Wait, I thought May was going to be when they released the new Cardassian/Dominion Faction? That's what the whole True Way and Featured Episode series was leading up to wasn't it?
Always love reading the communities rage posts regarding "what about the Klingons, Romulans will be screwed up, Cryptic Sucks, PWE needs to burn in hell, etc, etc, etc" Same comments I've heard since launch, and yet these people... for some reason... feel compelled to still play this game.
While I've never played it, I've heard WoW may be your game of choice. You may now proceed with the Flame.
Flames? You should be applauded for having a clear view.
A little confused though...It is March 1st 2013. 19:11:31:43.......and up on top is MAY. Last time I checked 19days from now is march 19-20th. Is there an addition subtraction issue I am suffering from? That still leaves the rest of March and April until MAY 2013. So when the timer expires I am to assume there is a trailer or sumptin like a teaser to be released for the MAY 2013 launch of whatver......
Today we fight the GAULS......monstrous and HAIRY beyond reason.
I think "failure" is a little harsh. I personally think it's too early to add a Romulan faction when so many aspects of the game need to be addressed and the lack of STFs for Romulan Marks is one of them from my perspective. I feel that the KDF side still needs a lot of work, more depth added to the existing content with a decent amount of replay value that doesn't get you bored too quick and an update to the UI (especially for the Fleet System) I feel is still in need as it's very archaic IMO.
The fleet interface could really do with an update, such as being able to have more ranks, not be limited to one fleet mail a day. One of the things I am looking forward to is that on one of the recent interviews there was mention in regards to the character customization getting an update which may include additional items/features to add to your character.
The reality of MMOs is "move forward or die". Stopping to fix things creates a bored player base. Bored players have an annoying habit of quitting.
@ Found relic: that's not mini-faction that's pseudo faction. which would suck in many ways.
If so then they have failed. If it is a playable rommie faction i friend of my would return more to STO
I know several Klingon friends who would return if the KDF was finally a full faction as well though I do not think the Romulan faction is coming in may. I do believe the RSE is in the future for STO, just not yet. And I certainly hope not before Dstahl makes good on his word," not before the KDF is complete."
Everyone seems to have forgotten the Mini-faction thing.
THis would allow access to the race and some of the ships and equipment, as well as a small group of story missions culminating in a single mission that gives you a choice, Fed or Klingon?
Oddly many think the KDF is a mini faction - even after three years....
In my heart I hope it is a Romulan faction as we been waiting on one since Cryptic took over STO. Nonetheless if there is not a substantial offering of KDF stuff if it is in fact a faction being added I think the community will implode to a degree like it never has before. Food for thought....
If you are looking for an excellent PvE fleet consider: Omega Combat Division today.
Former member of the Cryptic Family & FriendsTesting Team. Sadly, one day, it simply vanished - without a word or trace...
Hmm, while I'll happy to see more Romulan stuff, personally I'm hoping it's not a true faction like the KDF and Federation. Firstly, given all that's happened to them, I'm not sure they're really as large a faction anyway, plus I think that adding a third faction just makes things weird.
What they could do however is interleave the faction with both Federation and KDF; for example, you start off with a Romulan intro, some Romulan missions and eventually enter Starfleet via the dual citizenship programme. You then proceed from some point in the Federation quest-line, with the occasional Romulan specific mission calling you back to your roots, as well as a modified selection of ships; so you would have access to a subset of the Federation ships, but fill in with various Romulan ships.
Likewise on the Klingon side except that might somehow prove yourself honourable and worthy of joining the KDF before proceeding in a similar manner. It would also be a good opportunity to do some of the much promised, but never delivered, KDF improvements.
This would reduce the development requirements of the faction. Add on top of this Romulan fleets and I think things should be fairly interesting, especially with the possibility of Elite plasma weapons on their side.
1. Klingon fans are mad and rage about their faction content not being on par with the Federation content. And so they have chosen not to support the game by spending money.
2. Romulan Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
3. <insert faction here> Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
4. Cryptic decides that they are going to treat all non-Fed factions in the same way with the same sort and amount of content going forward. They make a sort of template from which to easily create future factions and drop them into the game. This will allow them to better gauge where they will earn the best return on their investment of development time.
5. Cryptic squeezes non-Fed content down to the minimum necessary to get a non-Fed faction character up and playing in STO.
6. Since Klingon fans are not an income resource already, losses from Klingon fans leaving the game is not felt at all while the vast amounts of income from other faction fans greatly improves the corporate bottomline which in turn leads to more content for all faction players. (side benefit/perk is the quieting on the forums due to the massive outflux of negative commenters) .
