New "Captain's Log" Posted - 7/9

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

Terilynn Shull wrote:

Well, it's about time. Ask most Trekkies who their favorite franchise bad guys are and most will respond with answers like the Romulans, the Borg, or maybe even Q or the Klingons. Rarely will someone respond with the Tholians, but I will.

They have been my favorite Star Trek nemeses since I read the official Star Trek novels set in the Original Series era called Vanguard. Written by veteran Star Trek novelists David Mack, Dayton Ward, Kevin Dilmore, and Marco Palmieri, the seven-book series revolves around a secret lab set on a starbase built in the far-flung reaches of space just as Kirk and gang begin their heralded five-year mission. The Tholians play important roles in the books, and I've been salivating at the thought of having them in Star Trek Online ever since I heard they were being worked on. And now they're here!

Join me after the jump to learn more about what you can expect from an encounter with these very toasty arachnids.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/09/captain-s-log-tholians-come-to-sto-and-cryptic-s-cryptic-answer/

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

Terilynn Shull wrote:

However, it was this particular question that piqued my interest and that of other players:

aegon1ice: Obviously Season 7 will be all about Story. Can we at least expect to see a Romulan faction in Season 8?

Dstahl: Who says a Romulan faction can't be all about story?

As you can all imagine, many of us visually tripped over his answer, leading many to wonder whether or not Romulans might actually be revealed as a new faction for Season Seven. It could also just be Stahl's extremely dry sense of humor airing itself; he could just be commenting on the question's assumption that a new faction (at any time) will lack story.

I hate when I feel like I'm being played, especially for a fool. So I will simply let it lie there. I've heard wolf cried a lot lately, and I'm tired of looking out the window to catch a glimpse. If it does happen and the Romulans finally get their faction, I will be the first in line to make a new character.

Personally, I think that answer was completely ridiculous. Dan knows full well that the Rom faciton is something many people have been eagerly anticipating for a very long time, so unless they really plan on putting them in in S7, why torment people with an answer like that?

ccarmichael07 · July 2012

Ahhhh Vanguard.

Such a great book series, and yes, does a good job of expanding on the Tholians, where the various series kind of dropped the ball.

You know of course, having Tholians around is REALLY gonna make me wish for a TOS era server as so many people have suggested for a very long time.

Tholians after TOS, just seem so...out of place.

psiameese · July 2012

Terilynn Shull wrote:

It wasn't until Star Trek Enterprise's multi-part episode Mirror, Mirror...

Typo, Terilynn! It was In a Mirror, Darkly.

crypticarmsman · July 2012

I see she didn't mention the interior cave missions on the Nukara invasion world - (and no I'm not talking about the Project Leader kill mission - if you go down a ramp to the right of where you first beam down - there's a cave you can zon into tht has even more missions (and a nicely done Tholian detention facility with prisoners to free and interact with; a ship top destry, etc.); and I think those are more interesting then a lot of the open surface missions.

commadorebob · July 2012

th3gr4ndnagu5 wrote: »

Personally, I think that answer was completely ridiculous. Dan knows full well that the Rom faciton is something many people have been eagerly anticipating for a very long time, so unless they really plan on putting them in in S7, why torment people with an answer like that?

I wouldn't read too much into it. He is merely acknowledging a Romulan faction will not be able to be shoehorned in. I still don't think it'll happen until after the Klingon faction is fleshed out so they are a full faction.

leviathan99 · July 2012

commadorebob wrote: »

I wouldn't read too much into it. He is merely acknowledging a Romulan faction will not be able to be shoehorned in. I still don't think it'll happen until after the Klingon faction is fleshed out so they are a full faction.

Maybe you should submit an "Ask cryptic" where you ask if they consider Klingons a "full faction" for those purposes now.

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

commadorebob wrote: »

I wouldn't read too much into it. He is merely acknowledging a Romulan faction will not be able to be shoehorned in. I still don't think it'll happen until after the Klingon faction is fleshed out so they are a full faction.

Dont worry, I'm not reading anything into it. I think there is absolutely no possibility of a Rom faction in S7. I just wonder why Dan would make that kind of backhanded hint that it could be.

sovereignman · July 2012

Because it'll happen. When it happens.

Until then. Have an EV suit.

amosov78 · July 2012

"The Tholians will be the first characters in STO who aren't humanoid."

Poor Undine, no one loves you. Or the Horta, that goes double for you!

commadorebob · July 2012

amosov78 wrote: »

"The Tholians will be the first characters in STO who aren't humanoid."

