable future.
I'd love to see the Breen Story Arc added back in as it ties in with the current Iconian Story episode "Blood of the Ancients" plus it is a good arc to play. It should be slotted in between the Delta Arc and Iconian Arc. It also has the best looking Warp engines in game
It's in the "available" tab (via Admiral Quinn as a direct mission pickup). The 2800 arc, Nimbus III arc, Deferi/Breen arc, and Dividian arc were moved to the available tab some time back as (effectively) optional side quests. It should also be noted that optional side quests in RPG's can relate to the main quest for additional context and backstory. There being points of connection/explanation isn't enough by itself to graduate something to main path.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Sorry I guess I should have noted that yes I do know the Breen Arc is available in the Mission Available tab, but I would like to see this arc refreshed and replaced back into the main story as it still ties in with current story arcs. I do play this arc often as I like to get the entire Breen set for some of my characters ships. I'd also like to see Nimbus added in as part of the main story as well since it ties in with Colosseum. I am aware that it is part or the normal story arc for Romulan characters, but feel it should also be there for Fed and Klingon as well, Nimbus is my favorite ground mission arc.
Anything in the "Availible" tab no longer has the ties that it used to have because everything in that tab has been pushed to endgame and pretty much shoved out of sight, which essentially destroys the contest for it. A lot of people don't even know it is there since the focus has shifted so much to events and TFOs that few seem to use anything but the event and regular mission tabs, and those who do know about the stuff in the Available tab often do not bother to play it since the rewards for the missions have never been updated to endgame quality gear.
In fact, quite often I see people (especially new players) asking about TOS gear like the blue ship phasers and getting disappointed by the fact that they are nearly impossible to get until near-endgame (from K-13, which iirc only come in XII) or at endgame itself via the Spectres arc which used to be perfectly positioned at early-midgame to supply those phasers for the hardpoint slots just opening up around those levels but now spuriously require level 60 or thereabouts.
In the case of Spectres it is even worse than most since they had just successfully fixed the bug that would often halt mission progress at the segment featuring Bones a month or so before they moved it, and the move apparently broke the fix they took so long to come up with.
Also, other missions in that tab have problems, for instance the Kobali missions in that tab simply do not work from that tab, you have to work your way through the Delta missions until you get the original starter mission for that zone to unlock it, so people get used to thinking that nothing in that tab works.
I'll admit, as somebody who pre-purchased Star Trek Online and played at game launch, I've no doubt I look back on the early years of the game through rose-tinted nostalgia goggles. While the game has made leaps and bounds in the thirteen years since then - ships, mechanics, graphics, stories, voice acting and all-round quality of life - there are times where I long for the content from yesteryear.
Now, the newest mission, 'Wish Upon A Star', felt like the most 'Trek' story we've had in a long time. A lot of it was devoted to science shenanigans and in the combat stages we were actually shooting to disable rather than see how far we could push the limitations of the Geneva Convention/Khitomer Accords. I realise that the older missions - including entire story arcs that have since been cut from the game - couldn't manage this because of the gameplay limitations in the early game. However, as we are currently waiting for the Fed-Klingon War story arc to be revamped (which I hope happens soon, seeing as the FIRST episode new Fed players experience is currently unfinished), perhaps we can hold out hope that they will return with a mix of classic STO vibes while also taking advantage of newer game mechanics and design philosophy and deliver a great 'Star Trek' experience.
With that in mind, is there any old content that YOU would like to see return to the game, probably with a revamp? For me personally, I'd love to see Exploration Clusters return in some way (ideally without the Third Borg Dynasty), but to be honest I'd even settle for just the diplomatic/First Contact missions and make up for the rest by making the Alpha/Beta quadrant patrols replayable more than once per toon.
I also think it would be great to see the cut Cardassian Struggle missions make a revamped return. I always thought that the True Way was an interesting faction but I don't think the current Cardassian Struggle arc does them much justice.
Obviously the Foundry was retired, despite the devs' best efforts to keep it running for as long as possible, so I'm going to ignore that sad story in this case (as wonderful as it would be to have it back again).
Jupiter Class Dreadnought plz - I wonder what she looks like in the new Materials.