They Might get a rewvenue boost with the Rommies coming in. Every trek game till STo had Rommies as playable. However for KDF people. they only have so many resources and if Crytpic is finally getting off it's butt, this could be a good start and maybe the next major patch will have more KDF content. but right now I'll settle for Rommies and some bug fixes
Do people really think that because a Romulan Faction is introduced (or any faction for that matter), that Cryptic is going to just STOP creating Fed & KDF amenities for the game down the road??
Seems kinda-sorta-like very narrow-minded thinking to me.
If we had been told that the game was going to be shut down in a couple of months, there might be reason to be concerned...
But as far as I can tell, at the moment the future is very bright.
KDF'ers rejoice, your future STO play-time will not be taken away from you.
STO Member since February 2009. I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born! Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
I am looking forward to the big reveal, and hopeful that it might be a romulan faction, but there are a lot of ways that it could be handled that would really irritate me that I am wary of.
1) 'Mini Faction'- The idea that players would create a romulan/reman character, play a few missions, and then be told to join the Feds or KDF. If I wanted to play a fed or KDF romulan, I'd buy the hypothetical 'playable federation/kdf romulan' like the already existing 'federation playable klingon' I'd actually rather have that option than a mini-faction, because at least it doesn't slam the door on the possibility of a proper romulan faction in the future.
2) D'Tan faction. I like D'Tan. The reunificationists in the series were sympathetic, and I don't object to the existance of his faction. However, D'Tan does not represent the Romulan Star Empire. When I say I want to play as Romulans, I mean I want sinister plots, grey uniforms with pointy shoulders, a desire for conquest of other races, cutthroat politics, and a general hatred of the KDF and the Federation-not a bunch of bald miners and refugees living in tents in a rainforest. I would be strongly annoyed if this proved to be the case.
Well personally I don't mind if its just a featured series though I've always wanted to play the Romulans as Klingons have never interested me enough to play that faction. Whatever it is carry on Cryptic as I still enjoy Sto 3 years on!!
A 3rd playable species, or a second incomplete faction depending on how you look at it, at least players will have a reason to be flying around in Romulan ships.
If something is not broken, don't fix it, if it is broken, don't leave it broken.
I am looking forward to the big reveal, and hopeful that it might be a romulan faction, but there are a lot of ways that it could be handled that would really irritate me that I am wary of.
1) 'Mini Faction'- The idea that players would create a romulan/reman character, play a few missions, and then be told to join the Feds or KDF. If I wanted to play a fed or KDF romulan, I'd buy the hypothetical 'playable federation/kdf romulan' like the already existing 'federation playable klingon' I'd actually rather have that option than a mini-faction, because at least it doesn't slam the door on the possibility of a proper romulan faction in the future.
2) D'Tan faction. I like D'Tan. The reunificationists in the series were sympathetic, and I don't object to the existance of his faction. However, D'Tan does not represent the Romulan Star Empire. When I say I want to play as Romulans, I mean I want sinister plots, grey uniforms with pointy shoulders, a desire for conquest of other races, cutthroat politics, and a general hatred of the KDF and the Federation-not a bunch of bald miners and refugees living in tents in a rainforest. I would be strongly annoyed if this proved to be the case.
Who says you can't have both, they could make a choice for the Rommie char to pick which side. THe Romulan Republic on New Romulus or the Tal Shair
Be mindful. They, the powers that be, have always stated that the FEDS have received the lions share of the upgrades and content because a majority of the players were Fed as opposed to KDF. With the creation of a third faction the outcome for future content for the KDF and to a lesser extent the Feds, will be affected as they will be splitting the PIE 3 ways instead of 2.
I, for one, hope they do not release a third faction as the KDF is still bereft in many regards and can you honestly believe the will launch a third faction and give it the actual attention when they cannot even keep the KDF above water in terms of content.
I suspect it is an announcement that will be in conjunction with the new JJ Binks movie...maybe some Romulan themes content released.
Today we fight the GAULS......monstrous and HAIRY beyond reason.
1) Simple to do: No need for a third starbase model, no need for another series of DOFF assignments, etc.
2) Would give KDF a few new ships to balance out with the Feds.
3) Would give KDF more players.
4) Would only TRIBBLE the few Feds dreaming of a Scimitar with thalaron weaponry and an instant I-Win console (ok, ok! That makes for a lot of Feds :P but oh well...).
If they're really doing a romulan faction, why would they make all the romulan equipment (sans ships) available to the other factions first? Seems counter intuitive to give away all the things that would make them different from the existing factions.
