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Bridge Officer Character Arcs: System Proposal

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I'm just consolidating my suggestions on this, which have evolved since the game started.

Hobby: (Dropdown) -- Examples: Archaeology, Antiquities, Baseball, History, Mechanics, Music, Painting. Note: These may influence exploration content, giving you missions skewed towards a BO's skills or interests.

Faction prejudices. -- Examples: Andorian, Human, Klingon, Nausicaan, Orion, Vulcan

Faction sympathies. -- Examples: Andorian, Human, Klingon, Nausicaan, Orion, Vulcan

NOTE: You have a net value of 2 you can select. Every prejudice allows for an extra sympathy. You cannot select the same race for both a prejudice and sympathy.

The above influence AI behavior.

Gender preference. (Checkboxes. Pick Two.) Male or Female

Primary and Secondary Demeanor (Checkboxes. Pick Two.) : (Ambitious, Amorous, Crafty, Cynical, Honorable, Logical, Naive, Parental, Vengeful) -- Each of these would influence a daily mission from each BO, accessible aboard your ship.

An ending: (Betrayal, Death, Promotion, Reassignment, Resignation) -- Each of these would have several random possible missions that end in that result. There could be some rare outcomes with the right combination of other factors such as a BO resigning their commission to marry your Captain.

I think it would be key that once you get offered that BO's "Final Mission", you get a disclaimer saying, "WARNING: Completion of this mission will result in the loss of this bridge officer." You do get a very special reward for completing one of these missions.

You also set these factors for your captain, skewing exploration content towards your captain's traits, building the story around the captain.

These would be set at random for the most part. Each ground mission completed with a BO in an away team awards them an Influence point. Each space mission with a BO manning a station at completion gets one influence point.

You use influence points to modify your BO's character arc. For instance, you may see that a BO who enters service under your command is prejudiced against Vulcans (becomes irrational and dangerous when fighting Vulcan enemies), Vengeful and heading for Death as an outcome. You make a point of serving with them. As you serve together, you are able to reshape them.

Bridge Officers who share a Compatibility with your Captain (same or similar, in the case of gender interest compatible) gain an extra Influence point per completed mission as you have more influence over them.

You can modify your Captain's character arc traits with Badges of Character or use the Badges to purchase more Influence with Bridge crew (1 Badge buys 5 Influence). Badges of Character are awarded for doing the daily character missions issued by your Bridge Officers aboard your ship. Modifying any one character trait would take 20 badges or 200 Influence.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Great stuff - I love the mechanical side being quantified.

    If it helps, you can steal this image from a similar thread I started:

    http://img52.yfrog.com/i/personalquestsideas.jpg/
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Lovely suggestion!

    I play a Betazoid raised by Vulcans and prejudiced against his own species. The sympathy/prejudice values would give me a pretty interesting twist there.

    I also like the idea to link exploration missions to interests, even its just cosmetic (i.e. my hobby is geology so I scan 5 rocks instead of a hobby botanist scanning 5 plants).
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Very cool idea, but take out that "ending" part. You see, if I want my BO to die, I just delete them the old fashioned way. If I want to do a story I would write a story, but I don't want to be constrained to the options a programmer is able to come up with, especially if I want to have multiple bridge officers pursue a similar end.

    But the rest is awesome. Even a dumbed down version of Dragon Age characters would be a welcome addition, and since STO is a real MMO instead of a single player MMO (like Dragon Age is) then you can do much cooler stuff even without the voice acting.

    I'd love to see a bridge officers story grow each day I log in, perhaps its a daily but randomly generated quest (like the ones generated by Genesis) offered by the BO when I go visit the interior of my ship, or perhaps certain conditions must be met, such as having all bridge officers offer a unique quest (based on the background, with some of the bits randomly generated) after each rank up, or after each completion of a Special Task Force.

    Your influence points could even be spent to raise a Bridge Officers Ground Traits, from Basic to Normal to Superior.

