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For the silvertongued phaser wielders among us...

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Last night I found a diplomatic mission on Tribble. The mission had me deal with two foreign diplomats, and it was up to me to bring them back to the negotiation table to conclude a trade-deal. During the mission, I had to investigate and poke into some personal records to gain some leverage on one of the diplomats and bring him to see things the "right" way.

I was quite impressed that the mission presented me with several options on how to proceed, however, it got me thinking, what if among all the diplomatic options, I could offer that diplomat my services as a Soldier, all for the good of the UFP, of course... ;)

The idea is very simple really, what if to gain favors with one side or another, we could ask the NPC's involved if there was some favor they needed, for example taking out a band of pirates or accompanying a shipment of Romulan Ale from point-A to point-B while protecting it from Orion Raiders?

Essentially, choosing this option will open up a sub-mission that will bring us no l00t for dispatching enemies, but may bring us extra reward as the mission-designer sees fit. These extra missions should probably be hidden in the overall diplomatic mission so that to trigger them, we'd have to actually know about their existence, i.e. be diplomatic and engage the NPC in thorough conversation and pay attention to details.

What I'd actually like to see, is such sub-missions randomized by the game just like Star Cluster Exploration works, so essentially each player may get a completely different sub-mission instead of a pre-scripted one.

Another important rule is that these sub-missions aren't there to add extra-special rewards and l00t, but just for the purpose of allowing us to choose how we play through the diplomatic missions.

After all Picard may want to sit through a lecture by a foreign dignitary for the purpose of securing unique Entertainment Provisions which are sought after another foreign dignitary to proceed in a peace-treaty, while Kirk (or even Riker) would simply get to the point and ask the first foreign dignitary about the trouble they had with Orions raiding their shipments of Romulan Ale and offer to take of the problem. ;)

TL;DR: Let us decide how diplomatic we are, even if we are on a diplomatic mission.

Thoughts, comments, flames? The stage is yours...
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I dont have anything productive to add...

    but cool idea.

    .:)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I fully support any measure to have subplots and mission twists that reveal potential subsequent missions.

    I'm not too keen on offering my services as a soldier, but change the wording to "as a good faith effort, I'll escort your vessels to ensure their safety" and I'll go for that.

    I hope they refine the current Genesis mission generator to do this.

    PS: I know it's not Trek in any way shape or form. But for potential diplomatic encounters with Klinks and Roms, I would like to be able to vaporize them with my officers' sniper rifles and mow their men down with my full auto heavy phaser cannons at any point of the negotiations :D

    "Jim, they're dying..."

    "LET them DIE!"

    -spock and kirk, ST6
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Im not totally opposed to the suggestion but I think we have enough random missions to keep us occupied on that front and diplomacy is a much needed change of pace.

    Im looking forward to a completely different style of gameplay where you use your brain instead of your weapons. When that gets tiresome you can go run other types of missions or pvp a bit.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    +1 for another good idea from Bunny.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    OR becoming said pirate, in order to not draw the UFP into the dispute etc
    mwa ha haaaa
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I agree completely.

    Adding more options is the way to go imho.

    Perhaps an option for saying the "wrong thing." Klingons can sometimes be trigger happy - after all. Peace or no peace - the desire to destroy Kirk for instance.

    I like the idea, it offer much more immersion, imho.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Lightw8 wrote: »
    Im not totally opposed to the suggestion but I think we have enough random missions to keep us occupied on that front and diplomacy is a much needed change of pace.

    Im looking forward to a completely different style of gameplay where you use your brain instead of your weapons. When that gets tiresome you can go run other types of missions or pvp a bit.
    Not that diplomacy isn't needed to offer a change of pace, however, suggesting that diplomacy is only about talking and pleasantly discussing things is doing diplomacy a disservice, in my opinion. In essence, I suggest that the option for us to research and investigate diplomatic-NPC's would be available to us, just as in the mission I've done on Tribble last night, however, some options may lead us into combat so that we have the choice of advancing the diplomatic mission by talking, fighting, or any combination of the two.

    The more choices, the better, I usually say... ;)
    OR becoming said pirate, in order to not draw the UFP into the dispute etc
    mwa ha haaaa
    An awesome idea for a Section 31 roleplayer! :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Interesting idea. I think I like it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    An awesome idea for a Section 31 roleplayer!

    Thats what Im saying lol... I wanna do grey things... going grey, maybe even becoming an enemy if I do the wrong thing. ALWAYS having to follow ONE track in MMOs bothers me. Like at least in WoW, you can get faction with the pirate guys and the guys in the town in the south... cant remember the name... Gadget or Booty Bay or something, hate you and try to kill you lol. Id like to see SOME MMO where you could change sides or even go on your own.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    ...ALWAYS having to follow ONE track in MMOs bothers me...
    Same here, but progress in this can only be accomplished slowly and without rocking the boat... baby steps. ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Next faction.... In between!!! mwa haa haaa
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=163824

