CHANGE YOUR CAPTAIN'S GENDER OR SPECIES!

baddmoonrizin

On May 28th to Star Trek Online on PC, you'll be able to change your Captain's species and/or gender!

https://www.playstartrekonline.com/en/news/article/11569121

duncanidaho11

Big thumbs up on the price point, not exorbitant but not so trivial that you're switching species all the time. Seems like a happy balance for the feature. Got plans on how to use this (at minimum switching over my first character from human to alien, makes more sense for them now and that extra trait slot sure would be handy...) and props again to Cryptic for pushing through all the challenges to implementing this over the years.

inferiority

Some of these tokens released have been a bit pricey (looking at you Elite Bridge Officers and T5-U's) but this one is just in that sweet spot where it's not stupidly expensive yet not absurdly cheap either. A nice price point indeed!

avoozuul

I wish it was possible to make a Fed Gorn.

fleetcaptain5

I'm not sure why anyone would want this - it seemed quite painful when Ash Tyler underwent something like this - but good for them the option is there I guess.

I'll stick to changing my toons' names when changing one's identity feels necessary.

sthe91

@ambassadorkael#6946 The Arcgames link did not go through, the playstartrekonline one did. Please fix. Thanks.

marty123

>For those two faction choices specifically, we may be able to open it to the full 2409 Federation options in the future, stay tuned.

Please

marty123

>The species list available to change to will be the same list that your faction has access to at character creation. (Including any species you may have unlocked with Zen Store purchases or in other ways.) You cannot use this token to make a Vulcan Dominion Captain, for example. This also applies to Discovery and TOS Captains – you’ll only be able to switch to the options available at character creation. For those two faction choices specifically, we may be able to open it to the full 2409 Federation options in the future, stay tuned.

Please

inferiority

For those two faction choices specifically, we may be able to open it to the full 2409 Federation options in the future, stay tuned.

Seems pointless per the established canon and/or ingame lore.

• Discovery-era Pakled?
• Discovery-era Cardassian?
• TOS-era Klingon?
• TOS-era Liberated Borg?
• Discovery-era Talaxian?

There's five examples that make no sense whatsoever due to ongoing tensions between races or their first contact dates being after TOS.

fleetcaptain5

inferiority wrote: »

For those two faction choices specifically, we may be able to open it to the full 2409 Federation options in the future, stay tuned.

Seems pointless per the established canon and/or ingame lore.

• Discovery-era Pakled?
• Discovery-era Cardassian?
• TOS-era Klingon?
• TOS-era Liberated Borg?
• Discovery-era Talaxian?

There's five examples that make no sense whatsoever due to ongoing tensions between races or their first contact dates being after TOS.

You'd still have to complete the tutorial first, so it wouldn't matter that much.

After the tutorial, DIS- and TOS-era players are basically just the same as 2409-Feds. They can only become a Cardassian after entering 2409, so storywise it would be no different than creating a regular FED-Cardassian.

The only thing that would really be different, are the game's colour schemes, transporter effects and such. And of course you, as a player, know that you have completed the tutorial. But storywise it doesn't matter.

foxman00

I wont be using this token myself. But im happy it allows others to change if they choose to.

The bugs will be fun, but that is what happens with major changes. So if you have issues Captains, please remember to submit bug reports with as much detail as possible

duncanidaho11

inferiority wrote: »

For those two faction choices specifically, we may be able to open it to the full 2409 Federation options in the future, stay tuned.

Seems pointless per the established canon and/or ingame lore.

• Discovery-era Pakled?
• Discovery-era Cardassian?
• TOS-era Klingon?
• TOS-era Liberated Borg?
• Discovery-era Talaxian?

There's five examples that make no sense whatsoever due to ongoing tensions between races or their first contact dates being after TOS.

Yet those make up the minority of potential species options, which means that on balance it would still a nice update (as the added species options would outweigh the incongruities and players would generally gravitate to what made the most sense as they riffed on the iconography of Star Trek in this here Star Trek game). Cryptic can likely cut things down to only those that make sense but I'm personally a proponent of giving players the minimum of bumpers possible when it comes to customization (as the flexibility allows much more powerful experiences in creation than does limitation). If someone wants to do TOS liberated Borg as a riff on Enterprise's jaunt with the collective (they just didn't know it was Borg then) then I say let them. They can already wear a purple uniform and make any alien species they want for DSC, my immersion is not something I need to enforce on the sum total of the player population to enjoy.

There's also nothing saying an individual Klingon couldn't have joined Starfleet on their own accord in 23c. It just wasn't common on balance of probabilities. The factions were long enough in contact and you can riff any number of refugee/settler scenarios that Trek just didn't cover in its run. Ditto Pakled. We already have to fill in the blanks for reconciling species like Denobulans (despite never being shown prior to ENT). I'm fine with folks making other extrapolations as they will (even if its coming from their own imagination more than something a TV show already told them).