    Great post!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    You have my full support
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I love this idea for the most part and would bring the game closer to what I was hoping I would be able to do with it regarding my crew so I can have my final crew reflect the crew I came up with in my own fan fiction.

    image0-9.jpg
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    /signed

    you have my support as well.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Very cool idea, but take out that "ending" part. You see, if I want my BO to die, I just delete them the old fashioned way. If I want to do a story I would write a story, but I don't want to be constrained to the options a programmer is able to come up with, especially if I want to have multiple bridge officers pursue a similar end.

    My idea is that the ending is not mandatory but an option you earn. Why simply dismiss when you can trade them in?

    The idea I probably didn't go into enough detail on either is that you can achieve "Epic Endings" if you properly manicure the BO.

    For instance, maybe they do marry you. Then they don't "go away" per se but simply leave your crew roster and become an NPC in your quarters who applies a buff.

    Or they get offered their own command, in which case you get an item with a long cooldown, with their information stored on it, and you can summon them, say, once a day to show up with their ship and get you out of a tight spot, like the Excelsior did for the Enterprise in the later movies.

    Or maybe their epic ending has them living in the Bajoran wormhole and appearing to you to offer you non-linear wisdom or guidance.

    "Epic Endings" keep them as part of the tapestry of your captain's life.

    And, like I say, endings are optional. You are told that a mission will act as an ending if you accept it. You can simply not accept it. (Ie. "Captain. I want to take revenge on the Klingons. I'm begging you, take me to the neutral zone!" And you can say, "Okay!" and begin the chain or say "Request denied" and either keep them indefinitely or keep manicuring them for a better ending.) PURELY optional. If nothing else, a way you can dismiss longstanding bridge officers without simply getting rid of them... And maybe an encouragement to assign a few BOs you have no intent of keeping, whose storyline you want to burn through.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I'd love to see a bridge officers story grow each day I log in, perhaps its a daily but randomly generated quest (like the ones generated by Genesis) offered by the BO when I go visit the interior of my ship, or perhaps certain conditions must be met, such as having all bridge officers offer a unique quest (based on the background, with some of the bits randomly generated) after each rank up, or after each completion of a Special Task Force.

    Your influence points could even be spent to raise a Bridge Officers Ground Traits, from Basic to Normal to Superior.

    I like that latter bit.

    And let me offer some examples of daily mission types you might see:

    "Captain, I haven't seen my extended family in a long time. I have a distant relative who wants to meet me on <insert homeworld here; starbase for custom aliens or races without an in-game homeworld>. Do you think you could see fit to drop me off there...? I know I'm due for some shore leave."

    - Request accepted or denied. Simple drop off mission. But be careful because there's a variant that is an enemy trap.

    "Captain, I'm developing... feelings for <insert compatible bridge officer here>. I know this may sound silly but I lack the right words for this. I respect your authority, your grasp of how to say the right things at the right time. Strictly as a personal matter, do you think you could help me?"

    - Request accepted or denied. Play a Diplomacy system game with the object of your BO's affection and learn whether the interest is shared. There is also a variant of this where they are interested in you and you play the diplomacy game directly with your BO before coming to an ending where, if it goes well, you both agree that, for professional reasons, any blooming romance will have to wait.

    "Captain. As you may know, I'm something of a student of Archaeology. The former Ambassador to Vulcan published a paper not long ago saying that he believes <random artifact> is on <random planet>. I believe I have narrowed down its location in my research. If the ship will be in that sector, I was wondering if you'd care to join me for some shore leave where we <try to beat the Nausicaans to the site/question the natives/conduct a dig>."

    - Request accepted or denied. Possibility that it is or isn't actually even present. If it isn't, you may find another artifact which your BO gives to you to display in your ready room or an advanced technological artifact that acts as ship equipment.

    "Captain, as a student of history, I'm very interested in the museum exhibit about <culture and time period> on <random planet>. I would like to help catalog their findings and see if I can shed any light on them."

    - Go to a museum, perhaps modeled on the one seen in Voyager's "Living Witness". Catalog artifacts. Possibly repel invasion. If it's the latter, you might be given an artifact by the curator tying into the exhibit. Options include things like phaser pistols, NX-01 era uniforms, model ships, ancient period costumes, themed ship equipment mechanically similar to the Red Matter capacitor or Pet Shuttle, etc.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    ArievDhien wrote:
    Lovely suggestion!

