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You've seen racials, traits, skills -- Howabout Behaviorals?
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Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
I brought up the core idea in a thread about Double XP for Klingons that if Cryptic is wary about flat out granting it, they should perhaps look at bonuses for Klingon behavior.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3614494&postcount=28
My new, simple version of the idea is:
Klingons get an XP buff called "Honor of the Empire." They lose a stack of the buff for doing certain things like dealing flanking damage or engaging combat cloak. They can get it back or gain an extra stack by doing thematically Klingon things like doing a death yell over a dead body or killing an enemy with a bat'leth.
It gives Klingons what they lack the most in exchange for being more Klingon. One nutty thought is you might also see store prices impacted by the buff or missions or duty assignments which are available based on how many stacks of the buff you have available..
You could give each faction a signature behavioral like this. Feds don't need the extra XP relative to Klingons. But maybe they could have a 5 stack buff which grants them diplomatic XP upon mission completion, 1 point per stack, up to 5 stacks. Call it "Peace Officer" or something. A stack gets removed for every exploit kill, or dealing first damage to an enemy, or killing a target not required by the mission... and then gets added for winning the anomaly minigame or completing some dialogue puzzles in the most successful way.
It would make the same content FEEL more different by faction, by adjusting your gameplay and act as a kind of realtime fluctuating reputation system.
I'm just suggesting it as a 5 stack system for simplicity's sake but you could make it a 25 stack system to really emphasize faction specific gameplay, if there are enough provisions and special accompanying thematic abilities put into place.
You could still traipse over your faction's rules, as-is, and you'd probably feel more priveleged to do so at higher ranks or endgame (which makes some sense thematically) but it could bring about a whole level of immersion and faction distinctiveness to incentivize realtime thematic behavior.
http://forums.startrekonline.com/showpost.php?p=3614494&postcount=28
My new, simple version of the idea is:
Klingons get an XP buff called "Honor of the Empire." They lose a stack of the buff for doing certain things like dealing flanking damage or engaging combat cloak. They can get it back or gain an extra stack by doing thematically Klingon things like doing a death yell over a dead body or killing an enemy with a bat'leth.
It gives Klingons what they lack the most in exchange for being more Klingon. One nutty thought is you might also see store prices impacted by the buff or missions or duty assignments which are available based on how many stacks of the buff you have available..
You could give each faction a signature behavioral like this. Feds don't need the extra XP relative to Klingons. But maybe they could have a 5 stack buff which grants them diplomatic XP upon mission completion, 1 point per stack, up to 5 stacks. Call it "Peace Officer" or something. A stack gets removed for every exploit kill, or dealing first damage to an enemy, or killing a target not required by the mission... and then gets added for winning the anomaly minigame or completing some dialogue puzzles in the most successful way.
It would make the same content FEEL more different by faction, by adjusting your gameplay and act as a kind of realtime fluctuating reputation system.
I'm just suggesting it as a 5 stack system for simplicity's sake but you could make it a 25 stack system to really emphasize faction specific gameplay, if there are enough provisions and special accompanying thematic abilities put into place.
You could still traipse over your faction's rules, as-is, and you'd probably feel more priveleged to do so at higher ranks or endgame (which makes some sense thematically) but it could bring about a whole level of immersion and faction distinctiveness to incentivize realtime thematic behavior.
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Cons: KDF races come in many forms so it would be a lot of work just for a Klingon toon. The Gorn are basically indentured servants at the moment and I am sure their bevavural characteristics are quit different. My Nausican is a pirate at heart and thinks Klingon honor is child-like.
If you're a part of the KDF, you'll be held to Klingon standards, even if you're an Orion. If you're a part of the Federation, you'll be held to Federation standards, even if you're a Klingon or Ferengi.
However, down the road, you could always develop more wrinkles or cheats like individual species behaviorals or the option for, say, an Orion to buy some honor from a publicist or a Ferengi to pass some latinum for reputation.
This isn't really about that, though, so much as it's about the military organization your character is a part of and reinforcing those values through a stacking incentive buff that encourages certain kinds of IP-true gameplay.
The idea itself is good but the KDF is full of self serving forces.
Orions, Nausicaans, etc. are all subjects of J'mpok and subject to Klingon societal rules as members of the Klingon military.
I add that to illustrate that some characters would not conform. I'm just splitting hairs, the idea is cool.
That's a cool story but I bet game mechanics don't really do a lot to honor that.
I mean, not everybody roleplays a fresh Academy graduate Federation side and we can make old characters or wear old uniforms but, game mechanics-wise, we start as ensigns and help at the Vega colony, regardless of whether that actually happens in everyone's personal lore.
I think you could absolutely ignore such a system if it's in your character to do so... and by sheer chance, you'd be better off than you are now. It's not even in the same ballpark as people who roleplay Rangers in WoW and therefore have a hunter with no tamed pet.
And flanking enemies is just a worthwhile combat strategy, after all Victory is what counts.
Klingon honor has nothing to do with being an idiot, not using opportunities or any human notion of honor itself.
Everything you do in the game, regardless of faction, is supposed to be "right". A mechanic that rewards you for doing what you´re going to do anyway doesn´t make that much sense. That´s what drops and mission rewards etc. are for.
But why would a Klingon, a thorough bred Warrior not use those skills he has and constantly attack the (in space at least) strongest arc of his target? And on the ground they'd be at an actual disadvantage due to the loss of the flanking bonus, which can be a significant damage buff if you can get behind your target.
Likewise the Battle Cloak, why would you not use something which you have access to, and have paid a dear price for in Shield and Hull HP just to maintain an XP buff?
