The new state of the game is up.
Executive Producer Dan Stahl checks in as we prepare to debut Season Two: Ancient Enemies.
Greetings!
Season 2: Ancient Enemies is here, and we have a lot to talk about! Not only are we releasing our second major update to the game, but we are also about to turn the corner on our six month anniversary. So before we get into what the team has been working on for Season Two, lets talk about what weve done with the game in the last six months.
The First Six Months
The release schedule for Star Trek has always been aggressive, and in the first six months after launch the team hasnt showed any signs of slowing down. Since launch, there have been features and tweaks that we (and you) wanted in the game.
Over the course of Season One, we have been delivering regular updates to the game at a breakneck pace. Not only have we delivered these features, but in our regular Engineering Reports, we discussed that we were working on these features and took your feedback into consideration while developing them.
Heres a list of features and updates that we added to the game during our first six months:
* Character Respec
* The Injury System
* The Difficulty Slider
* Squad Leader System
* Special Task Forces
* Off-Duty Outfits
* Accolades
* Borg Mission Hub/Borg and Undine Enemy Groups (Federation and Klingon PvE)
* Klingon PVE Star Clusters
* Klingon PVE Fleet Actions
* Memory Alpha UI Update
* Neutral Social Areas
* New and Updated Fleet Actions
* New and Updated Missions
* Repeatable Mission Improvements
* Updated Commodity Missions
* TOS/MU Uniform Updates
* Klingon Joined Trill
* Auto-fire In Space
* Exchange Improvements
* Fleet Improvements
* Critical Hit Adjustments
* Buying Items In Stacks
* PvP Scoring Updates
* Journal Improvements
* Random Bridge Officers
* New Emotes
* Veteran Rewards
* DPS/Global Cooldown/EPS Revamp
* Fleet Action Updates
* Tons of FX, UI, Powers, Costume and Ship Fixes
* Tons Of Other Bug Fixes
Whats amazing to me is those are just highlights. A quick browse through our Release Notes Archive can give you a complete overview of all the changes the team has made in our first Six months.
Many of the features weve worked on are directly related to your requests and feedback. When we said at launch that we wanted to make this your game, we meant it. We may not have unlimited resources or be able to address every request immediately, but we certainly take note of everything and discuss what you are talking about internally as a team. This game has had a solid heading since launch: deliver the Star Trek MMO that you want to play.
Season Two
That is also why I find Season Two so exciting. It is a further step toward delivering the content and features that youve been asking for.
For example ...
After Season One there was a complaint that while there were a ton of features, there was not much in the way of new content. Our response? Season Two contains new PvE missions across the board and a commitment to provide weekly mission series moving forward.
Another example ...
After we announced that Klingon faction would be primarily PvP at launch, you asked us to change this and add PvE content for the KDF.
Our response? Season One contained PvE Star Clusters, equal access to Borg hub PvE missions and STFs, and PvE Fleet Actions. And in Season Two we'll start delivering the first Klingon-faction-specific PvE episode arcs, with a commitment that when we create weekly series content, that will be playable by all factions.
Those are just two examples out of many where you have had a direct impact on the development of this game. Season Two is filled with additional features and updates that you asked for, and in some cases even helped us design, specifically minigames.
Here are some upcoming features in Season Two:
* New Skillpoint Cap Level up to Vice Admiral/Dahar Master (51).
* New Level 51 Ships New Retrofit versions of fan favorite ships on the Federation side and a new captured Fekihri Battle Carrier for the KDF.
* New Undine Sector And Fleet Action Additional PvE mission option for Admiral level Federation and Klingon players vs. the Undine.
* Klingon PvE Episodes Eight new missions with a unique storyline featuring the Ancient Enemies The Fekihri.
* Klingon Costume Customization Revamp New costume textures, updated options, many new pieces and parts.
* Federation Diplomatic Corps Earn rewards and perks for completing non-combat missions.
* New Non-Combat Missions and First Contacts You asked for missions without combat and we made them. Even more coming!
* Ship Interiors/Sliding Doors Bridges were just the beginning. We will continue to innovate in this area.
* Trading Commissioned Bridge Officers You can now transfer your best officers to your friends in need.