    I play a Betazoid raised by Vulcans and prejudiced against his own species. The sympathy/prejudice values would give me a pretty interesting twist there.

    I also like the idea to link exploration missions to interests, even its just cosmetic (i.e. my hobby is geology so I scan 5 rocks instead of a hobby botanist scanning 5 plants).

    How would you feel if, to a certain extent, some of this was just reflected in some dialogue variables but you knew that most missions would reflect your character.

    Also, to everyone:

    What would you suggest as KDF hobbies?

    Archaeology, Antiquities, History, Mechanics, Music, Painting. These all transcend species limits.

    Baseball might make sense in the KDF seeing as how the final Gorn/Klingon conflict was staged as a baseball game to keep casualties down, as kind of an honor challenge. I just have this feeling that, similar to "Shakespeare in the Original Klingon", Baseball may be the "Gorn National Pastime" in 2409.

    What hobbies would you like to see reflected?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    A bit too complex to be done in its entirety but all good ideas indeed. However this system should not be too restrictive as i have spend many hours deciding my ideal crew (not min maxing but as a concept). ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I wouldn't really seperate hobbies and interests after factions. A lot interests are shared and more depend on the species. There are Bajorans that enjoy their traditional music and there are Klingons doing the same. Maybe they play different cultural instruments, but 'musician' as hobby works for all.

    Artifacts, archaeology, geology... A Nausicaan pirate may not see that as a 'hobby', but could be an expert in these fields because he has a lot experience in stealing and selling them. So he wouldn't ask the captain to visit a museum for recreation, but to break in. Its just a different angle to look at an artifact. (My rp character I can't have here due to a lack of female Nausicaans is a pirate specialized in stealing religious artifacts. ;))

    Botany. While your Vulcan BO is interested in searching a <random planet> for a rare orchid for his collection, an Orion might be interested in the value of a plant because it can be used to create a potion or perfume or other rare trading good. (My rp character above has a Orion crewman specialized in mixing poison and making explosives from various natural substances.)

    Alien technology. Your Fed BO might be a student of an alien culture and wants to dig for remains of their technology for purely scientific reasons. A KDF BO could be a tinkerer who wouldn't put the stuff in a museum but try to create a new trap or ship device. (My rp crewman is Klingon and specalized in creating traps of all sorts, using technology of other species for wrong ion trails, faked communication codes and such.)

    The BO missions wouldn't have to be based on different interests or hobbies, they'd just take a different look at the same things.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Agreed and signed/
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I would like to see the "Final Mission" not be a get killed mission, but one that promotes them to an PC and you can use their current rank and traits as a starting point. So using this method you could have PC with a couple superior traits, that would not be available at start, also you could start out as a higher level.

    I could see this either as a entirely new slot, or one that replaces the current captain, with all belonging transferring to the new BO based Captain.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    The option to 'switch places' with the BO as final mission is pretty interesting. In the end, you retire and stay on board as an advisor (maybe one of your abilities stays available) and your first officer BO becomes your playable character (starting as Commander 11, so your first 'mission' is the ceremony to become captain).

    That would add something to do for RAs, and many people build crews with a back story, so it would be a great roleplay option.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    These are all awesome options.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    /signage :p
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I would like to see the "Final Mission" not be a get killed mission, but one that promotes them to an PC and you can use their current rank and traits as a starting point. So using this method you could have PC with a couple superior traits, that would not be available at start, also you could start out as a higher level.

    I could see this either as a entirely new slot, or one that replaces the current captain, with all belonging transferring to the new BO based Captain.

    Fair enough, I suppose, but I think the manicuring aspect gives it a story driven element.

    The idea is, your crew may not all be on the right path. You can work to get them there. If you want to ignore the system, don't do it. Just play like you're playing now and the only thing you'll see will be the occassional exploration mission influenced by it. Of course, if you play like you do now, you will get Influence points to spend on BOs to make them how you want to be.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    ArievDhien wrote:
    The option to 'switch places' with the BO as final mission is pretty interesting. In the end, you retire and stay on board as an advisor (maybe one of your abilities stays available) and your first officer BO becomes your playable character (starting as Commander 11, so your first 'mission' is the ceremony to become captain).