Although I could see this working if the buff was maintained by doing certain thematically accurate things(like Klingons using a Bat'leth in battle etc), to link the buff to something as ingrained to the KDF as battle cloak, and for all ground combat in STO as flank shots just seems like it's punishing the KDF for wanting to win whatever battle it's engaged in.
It also doesn't fit from an immersion standpoint. I'm far from a Klingon fan but I just couldn't see these quadrant renowned Warriors allowing themselves to be mauled on a regular basis because they refused to flank their enemies. Especially when those enemies are competent ground combatants themselves, such as the Romulans, Federation or Cardassians.
~ Julius Caesar ~
As for the feds it wasn't much different some may play by certain rules but not all. I guess my point is why introduce a game mechanic that slaps your hand if you dont play a certain way. It will aggravated rps that have toons that they dont want to play in that way. For me I just see it as more hoops to jump though and that next limit on how I can play the game. you wana play the game your way ok but I'm going to constantly poking you in the tummy and saying no bad.
KDF get a number of 'freebie' non-story missions that they can complete in the course of doing other missions. For example, the 'Turret Killer' mission where you kill 'X' number of turrets and get a reward.
Now I'm sure it would require some back end system to track other kinds of activities and then those activities would need to be built into existing missions somehow, possibly as optional objectives.
Let's say the repeatable mission is "Complete 'Path of the Warrior' 5 times". Or something like that.
When this mission is complete, you can turn it in for rewards which could include a 4 hour Skill Point Boost, or a 4 hour Honor Boost, or something of that nature.
Assume that KDF forces could, instead of a Bridge Officer, put a generic Klingon warrior on their away team.
Then assume that if this warrior dies, you had the option of not resuscitating him for the remainder of the mission. Call this option "Perform Klingon Death Ritual".
Finally, assume that performing said ritual causes you to gain a combat and experience buff until the ground mission is completed, recognizing your prowess in battle by completing a mission without a full away team.
For the truly hardcore, assume that you could fill your whole away team with these non-Bridge-Officers and get a stacking combat and experience buff for every one of them that you perform the Klingon Death Ritual on.
and they don't. if you watch the series they have absolutley NO compunction against ujseing a cloaking device in battle, attacking from behind etc.
the Klingons are warriors but they're not STUPID
Cloaking, hitting and re-cloaking, there is nothing that is "Dishonorable" about such actions. :rolleyes:
Is it a penalty if nothing changes but you get perks for doing something different?
It is when your trying to suggest that there should be a penalty for using battle tactics that you claim are suggested as being Dishonorable.
What is so dishonorable about Hit and Run tactics from a Bird of Prey?
What about Retreating from a losing battle?
Or is it only dishonorable to the Federation? :rolleyes:
However Ground missions would take ages..just using primary fire to avoid exploits or making sure you only fire on their front
Also many times an npc turns and you would accidentally flank fire them
For those reasons I cant see it working
But for using Tactics in combat, that honestly feels like your then penalizing people for maybe the wrong reasons.
I never said they were. I was asking why the OP why the KDF should be given a buff for going against what they are, and not using all the tools at their disposal.
yes I know I was agreeing and reinforceing the point.
But if the perks are merely symbolic, what's the point? When it comes to any combat in game, whether it be VA level space PvP or LT level ground PvE the choice between a strategy that works and a symbolic perk is a no brainer. By not using any flank attacks, exposes or in Space a Cloak you're likely to get yourself killed for no return. That XP buff might be nice, but if you're sat looking at the respawn timer all the time you aren't earning any XP to buff.
As individual character traits, however, things could get more interesting - but then that opens a whole other balancing act for Cryptic.
Have you played on Tribble? Ground combat is still pretty fast just using primary fire there.
As for Klingons battle cloak, it seems I touched on a PvP thread.
I don't really care what the specifics are. I suggested Battle Cloak because it seemed like running from a fight to regroup. You wouldn't be reduced down to zero for doing that, just have one stack removed. The whole point is that the bonus would constantly fluctuate based on your honor at any given second, like realtime crowd polling as opposed to a reputation system. It's not like you would end the fight with no honor buffs for doing that but you would see your buffs dip when you run away, for example, and shoot back up when you regroup and kill the enemy.
I'm not married to any of the specific details or whether or not it is tied to Battle Cloak specifically.
The idea, however, is that is starts to dip anytime you do anything that looks like treachery or running away and shoots easily right back up whenever you turn around and use that strategic move for honor or valor or the good of your team.
This kind of realtime response gets used in opinion polling of public figures in the U.S. a lot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z-SiHfHK7M
I'm suggesting there be a buff not based on your intent or what is strategically most sound but which fluctuates based on how IP-appropriate your actions look at any given moment. So it improves for doing a Klingon Death Yell over a dead body or beating someone up with melee attacks and taking on big, bad enemies face-to-face, forgoing strategic advantages as a Klingon. Meanwhile, you'd forego different strategic advantages Fed-side, including, y'know, confining casualties to necessary targets and not disintegrating people.
The whole point is putting a wedge between brutally efficient play and thematic play with thematic rewards.
To that end, I'd be fine with it being turned off altogether in PvP if that's what's fueling some of these concerns. The point is for people to posture more and minmax less.
It could be kicked back in by doing abilities that trigger appropriate emotes, like a death yell. The whole point is to encourage posturing over brutal optimization.
Games and MMOs in particular tend to encourage what gets the job done first and foremost, which is NOT Trek. When somebody does that in Trek, there are emotional consequences, an acknowledgement that you've compromised something to achieve an end, like DS9's "In the Pale Moonlight."
I'm suggesting, in subtle ways, to create a tension between effective gameplay and ethical behavior within your respective military organization.