Anything in the "Availible" tab no longer has the ties that it used to have because everything in that tab has been pushed to endgame and pretty much shoved out of sight, which essentially destroys the contest for it. A lot of people don't even know it is there since the focus has shifted so much to events and TFOs that few seem to use anything but the event and regular mission tabs, and those who do know about the stuff in the Available tab often do not bother to play it since the rewards for the missions have never been updated to endgame quality gear.
In fact, quite often I see people (especially new players) asking about TOS gear like the blue ship phasers and getting disappointed by the fact that they are nearly impossible to get until near-endgame (from K-13, which iirc only come in XII) or at endgame itself via the Spectres arc which used to be perfectly positioned at early-midgame to supply those phasers for the hardpoint slots just opening up around those levels but now spuriously require level 60 or thereabouts.
In the case of Spectres it is even worse than most since they had just successfully fixed the bug that would often halt mission progress at the segment featuring Bones a month or so before they moved it, and the move apparently broke the fix they took so long to come up with.
Also, other missions in that tab have problems, for instance the Kobali missions in that tab simply do not work from that tab, you have to work your way through the Delta missions until you get the original starter mission for that zone to unlock it, so people get used to thinking that nothing in that tab works.
Then again, you have to work through or ship those episodes anyway if you want to play anything from that Arc that's blocked by the Kobali Prime introduction. Which was supposed to have been fixed, but some of those introduction missions are still required before you can do anything else.
The whole episode and other featured content is a big mess. To me, it seems they wanted to make some changes, undid those while making other ones and at some point they just left the mess that created.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
The original Mirror Invasion needs to return. That one was challenging and very fun to play. The "new and improved" version is neither. It is a timegate showcase where Obisek proudly displays his general incompetence while talking entirely too much. If I ever see Mirror Incursion available again in the game, it will be one second too soon. It will be available one second too long as well. I'll never play it again. Ever. Even if Cryptic offered Real World money as a prize for playing it.
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
I could go for some revamping, or expanding of the rep system. Not adding a new rep, but thru some quests/missions expanding on what the rep gives you such. like adding a new weapon or shield to the rep not merely a new energy but like adding a dual or quad cannon to the Romulan rep for instance, or a unique set of rep-based carrier pets. Hell even having something that takes a long time to complete for a project that needs you to retrieve different items or complete specific things in game to complete the project (was going to say a ship yet not sure they would want to do that, but maybe a reskin of a ship might be worth it).
For me I want to see the Salt Vampire TFO come back along with Klingon Scout Force and Starbase 24. Those missions were extremely fun way back when. That Salt Vampire TFO could get super intense at times if one of the teams didn't know what they were doing. Even then if you just had bad luck of the draw on certain spawns it could be nasty. Still that was some of the most fun ground combat in the game imo. Terradome was another one that was great, along with some of the earlier stuff that first pointed towards the iconians.
I didn't do the exploration clusters alot but they were fun while in the game.
For me though, I still want my actual Typhoon class. Calling one of the command ships the Typhoon just doesn't cut it for me.
I agree with you (GASP!), I miss the salt vampire mission too... I thought that was pretty cool. I really, REALLY miss the exploration clusters, though. I spent 90% or more of my playtime in those clusters, kind of making up my own missions. I've posted about this before. The missions were pretty generic. I'd play them, leave the mission, then go to my bridge and write a Captain's Log, expanding on what "happened." I miss doing that. Of course, I'd rather see them expand on the old system (I've described this before too), but I won't hold my breath for either.
I'm honestly surprised they never tried making an event out of the salt vampires. I don't ever recall major usability issues with the mission either. If one side poops the bed there's no progress lost for all the others. It was a lot of fun for the change of pace and power creep is probably going to make it even more of a zombie smashing party now.
The only argument I can see against it is from the art department, the TFO's been gone so long that they'd probably want to overhaul the map to bring the visuals up to par. Which then means it's going to get shot down the priority list for being an unusual TFO with a multi-team structure and not new content the team is chomping at the bit for...cue fun thing languishing at the altar of visual fidelity in perpetuity (wanting everything to look nicer does come with costs).
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Comments
Anything can be put in a lockbox.
~ Random Cryptic spokesperson
More seriously: a new or expanded adventure zone could also bring with it new enemies, who use new powers, maybe new ground vehicles etc. Which all could be made the contents of new lock boxes and C-store releases.