    That would add something to do for RAs, and many people build crews with a back story, so it would be a great roleplay option.

    Switching places seems problematic in some ways. But it does tie into my idea for the "Spin Off" Ssystem. The idea being, frankly, that few people want to relevel. You can verify this in the Captain's Database. But the ability to turn a BO into a separate character on your account has been something I've asked for since launch.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I miss the point in turning a BO into a new character. If I want my BO to be my captain and start all over, I can simply save the outfit and make a new toon. My suggestion was more that you save some leveling time by turning the BO into a commander 11 character.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    ArievDhien wrote:
    I miss the point in turning a BO into a new character. If I want my BO to be my captain and start all over, I can simply save the outfit and make a new toon. My suggestion was more that you save some leveling time by turning the BO into a commander 11 character.

    That's what I'm suggesting...

    They spin off into a new character who keeps their present rank.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I like the spin off idea. If only STO had holodecks so we can record our missions so we can replay them as episodes.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    The thing with spin-offs is, you could even design them so that they take as much work as hitting Commander 11 (or Commander 1).

    The advantage is that the chain/process would create a lot of endgame solo content and an alternate leveling path AT THE SAME TIME. An alternate leveling path does nothing for endgame. Endgame content does little for altaholics.

    But endgame content that unlocks a mid level alt? Two birds. One stone.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    ^ Well if Cryptic keeps adding more sandbox features like interiors and even starbases or colonies further down the line, all of that will add up to a heck of a lot of endgame content, not even counting the more missions I'm sure the team is sure to keep cooking up...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    That's what I'm suggesting...

    They spin off into a new character who keeps their present rank.
    Also would give them some traits not available tho non-BO based characters. Such as Superior Cold Dwelling.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Also would give them some traits not available tho non-BO based characters. Such as Superior Cold Dwelling.

    Those could be set to convert to standard traits if necessary. The weirdest side effect is it would allow a Klingon/Ferengi/Pakled Captain to people who haven't bought one in the C-Store and maybe a Borg female for Amazon customers.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I'd also like to see something where a set of missions that involve your BOs will impact their background.
    Depending on how you progress through a given mission might impact the selection of a specific criteria

    Stuff like an episode where a crew member is possessed by an alien (how many times did that happen in ST!) or a crew member is controlled, blackmailed, kidnapped, imprisoned or otherwise in need of rescue...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Nack wrote:
    I'd also like to see something where a set of missions that involve your BOs will impact their background.
    Depending on how you progress through a given mission might impact the selection of a specific criteria

    Stuff like an episode where a crew member is possessed by an alien (how many times did that happen in ST!) or a crew member is controlled, blackmailed, kidnapped, imprisoned or otherwise in need of rescue...

    Very cool. I was going out of my way to keep the idea both simple and something that would only minimally conflict with any roleplay/fanfic backgrounds people choose to give their BOs, unless they gave people really exotic backgrounds with ties to canon characters -- which is pretty universally scoffed at among serious roleplayers anyway and rarely supported by RPG companies.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    I'm just consolidating my suggestions on this, which have evolved since the game started.

    Hobby: (Dropdown) -- Examples: Archaeology, Antiquities, Baseball, History, Mechanics, Music, Painting. Note: These may influence exploration content, giving you missions skewed towards a BO's skills or interests.

    Faction prejudices. -- Examples: Andorian, Human, Klingon, Nausicaan, Orion, Vulcan

    Faction sympathies. -- Examples: Andorian, Human, Klingon, Nausicaan, Orion, Vulcan

    NOTE: You have a net value of 2 you can select. Every prejudice allows for an extra sympathy. You cannot select the same race for both a prejudice and sympathy.

    The above influence AI behavior.