    I brought up the idea of a rogue faction but it met with mixed results lol
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    whatever path you choose could gain(or lose) faction standing or racial...whatever.
    (could even gain the trust of a race so much that they give you one of thier ships to fly... that would be a great reward for grinding faction)

    bee cool if decisions you make affect how others respond to you....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Lightw8 wrote: »
    I brought up the idea of a rogue faction but it met with mixed results lol
    I'd call that poetic justice, you wanted in-between and gray and you got just that ;)
    ...be cool if decisions you make affect how others respond to you....
    Agreed, it's about time somebody added some (more) RPG into our MMORPG's ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Ok, it sounds like a good idea, but it sounds, again, too much like Mass Effect-STO. As interesting as it sounds, it would seem like this could just rapidly degenerate into the same kind of generic mess that the star cluster missions are: i.e. same exact mission, different dressing every time. I'm not programmer, but I can imagine that the development logistics of having a mission start at one place, send you to another place, then back to the original place, might just be too prohibitive and might divert developer resources from working on other funner, more needed game assets.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    emmaf12 wrote: »
    Ok, it sounds like a good idea, but it sounds, again, too much like Mass Effect-STO. As interesting as it sounds, it would seem like this could just rapidly degenerate into the same kind of generic mess that the star cluster missions are: i.e. same exact mission, different dressing every time. I'm not programmer, but I can imagine that the development logistics of having a mission start at one place, send you to another place, then back to the original place, might just be too prohibitive and might divert developer resources from working on other funner, more needed game assets.

    Theres SUPPOSED to be a reason behind the RPG part of MMORPG, and its not supposed to be made up by the player base, its supposed to be provided by the game.
    Yes, it would be mass effecty, but thats because thats a good RPG system.
    MMOs by contrast, usually arent, especially when the RP community is looked down upon for doing it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    emmaf12 wrote: »
    ...I'm not programmer, but I can imagine that the development logistics of having a mission start at one place, send you to another place, then back to the original place, might just be too prohibitive and might divert developer resources from working on other funner, more needed game assets.
    The development logistics should not be more cumbersome than putting a flag in the diplomatic mission that halts its progress once you choose to undertake the more combat-oriented sub-mission. The sub-mission itself would probably be carried out in an adjacent star system, or star-cluster, but this should be any different than any of the other Patrol missions.

    In essence, the Diplomatic mission would — for all intents and purposes — become a one-system patrol, while the sub-mission could be something like a Secure System, Anomaly Scan or whatever else the designer chose to explicitly specify or has decided to include in a list of mission templates that STO can randomly select for us.

    I think the technology for all this is already in place, but that's of course something dStahl can confirm, deny or ignore. ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Me like idea :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I like the concept but the entire point of these diplomatic missions was to open up non combat for those of us who wants it. Sticking combat back into the equation would be rather counter productive. I like the idea of being given subplots and perhaps some. . .underhanded. . .diplomacy.

    ~D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Noncombat for those that want noncombatg should be good, but dont take away MY combat that I LIKE. Do both. Give combat options AND noncombat options.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Combat options would be the entire rest of the game. . .
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    So the combat people become second class citizens to the diplomacy people is what you are saying. Rather than compromise, "give me what I want, you dont have to play it?"
    How VERY diplomatic of you.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Ashter wrote: »
    Combat options would be the entire rest of the game. . .
    And what's wrong in offering people an actual choice in how they want to mix and match the game's experience to their personal taste, by lets say... allowing us to discover that even a diplomatic mission can be accomplished by applying force in a precise and measured way so as to give us diplomatic leverage over our opponent?

    Or on the other hand, what's wrong with allowing us to talk-down some threats instead of merely blowing them up on first sight? STAR TREK wasn't always about the pew-pew or hour-long dialogs, its best episodes, in my opinion, were always a satisfying mixture of both!
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    I, too, think this is a great idea. Sub-missions across the board would be neat, especially "carry this from here to there" (maybe with time limits?) and such.

    Caymen
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    the OP's got a nice idea, but it defeats the purpose of diplomacy, if you choose one side over the other by providing some sort of "outside" assistance. what if the side that does need something, and it turns out that they're conspiring with said orions for a piece of the action on profits from all that rom ale being hijacked? where's the integrity of the UFP/Starfleet then?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Krenn wrote: »
    where's the integrity of the UFP/Starfleet then?
    If you perceive diplomacy as having integrity or even honesty, you live in a different world than I do, but also you've probably watched a different STAR TREK than I ever did. What do you think about all those STAR TREK movies and episodes where the TNG/TOS crews were fighting against Starfleet Officers who seemingly sought to benefit the Federation as an end-goal but committed immoral acts which stood against everything UFP was about?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    LordOfPit wrote: »
    If you perceive diplomacy as having integrity or even honesty, you live in a different world than I do, but also you've probably watched a different STAR TREK than I ever did. What do you think about all those STAR TREK movies and episodes where the TNG/TOS crews were fighting against Starfleet Officers who seemingly sought to benefit the Federation as an end-goal but committed immoral acts which stood against everything UFP was about?

    Section... whatever thew name was comes to mind, the Marquis, well that whole conflict...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited July 2010
    Section... whatever thew name was comes to mind, the Marquis, well that whole conflict...
    Section 31? :)

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