* Minigames (Dabo, Scanner) A direct result of players posting ideas and concepts on the forum.
* Ship Costume Holo-emitters Fun new Dabo rewards allow you to fly ships of another faction.
* Fleet Logos You can now show off your fleet pride.
And that is just the beginning of Season Two. In the coming weeks you are going to see additional updates that continue to show the direction we are heading with the game. You are going to see new ships ,such as the Nebula and Excelsior refits for the Federation, and the VorCha, D7 and Berel refits for the Klingons. Youre going to see new off-duty costumes such as mercenary wear and formal wear. Weve even got some new beasts that will be showing up in missions (all designs based on a poll we recently posted on the forums).
Weekly Series
Im really looking forward to this! Even with everything else in the works, the upcoming Weekly Series has me the most excited. Starting in August, we will be releasing the first in what we hope to be many weekly series. These are small mission arcs focused around a single story, where each week a new episode in the story will become available. Any player at any level will have equal opportunity to play this new content. With new rewards and side missions to go along with these weekly missions, we hope that youll find a compelling reason to log in and check out the latest episode each week.
What About The Next Six Months?
We hear you loud and clear that there are features and designs in the game that need to be revamped, polished and in some cases outright fixed. So in addition to working on some new features that were going to keep mum about for the time being, we are going to be going back through the game as it is now and addressing these issues.
This includes and is not limited to things like ...
* Addressing issues with ground combat.
* Making rewards more interesting.
* Ensuring there are more ship options for both factions.
* Fixing long-standing bugs in powers, ships, missions and PvP.
* Rethinking exploration.
* Making Memory Alpha more useful.
That is just the beginning. You are going to see us start focusing on quality and ensuring that we take the time to make the features in game as awesome as you want them to be. Which leads me to ...
Being The New Executive Producer
It is an honor and a thrill to be in the position where we can work together to make this MMO the ultimate Star Trek game. We have had a great start and improved in many areas. There is so much more we can and need to do. Im very happy with the team we have, and when I look at the plans we have in the works, Im confident that youre going to like where were headed. I have that confidence because I will continue to listen to your feedback and ensure that we are on track to continually improve this game.
Your confidence in me is a boon and I plan to honor that respect. In the words of Bartles and James ... Thank you for your support.
-dStahl
source
Now Post your feed back.
What did you like?
What did you not like?
Comments
For my part, most of that list are things that are overdue so I'm not dancing for joy over here. I also kind of feel like that list has been padded quite a bit with things that are routine, like bug fixes and graphical improvements.
I think if they added detailed scanning and started to tie it into things, I would start getting excited I think.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=170793
So I guess by your huh your confused by what is written.
here download TexTalk: Easy Text-to-Speech it is free, and it should help you understand the words. ( I'm kidding, but it is a fun program )
No further KDF specific PvE missions planned.
Other than that, i liked the rest.
I'm not... I'm asking hard questions the devs will not ask. questions like.
what did you like?
what did you not like?
this is a discussion with a purpose. so what did you like, and not like?
It was a good state of a game, but I don't think it was that good. I think you just get to excited to easily.
What would you rather discuss then Zodi?
I agree that there is a lot more to discuss...
Sorry Dstahl it's an inside joke.
as for what I want to discuss. I just want to see what everyone's opinion on it. in hopes that it will gather in a big thread, and it will be easy for you to get feedback.
I don't understand why we couldn't give our opinions on the SotG in the thread that was started by Rekhan about the SotG. Why create a thread that is essentially redundant?
Thanks for all your work! I'm really excited about all the new stuff coming out with season two!
What I'm looking forward to most is the weekly series, hopefully it will work as discussed in the post. I'm not a huge PvP-er, because I mostly just suck at it, and one thing that really got me before was the seeming lack of real PvE content. I'm really excited about having something to do storywise each week. I'm feeling enthusiastic that it will bring something unique to the game for a lot of PvE centric players.
I think this season is really gonna bring a lot to the game and I can't wait to see all the new features, both at Season 2 and after. Thanks for all the hard work!
-MrFawkes1605
because.... they didn't ask the question. I like starting threads..... don't judge me.