Poor Undine, no one loves you. Or the Horta, that goes double for you!

And targs, and sehlats, and Warriguls, and Aehallh Worm, and Desert Acari, and ice spiders, and Jackal Mastiff

jkstocbr · July 2012

This just made me very happy

It's been made very clear to me by representatives of Cryptic Studios that when the update goes live, all of the new Tholian content will be available 24 hours a day. While it has not yet been confirmed, it looks like the new missions will also be placed on the system's event calendar, so additional bonuses can be awarded for play during specific times.

jexsamx · July 2012

sovereignman wrote: »

Because it'll happen. When it happens.

This is an interesting phrase.

See, something dawned on me a while back.

Two years ago, I was reading the forums, staring at the pretty Tholian concept art from '10, reading the Ask Cryptics. I thought to myself, "they'll never get around to adding new race-specific KDF ships, as much as I would like them to. Tholians, either; they're a niche species anyway, not big enough to bother with. They'll probably never add to fleets, either, or fix PvP. And LOL @ people thinking they'll ever get a T5 Nova or something." No, they seemed perfectly content to churn out FE's or the occasional new mission, sprinkled with new ships here and there.

Then F2P happened. Race-specific ships happened for KDF. And now, about six months later, Tholians. And lo and behold, fleet improvements. As if that wasn't enough, oh glory of glories, even a nearly full set of T5 retrofits of lower-end ships!

And it occurred to me. Some plans have changed, some things they wanted to do, they haven't done. But maybe... just maybe... it might possibly be true what they've been saying all along. They want to do it, and they'll get to it eventually.

They want to do it, and they'll get to it eventually. Arguments aboutg whether they could be doing it faster or in a different order aside... Isn't this exactly what we're seeing in action right now? And, if so, does this mean that the Romulan faction Stahl has so stubbornly held onto the idea of may be an inevitability, even if it takes another year and a half or so?

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

jexsamx wrote: »

And it occurred to me. Some plans have changed, some things they wanted to do, they haven't done. But maybe... just maybe... it might possibly be true what they've been saying all along. They want to do it, and they'll get to it eventually.

I dont think anyone is denying they *want* to do a Rom faction. My question is, why make even the slightest implication that it would be in S7 when it obviously isnt going to happen that soon?

genericii · July 2012

Please, I've seen and played the KDF faction, so again please don't let them add another half-baked then ignored faction into the game.

topset · July 2012

genericii wrote: »

Please, I've seen and played the KDF faction, so again please don't let them add another half-baked then ignored faction into the game.

Well the latest talk is that it would be a 5 level mini-faction which would then join Fed/KDF at the end of it.

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

topset wrote: »

Well the latest talk is that it would be a 5 level mini-faction which would then join Fed/KDF at the end of it.

You may have heard that, but it definitely wasnt from the Devs.

topset · July 2012

th3gr4ndnagu5 wrote: »

You may have heard that, but it definitely wasnt from the Devs.

It was in the Q&A section of the podcast with one of the lead designers about season 6 ships. It was by no means definitive but it was one of the ideas they were currently toying with.

Pretty sure it was in this one

http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=597451

but I'm not 100% sure. It was definitely in one of the Priority One podcasts, and it was also with someone of authority in the production of the game.

Then again, it was close to 6am when I was listening to it, perhaps I'm mistaken. Pretty sure I'm not though!

kingdoxy · July 2012

jexsamx wrote: »

This is an interesting phrase.

See, something dawned on me a while back.

Two years ago, I was reading the forums, staring at the pretty Tholian concept art from '10, reading the Ask Cryptics. I thought to myself, "they'll never get around to adding new race-specific KDF ships, as much as I would like them to. Tholians, either; they're a niche species anyway, not big enough to bother with. They'll probably never add to fleets, either, or fix PvP. And LOL @ people thinking they'll ever get a T5 Nova or something." No, they seemed perfectly content to churn out FE's or the occasional new mission, sprinkled with new ships here and there.

Then F2P happened. Race-specific ships happened for KDF. And now, about six months later, Tholians. And lo and behold, fleet improvements. As if that wasn't enough, oh glory of glories, even a nearly full set of T5 retrofits of lower-end ships!

And it occurred to me. Some plans have changed, some things they wanted to do, they haven't done. But maybe... just maybe... it might possibly be true what they've been saying all along. They want to do it, and they'll get to it eventually.

They want to do it, and they'll get to it eventually. Arguments aboutg whether they could be doing it faster or in a different order aside... Isn't this exactly what we're seeing in action right now? And, if so, does this mean that the Romulan faction Stahl has so stubbornly held onto the idea of may be an inevitability, even if it takes another year and a half or so?