And new content is going to be released anyway. Ultimately, it doesn't matter that much whether it comes in the form of episodes and TFO's - or a battlezone (extension). Personally, given how many TFO's there already are, I think a battlezone (extension) might just have a lot higher replay value too if I'm being honest.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Arcs/Available/Episodes/Floor Trophies/Foundry Assets
The removed for revamping Klingon War
Spectres restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
The Breen Invasion or Cold War restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Wasteland restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
Kobali Crisis or Delta Quadrant restored to the Mission Journal from the Available tab and revamped
State of Q as a standalone episode
The removed episodes from the Cardassian Struggle that dealt with the True Way, Pah'wraiths, the Mirror Universe, and Thomas Riker as standalone story arcs
The removed episodes from Romulan Mystery that can be added as standalone episodes or story arcs
Fleshing out the story of Franklin Drake by revamping the removed episodes that dealt with him
Creating the Children of Khan arc that never materialized
All floor trophies from removed missions, TFOs, and accolades being made available to players and able to be positioned on all ships
All outfits that previously were available in the Foundry but are not available in game
Revamped Available tab, renamed to something that corresponds to its function
Events:
The Shuttle Event
Mirror Universe Incursion
Red Alerts: Permanent, Event versions available during the Event
Borg Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Elachi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Na'Kuhl Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tholian Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
Tzenkethi Red Alert: Advanced and Elite
TFOs:
The old PvE queue system that showed the number of players queueing without playing the waiting game
The Big Dig
Starbase 24
Terradome
Mine Trap
The original Kobayashi Maru or No Win Scenario
Being a Pre-Order Player too, I'm in agreement : Bring all the deleted content back. Content is the life-blood of an MMO, imho. Heck, I want the old offline DOFF missions back! There is really no such thing as addition through subtraction when it comes to game content. The only point I differ on is The Foundry I want that back. It was an amazing addition to a live game and provided community content STO didn't have the resources to script themselves.
Running into Eeeevil Smiley O'Brien was fun too. Older episodes lack the quality of modern ones, but they still had their creative moments.
That one isn't happening; they've specifically said the Foundry is not coming back.
It's not as bad as other MMO's, especially at launch, but it would be nice if that got some love more often BEYOND just a UI change.
Agreed with a lot of these things.
Better standardization of the colours and more alien-like parts are the things I would like to see most. Including things like more horn types, allowing for asymmetricity like having a third limb, translucent skin, floating abilities, having an additional set of eyes, 'weird' body parts like breathing tubes...
I want my aliens to look truly alien.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
So, basically everything? Yes, I support that. A lot of that old content got me into this STO business. There really shouldn't be a choice between old and new, it's all content and it should still be in the game.
--Sadriel Fett
"There are few problems in the galaxy that cannot be solved by the suitable application of concentrated phaser fire."
Also add a Chestburster trait that deals 25% DoT to organic enemies for aliengen characters.
And of all possible options it seems one of the most feasible (no revamps or reorganization, just change the access behavior. Hopefully the legacy-coded permissions mechanism isn't too nightmarish for the systems team to deal with.)
I also want to give this a shoutout, it'd be fantastic for alien-gen to have a little more feeling of representation for our creations (especially original species). We're never, for example, going to get codified species options from Foundry highlights. It would just feel nice to be able to have a specific species label for something we've spent years playing with (either our own species or species we loved from other authors). The "bio" field can host a lot but the species field can extend the reach of player creativity just a little bit more. And there aren't many other (feasible-sounding) things one can suggest in that area.
And while I'm here and an authority figure on the subject: we in the Foundry community had long talks about whether monetizing the Foundry more would have been a good thing. Short version: it comes at costs to accessibility and the Foundry audience wasn't *that* large to begin with (lots of great folks but demonstrably not enough to make/break the life of the game). So for what little revenue was generated there'd probably be bigger costs in audience building/retention (which given the scale of the Foundry community could have been hugely problematic). If the game was pushing hard on UGC, making it a core feature, then maybe content packs would be sustainable. But given Cryptic's realized strategy, it wasn't.
What the Foundry needs for a come back is 1. massive fixes and 2. a stable operating environment to keep it fixed (which is what sunset the system. It was built as a separate game operating in STO, essentially, and the longer STO lived the more it diverged from the code-base the Foundry was built for. It became rampant, like Cortana in Halo 4) Those, in turn, would only come with a long-term software campaign to fix the Foundry (huge investment that the company isn't eager to make) and STO content development ceasing and the game entering terminal maintenance mode. No new updates, no/little chance of the Foundry spontaneously self-destructing if it could be brought back into shape. That or some magic fix for the Foundry's code (to work with the current pace/scale of development) but short of AI-driven coding miracles I see maintenance mode as the more likely return window (though not likely overall).