To be honest with you. it seems ( and this is just from what I have seen ) that people are more shy to express their opinion in a dev thread instead of a community member thread. ( not so true for the bold who speak out against the game, and I could be 100% wrong, but this is based on what I have seen during my time here )
I'm not trying to judge you; I'm trying to understand why you felt the need to start a redundant thread. (Which you have answered, and I sincerely thank you for it. No sarcasm or anything; I'm truly thankful that you did answer my question.)
I can see the view that people are more shy to respond to a dev thread, but now they have (at least) two threads with feedback about the SotG they have to keep track of.
the don't judge me was a joke.
I see it as two threads. one that brings the news. ( the dev's thread. ), and mine that asks the questions. ( what do you like or not like? ) Now if the devs added to the end of their thread, " what do you like and not like" then I would be out of a job, and I would be sad. ( but I would not have to make this thread. )
I'm intrigued by the bit near the end that talks about possibly re-thinking exploration.
I'm very happy about diplomacy in season 2. It needs more meat on its bones, but it's a great start to something I've really been looking forward to.
And I can't wait to dig in to the new Klingon missions with my Nausicaan.
Heh, I was hoping it was a joke, but you never know with the interwebz. I just wanted you to know that I did appreciate you answering my question.
I can see that point of view (about the devs not adding "what do you like and not like"); I guess I just think that if they didn't want our opinion on it, they would announce it, and lock the thread.
Anyhoo, I thought it was a good SotG (especially for dstahl's first one). I really am looking forward to the exploration and Memory Alpha improvements (along with the weekly episodes). Also, the B&J quote was pretty cool.
I also like how he described the new ships (especially the Klingon refits, because the Klingons need serious love all around) and off-duty uniforms that will be coming soon. However, I think it's a shame that he didn't mention that they will require C-Store purchase to get. True, he has said that he's trying to get ways for us to acquire C-Store items in-game, but there's no guarantee that the C-Store team will even go for it or not (or when, for that matter). I'll happily admit I am wrong, if that's the case, though.
Overall, I think it was a good SotG, and I'm really looking forward to seeing Season 2 go live (especially after helping test it on Tribble for the last couple weeks). Makes me miss Craig a bit (*sniff sniff* You're still my boy, Zinc!
interesting topic captain quack... you have the floor. state your opinion.
Which on Tribble means ... no one gets to PVP since not enough people queue up.
But on LIVE would mean that when you've got 20 some odd folks on one side and 7 on the other all vying for slots in a 5 vs. 5 ... you get 10 active people.
I think the queueing system will drive me away from PVP. As it creates a longer wait time.
But I think it'll still work a lot smoother Live than it ever did on Tribble this past week.
On one hand we get at least 8 missions, on the other that is not much when compared to all the goodies the Federation got. They even got a new race when they demanded it.
My hope is that Mr stahl will do some serious upgrades for the Klingons in content and goodies, although he accepted a heavy inheritance as the Klingon were nearly totally ignored before.
One wish I had that should be changed is that the Fleet Actions given to us should be come to live finally. They are totally deserted and nobody does them at all (at least I've nobody seen so far
So please doe something that the are played again, if necesarry add the option to change the difficulty downwards, so one can do them. solo.
To be fair, Klingons demanded Joined Trill for their side too. And got it. (I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just saying there is an example of the KDF demanding a specific playable race and getting results).
And I do believe Klingons are getting Kinzi (spelling?) ... the evil cat race ... added to the C-Store as the first unique KDF playable race to be put on the C-Store.
I believe they are called Kzinti, some kind of evil cat people, unlike the Caitians, who are good cat people.
Will both factions ever be able to do missions together? After all the pvp and war games it is possible that certain captains will have a level of respect for each other and wish to call on each other in times of need. All my friends play as feds while I mainly play as a Klingon this makes STF's almost impossible to play without joining a different fleet.
PvP Love. All this PvE content is great but will we ever have more PvP maps (space and ground)?
BOFF missions. Star Trek is not just about the captain. Many episodes are largly about the BOFF's with little to no combat so how about some missions where we get to play as a member of our crew instead of just being an Admiral flying one ship.
Ranks. I know that the level/rank path has been laid out but we seldom see any admirals in the TV/Movies so will we see a readjustment of the ranking structure to make us a captain for longer in the game?