DSC aliens can also already cause major damage to literal interpretations of canon (see. Vorta, Romulan, Heirarchy, Ocampa, Klingon, Romulan, Cardassian, ect. parts in the tailor) and we don't think twice about its impact these days. We'll survive a few more anachronistic parts being added to player species choices to the same or later intervals (especially if it also means a huge bonus to conventional player character building options).

azrael

Oh...and the fact that time travel is a thing in this game, so...anachronism is basically a default setting at this point.

fred26291

How come the news page on ARC isnt getting these updates?
I have seen the titles on the forums but i havent had the chance to read them cause they have not been posted to ARC News page yet? Is the ARC News page going to be discontinued? If so let me know i will remove it from bookmarks and add whatever your going to begin using instead?

sthe91

fred26291#2759 wrote: »

How come the news page on ARC isnt getting these updates?
I have seen the titles on the forums but i havent had the chance to read them cause they have not been posted to ARC News page yet? Is the ARC News page going to be discontinued? If so let me know i will remove it from bookmarks and add whatever your going to begin using instead?

I have the link that someone was able to capture. For some reason the latest news posts are not showing up correctly on the Arcgames website. Last week, there also were shenanigans on the Gearbox and Arc client posts showing up as duplicates. Something seems to be off with the process of distributing it to both Arcgames and the Gearbox sites.

Here is the link: https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/11569121#collapse1

midevilchaos

This is exactly what I've been asking for years. @baddmoonrizin Please thank the devs for me, as THIS is the biggest "need" we needed. So glad we're finally getting the best change in the game to date.

midevilchaos

fred26291#2759 wrote: »

How come the news page on ARC isnt getting these updates?
I have seen the titles on the forums but i havent had the chance to read them cause they have not been posted to ARC News page yet? Is the ARC News page going to be discontinued? If so let me know i will remove it from bookmarks and add whatever your going to begin using instead?

You simply missed it. It's up there with other updates before it had its own thread:
RIGHT HERE, as the last thing on the list.

questerius

@ambassadorkael#6946
@baddmoonrizin

I have not seen this specifically mentioned in the article, but if you previously applied an elite token on your captain will this carry over when you change the captain race with the new token?

duncanidaho11

PSA: do NOT switch to alien yet with the species change token. It can brick the new trait slots added by equipping generic traits (ex. aggressive) that cannot be unslotted (because the trait thinks its unequipped)

baddmoonrizin

There's an issue that seems to be affecting some Captains with the Captain Alteration Token. If you attempt to use the token, and don't receive any options to change to, back out and wait. We're investigating.

https://x.com/trekonlinegame/status/1795512369847611717?t=AGvcmJfRcKBtryUBxBAOFw&s=19

baddmoonrizin

One player was able to fix the issue by restarting their launcher, you may want to try that if you're experiencing it.

https://x.com/trekonlinegame/status/1795514283775922410?t=D51M3BdLyR0wbjP-ncjsxQ&s=19

baddmoonrizin

Of further note: If you experience this issue, do not hit "Apply"! This will choose a species without your input, and spend the token. Just back out.

https://x.com/trekonlinegame/status/1795516851742781782?t=fGlLGXI3qJ5CJCx8FDLRfQ&s=19

baddmoonrizin

Due to the issues this morning, we've temporarily disabled the ability to purchase or use a Captain Alteration Token. We will return the feature when we have a satisfactory fix for the issues.

https://x.com/trekonlinegame/status/1795530431783125343?t=YAx9vs_qlw1vmcvHx4i3yQ&s=19

dsquirrelgm

Another major problem I ran into - after I changed species, my character lost access to nearly all of my outfit customization options from gameplay and store purchases. Logging out and back in did not solve the issue - and I know for a fact those were usable on that species, because I've set them on my bridge officers before. I submitted a ticket already.

baddmoonrizin

dsquirrelgm#7981 wrote: »

Another major problem I ran into - after I changed species, my character lost access to nearly all of my outfit customization options from gameplay and store purchases. Logging out and back in did not solve the issue - and I know for a fact those were usable on that species, because I've set them on my bridge officers before. I submitted a ticket already.

They warned this could happen in the blog.

dsquirrelgm

No - they said outfits might be changed or lost - NOT that you'd lose access to everything after using the token. Most of it wasn't even species-specific.

duncanidaho11

dsquirrelgm#7981 wrote: »

No - they said outfits might be changed or lost - NOT that you'd lose access to everything after using the token. Most of it wasn't even species-specific.

Correct, this is absolutely a bug, absolutely not what the blog meant, as it means you lose access to things like all c-store FED uniforms for TOS FED that should be available to a swapped species (as the trigger to unlock those happens after species selection for TOS, and isn't appropriately re-set by the token). Same for Romulans, as both use the same mechanics to orchestrate their alternative intro leveling experiences. Likely, in changing player species Cryptic unwittingly reset an initial parameter that faction choice/transitioning to 2409 sets to trigger faction-related unlocks. Thus the character is trapped in limbo, unable to access downstream uniforms from the missed trigger. We're just lucky this didn't affect *other* aspects of faction identity (ex. location access, story access, boff/doff access) which could have been even more catastrophic. As is, it's "just" a space barbie Armageddon for affected characters.