Maybe there's a discussion to have years down the road when maintenance mode is looming and a last gasp for the game is an active/reasonable point of discussion. The Foundry could make more sense then (best way to keep a population if content development has ceased.) But as is there's no foreseeable prospect of STO hitting a Champions-like maintenance mode (with new Trek it *could* have a significantly higher floor in its population than champs and never *actually* halt active development so long as Microsoft Windows supports the game) and thus STO isn't likely to fix the problems it had with the Foundry *any* time soon. But it's still good to mention the Foundry in threads like this because 1) it was an important facet of constructive community building that, even if gone we should still strive for, 2) it helps those that invested so much in the Foundry feel like they haven't been cast off, and 3) maybe someday circumstances change to make the Foundry make more sense (if not for STO then for future games. The classic F2P model is struggling like mad in the current industry and the Foundry *was* a shining USP for STO and NW. For as much as STO is touted as a Trek theme park by the team, I think it has deeper resonance as a model train set. Some day I hope Cryptic runs with that mentality again.)
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
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..."
Can confirm this from TFW. The three major factors variously mentioned are...
1. there's little appetite to try again after the Tzenkethi battlezone ran into such deep systems issues and more player frustration than enthusiasm for the concept
2. Zones were pushed by old EP's (presumably Salami and/or Zero)
3. Zones are huge investments and the team would rather spend that work on other forms of content (ex. more investment in the quality of episodes, or patrols which have become a much more regular supplement to mission/TFO content)
TFO's meanwhile are a major staple, and while there's a lot of them player interest in this core feature type needs refreshing with more content. It's a Red Queen problem. We still see Cryptic branch out into other things but those of late have been patrols, ie. bite sized content. More of that in other forms would be very interesting, but I don't think we'll see larger scale content forms for the foreseeable future.
It's in the "available" tab (via Admiral Quinn as a direct mission pickup). The 2800 arc, Nimbus III arc, Deferi/Breen arc, and Dividian arc were moved to the available tab some time back as (effectively) optional side quests. It should also be noted that optional side quests in RPG's can relate to the main quest for additional context and backstory. There being points of connection/explanation isn't enough by itself to graduate something to main path.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
In fact, quite often I see people (especially new players) asking about TOS gear like the blue ship phasers and getting disappointed by the fact that they are nearly impossible to get until near-endgame (from K-13, which iirc only come in XII) or at endgame itself via the Spectres arc which used to be perfectly positioned at early-midgame to supply those phasers for the hardpoint slots just opening up around those levels but now spuriously require level 60 or thereabouts.
In the case of Spectres it is even worse than most since they had just successfully fixed the bug that would often halt mission progress at the segment featuring Bones a month or so before they moved it, and the move apparently broke the fix they took so long to come up with.
Also, other missions in that tab have problems, for instance the Kobali missions in that tab simply do not work from that tab, you have to work your way through the Delta missions until you get the original starter mission for that zone to unlock it, so people get used to thinking that nothing in that tab works.
Jupiter Class Dreadnought plz -
Then again, you have to work through or ship those episodes anyway if you want to play anything from that Arc that's blocked by the Kobali Prime introduction. Which was supposed to have been fixed, but some of those introduction missions are still required before you can do anything else.
The whole episode and other featured content is a big mess. To me, it seems they wanted to make some changes, undid those while making other ones and at some point they just left the mess that created.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
I'm honestly surprised they never tried making an event out of the salt vampires. I don't ever recall major usability issues with the mission either. If one side poops the bed there's no progress lost for all the others. It was a lot of fun for the change of pace and power creep is probably going to make it even more of a zombie smashing party now.
The only argument I can see against it is from the art department, the TFO's been gone so long that they'd probably want to overhaul the map to bring the visuals up to par. Which then means it's going to get shot down the priority list for being an unusual TFO with a multi-team structure and not new content the team is chomping at the bit for...cue fun thing languishing at the altar of visual fidelity in perpetuity (wanting everything to look nicer does come with costs).
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!