    Gender preference. (Checkboxes. Pick Two.) Male or Female

    Primary and Secondary Demeanor (Checkboxes. Pick Two.) : (Ambitious, Amorous, Crafty, Cynical, Honorable, Logical, Naive, Parental, Vengeful) -- Each of these would influence a daily mission from each BO, accessible aboard your ship.

    An ending: (Betrayal, Death, Promotion, Reassignment, Resignation) -- Each of these would have several random possible missions that end in that result. There could be some rare outcomes with the right combination of other factors such as a BO resigning their commission to marry your Captain.

    I think it would be key that once you get offered that BO's "Final Mission", you get a disclaimer saying, "WARNING: Completion of this mission will result in the loss of this bridge officer." You do get a very special reward for completing one of these missions.

    You also set these factors for your captain, skewing exploration content towards your captain's traits, building the story around the captain.

    These would be set at random for the most part. Each ground mission completed with a BO in an away team awards them an Influence point. Each space mission with a BO manning a station at completion gets one influence point.

    You use influence points to modify your BO's character arc. For instance, you may see that a BO who enters service under your command is prejudiced against Vulcans (becomes irrational and dangerous when fighting Vulcan enemies), Vengeful and heading for Death as an outcome. You make a point of serving with them. As you serve together, you are able to reshape them.

    Bridge Officers who share a Compatibility with your Captain (same or similar, in the case of gender interest compatible) gain an extra Influence point per completed mission as you have more influence over them.

    You can modify your Captain's character arc traits with Badges of Character or use the Badges to purchase more Influence with Bridge crew (1 Badge buys 5 Influence). Badges of Character are awarded for doing the daily character missions issued by your Bridge Officers aboard your ship. Modifying any one character trait would take 20 badges or 200 Influence.

    one thing that is just thought of is "Spock/McCoy moments" - this would be randomly-generated text that appears between characters where the discuss differences or similarities. this should not happen in every mission, but should be frequent and dynamic enough that you truly feel that the bo's are growing as a character. An added bonus would be if npc's at starbases asked about them because the either went to academy or served with them in the past.....just random text, but this would add a new level of immersion for some....

    now in a year or two, these moments may be expanded on to the point that we, as captain may have to make a decision favoring one of the bo's which affects how a given mission progresses...or affects their viewpoint of your captain.....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Nack wrote:
    I'd also like to see something where a set of missions that involve your BOs will impact their background.
    Depending on how you progress through a given mission might impact the selection of a specific criteria

    Stuff like an episode where a crew member is possessed by an alien (how many times did that happen in ST!) or a crew member is controlled, blackmailed, kidnapped, imprisoned or otherwise in need of rescue...
    Very cool. I was going out of my way to keep the idea both simple and something that would only minimally conflict with any roleplay/fanfic backgrounds people choose to give their BOs, unless they gave people really exotic backgrounds with ties to canon characters -- which is pretty universally scoffed at among serious roleplayers anyway and rarely supported by RPG companies.

    So are you saying this would just be a "configuration" screen like the sliders and checkboxes we have for bodies and uniforms?

    But that your selections would influence missions that are presented to you.
    That is good, but it would seem to me to be a missed opportunity for story telling.
    If you think my idea is cool, lets build on it.

    Perhaps as a role-player you prefer to set the attributes manually... as you build your characters look & feel manually. However, if you dont set it and want to let the system pick at random and see what kind of adventure you get then maybe you should have specific "character building" missions (excuse the pun).

    I would love to see something like this tied to your "new recruits". Say you get a "new officer" mission, but instead of a simple click-through mission to complete you actually have to go on a mission to acquire that new officer, then either as part of that initial mission you setup these options, or some part of your progress through the mission determines it.

    Sorry for not sticking with "simplistic" -- I'm always aiming for immersive and complete.


    Finally, I think this is a great way to include some aspects of the diplomacy that is being discussed in other threads. You could setup this personality profile for both yourself (captain) and your BOs. Specific traits may have an influence on how your BOs (or Captain) react, or are perceived during diplomatic negotiations.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited April 2010
    Really like all of this with the exception of the "Final Mission" part. Don't think I could part with any of mine, hahaha.
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