Where you have "there are certain costumes that are not available on all characters" applies most to genders (see. skirts and Orion/Nausicaan attachments) and facial feature options specific to some species choices (ex. LTS Borg attachments). Not all costumes are also appropriately related between male and female versions, so copying over saved tailor files has always resulted in costume errors between species/genders (acknowledged here because not all players have dabbled with the saved costume feature and know its eccentricities). It's a very minor thing (hence it not getting in the way of the token) and does not equate to "and now you can't use standard FED uniforms on a Tellarite-turned-Andorian." As by the letter of the blog, they SHOULD have costumes available for one on the other and Standard FED had no comparable issues (because they didn't use the alt-start/faction-choice mechanics).

Losing faction-tied costumes is the big bug that was reported just prior to the token being pulled (the token failing to load was a known quantity, and species trait issues resolvable with right clicking residual dud traits), and represents the most severe problem with the feature ATM. Returning alternation tokens is likely contingent on solving it (which could be relatively straight forward, but I worry about characters that are already impacted and whether a blanket fix is feasible without prematurely setting faction status to TOS/ROM characters that haven't made the choice yet. To a broad system sweep, they could look the exact same in these parameters).

captainkc

baddmoonrizin wrote: »

Due to the issues this morning, we've temporarily disabled the ability to purchase or use a Captain Alteration Token. We will return the feature when we have a satisfactory fix for the issues.

https://x.com/trekonlinegame/status/1795530431783125343?t=YAx9vs_qlw1vmcvHx4i3yQ&s=19

Ouch! Thanks for the update for the C.A. token. I wondered why I couldn't find it in the store. Hope it gets fixed.

vorwoda

Personally, while I have no use for this token, one which allowed you to switch a character from 2409 Fed to TOS Fed (for communicator and transporter effects, etc.) is one I would DEFINITELY use!

duncanidaho11

vorwoda wrote: »

Personally, while I have no use for this token, one which allowed you to switch a character from 2409 Fed to TOS Fed (for communicator and transporter effects, etc.) is one I would DEFINITELY use!

I doubt we'll ever see faction tokens, it's a much more fraught concept because so much more depends on those settings. Ex. available missions, map transfer animations, and maps. Something goes wrong and a character is effectively scrap. And enough's happened here that a smooth launch isn't something to reasonably expect. The BIG glitch we've found is getting fixed fast but there's at least a couple other issues that still need addressing. Shift this conversation over to what could have gone wrong with factions and it's a non-starter. I don't think it should ever be attempted for the colossal risk involved (which is absolutely going to impact the potential market, as even here there was a dynamic of "do you want to be a guinea pig in playing with hard coded attributes?"...of a smaller scale. TBH, as a huge fan of the species/gender swap, I couldn't in good conscious recommend a player try a faction token swap if one was ever made available. Even if 95% of it worked without a hitch, that last 5% could be *bad* and not worth trying to change a character over vs. making one from scratch.)

Also there's a giant exploit with no easy solution in bridge officer access. The other factions come with bespoke boffs and allowing players to swap factions would mean carrying your entire crew over as well. Cue having a full FED crew as a KDF and vice versa, also including doffs. Normally a player of these factions can't interact with these officers, so what effect does having them do to a character's roster? Would every boff you own need to be dismissed to avoid bricking them? Would every doff? How would costume unlocks work? Just about every non-lobi (and some lobi) premium costumes are tied to faction. Is that something players are just going to have to give up to make this work? At the very least with costumes, you're constraining the possible market for a faction token because it would have to involve players who've not made major investments in faction-tied aesthetics for a given character (or made equal investment across factions, which is exceedingly unlikely given faction population imbalances).

This system would also require kicking players off whatever map they're occupying on token use, because how NPCs react to players is tied to faction. Put a FED player on Qo'Nos and a blood bath ensues as (because of hard coded attributes) those NPCs count as hostiles to that faction. The alternative is redoing all the NPCs on all faction hubs, which is a huge amount of content design work.

It seems a minor thing just looking at the FED mini factions, but even then swapping around TOS FED breaks open their unique alternate start to other factions and breaks any faction-specific recruitment event objectives by losing what original tutorial arc they had, as well as present new combinations of recruit + faction that the devs never intended (and don't want as that waters down the effect of getting players to create specific new character types). It's not just about the looks. Eg. at some point the devs are going to say no to token swaps, because of the risk and the scale of the changes involved. They still want you to make new characters because that resource draw helps maintain the game's player economies (as you have to consume resources and gear to equip those characters). It's not worth it for something smaller scale like gender/species which are only setting the character's identity (something freely changed in the tailor within those parameters. An existing principle was merely extended, to great effect once this token is fully fixed). But for profession and faction, I don't see those changing any time in the foreseeable future.

michael0525

Is this in game yet? I have scoured the C-store but can't find it...