Its entirely possible Crypic feels they will have enough faction nutral missions to push out a 3rd faction. Really why buy more and more Fed Cstore ships when you could start to buy some Roumlan +1 ships. We've seen there is no need for a level 1-50 KDF faction, so it makes sense you could see a level 25-50 Romulan faction.

It would be interesting if Cryptic would give silvers another free toon slot or ask them to pay for a slot.

martokus · July 2012

topset wrote: »

Well the latest talk is that it would be a 5 level mini-faction which would then join Fed/KDF at the end of it.

That sounds like the worst idea ever. I seriously hope you are wrong. Nothing personal, but if they do go with something like that, a lot of the community will feel betrayed.

robeasom · July 2012

topset wrote: »

Well the latest talk is that it would be a 5 level mini-faction which would then join Fed/KDF at the end of it.

If that is the case then it will be just as bad a KDF as soon as most people have got the Dderix warship people would then no longer use there character as anything more than a dilithium farm. I may not even bother with the faction as doesn't seem much point

th3gr4ndnagu5 · July 2012

topset wrote: »

It was in the Q&A section of the podcast with one of the lead designers about season 6 ships. It was by no means definitive but it was one of the ideas they were currently toying with.

Pretty sure it was in this one

http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=597451

but I'm not 100% sure. It was definitely in one of the Priority One podcasts, and it was also with someone of authority in the production of the game.

Then again, it was close to 6am when I was listening to it, perhaps I'm mistaken. Pretty sure I'm not though!

I also listened to that podcast, but I definitely do not remember hearing that. If you could identity the time frame of the comment we can all verify.

pyryck · July 2012

Well the timing for S7 would be around X-mas to the 3rd Anniversary. What better way to ring in the 3rd year than with the 3rd faction? A nice green faction expansion to enjoy over the X-mas holidays?

Fleet stuff would be in and hopefully settled. Big rush of new ships hitting the space lanes. Might be a most opportune time to throw in a 3rd faction to tie in with more Romulan story arcs/episodes. Maybe even create more traffic for the SB39 area?

And where is that new sector going to be created and dropped on the Galactic map?

Yes, I am grasping at straws, dreaming, fantasizing, projecting and otherwise hoping to finally be able to play the green faction instead of the red or blue.

p.s. Yes, I will take whatever I can get as far as content (even as "little" as the red faction has!) as long as it's green!

doubleohnine · July 2012

A playable Romulan will be the canarie in the coal mine for STO. The devs have said time and again that playable Romulans would be a full faction when they come, and after the Klinks are equal to the Feds.

Well, if you ever see them throw out playable Romulans and their ships before Klinks are fully finished with story content, with next to no Rom missions to level up with, relying 95% of the Foundry, that will be our sign that the game is in serious financial trouble. Releasing playable Rommies any time soon will essentially be throwing every quick cash grab they can out the window at us, instead of pacing themselves like they assume they'll live long enough to do.

captainrevo1 · July 2012

While i dont expect a romulan faction in season 7, or even 8 really i dont think its impossible. i never expected the foundry or starbases as quickly as they came.

have your content designers work on content and the rest of the team knuckle down on the romulans, i think they could get a decent start zone, some ships, some characters etc.

if they do the romulans i fully expect them to be a mini faction. people who think the romulans or the klingons will ever get exactly what the feds have are kidding themselves. even if the klingons get those levels 1-20 added they will still lag behind what the feds have. romulans will be even further behind the klingons.

it will be a small faction with limited ships and stuff but i think there is an outside chance of it coming in s7.

aelfwin1 · July 2012

th3gr4ndnagu5 wrote: »

I also listened to that podcast, but I definitely do not remember hearing that. If you could identity the time frame of the comment we can all verify.

I don't have the time to hunt down one quote 4 u , but it was discussed later on the forums :

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=4011010&postcount=1

captainrevo1 · July 2012

topset wrote: »

Well the latest talk is that it would be a 5 level mini-faction which would then join Fed/KDF at the end of it.

If I recall correctly this was dstahl or geko just musing about what the could do. you do a bunch of levels as a romulans with some unique content and then you join the one of the other factions in your new romulan ship.

it was just an idea over anything concrete, so i can confirm it was said but it should be taken as nothing more than a rough idea.

edit aelfwin1 seems to have found a forum post that explains it as well.

New "Captain's Log" Posted - 7/9

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