1. Klingon fans are mad and rage about their faction content not being on par with the Federation content. And so they have chosen not to support the game by spending money.
2. Romulan Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
3. <insert faction here> Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
4. Cryptic decides that they are going to treat all non-Fed factions in the same way with the same sort and amount of content going forward. They make a sort of template from which to easily create future factions and drop them into the game. This will allow them to better gauge where they will earn the best return on their investment of development time.
5. Cryptic squeezes non-Fed content down to the minimum necessary to get a non-Fed faction character up and playing in STO.
6. Since Klingon fans are not an income resource already, losses from Klingon fans leaving the game is not felt at all while the vast amounts of income from other faction fans greatly improves the corporate bottomline which in turn leads to more content for all faction players. (side benefit/perk is the quieting on the forums due to the massive outflux of negative commenters) .
:cool:
very good analysis
would also add - they are slowly being out of the ship designs.. so before raising the roof - give us new factions. Aka : new ships, new toon slots, new bank slots, new DOFF packs, uniforms, are sold..
Romulans as a try, if that works, perhaps Cardies, Dominion, Ferengi, whatever..
btw - they made the whole Tau Dewa in what - 3 months?
so you think they cannot use assets from the foundry, create a green HQ and Embassy, copy paste the DOFF system from KDF, and here you go.. yeah 3 free ships, 3 fleet ships and 3 Zen-store ships.. in 5 months .. doable
Do people really think that because a Romulan Faction is introduced (or any faction for that matter), that Cryptic is going to just STOP creating Fed & KDF amenities for the game down the road??
I don't think anyone was suggesting that; the thing is that right now the KDF and Federation both converge, such that the later seasons are all shared content. I wouldn't expect a new faction to be any different, so if the Romulans are being added then any unique content they have will be towards the start, but their end-game content will likely be the same as what the rest of us have now, barring any unique repeatable missions.
What's most interesting for me is whether this Romulan update is a new season for all use, a new faction, or both. I'd love to see both, but the development time for that would be pretty huge, which is why I'm interested to see if they'll go for a dual citizenship twist to cut down on the content they need to add.
After all, while we still have lots of Federation vs KDF stuff in the end-game content, I'm not sure the Federation is meant to be at war with the KDF at all once you reach level 50; it seems like the intention is that the two factions are converging towards at least some kind of shaky alliance against the Undine and Iconian threats, currently foreshadowed by the Tholians that we've all been fighting recently.
Comments
Flames? You should be applauded for having a clear view.
@ Found relic: that's not mini-faction that's pseudo faction. which would suck in many ways.
My character Tsin'xing
Drag them across the barrier, and the Iconians press them into service, along with mind-controlled (and many willing) crews.
Possible... that the speculated invasion may be spearheaded by many such Romulan ships bolstered and backed up by the Iconians.
DELTA PRICE RISING
I know several Klingon friends who would return if the KDF was finally a full faction as well though I do not think the Romulan faction is coming in may. I do believe the RSE is in the future for STO, just not yet. And I certainly hope not before Dstahl makes good on his word," not before the KDF is complete."
R.I.P
Oddly many think the KDF is a mini faction - even after three years....
In my heart I hope it is a Romulan faction as we been waiting on one since Cryptic took over STO. Nonetheless if there is not a substantial offering of KDF stuff if it is in fact a faction being added I think the community will implode to a degree like it never has before. Food for thought....
ingame: @.Spartan
Original Cryptic Forum Name: Spartan (member #124)
The Glorious, Kirk’s Protegè
What they could do however is interleave the faction with both Federation and KDF; for example, you start off with a Romulan intro, some Romulan missions and eventually enter Starfleet via the dual citizenship programme. You then proceed from some point in the Federation quest-line, with the occasional Romulan specific mission calling you back to your roots, as well as a modified selection of ships; so you would have access to a subset of the Federation ships, but fill in with various Romulan ships.
Likewise on the Klingon side except that might somehow prove yourself honourable and worthy of joining the KDF before proceeding in a similar manner. It would also be a good opportunity to do some of the much promised, but never delivered, KDF improvements.
This would reduce the development requirements of the faction. Add on top of this Romulan fleets and I think things should be fairly interesting, especially with the possibility of Elite plasma weapons on their side.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates
1. Klingon fans are mad and rage about their faction content not being on par with the Federation content. And so they have chosen not to support the game by spending money.
2. Romulan Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
3. <insert faction here> Fans have been waiting on the outside of the game hoping to someday be able to play their favorite faction. And they have money to spend in support of their fledgling faction were it to be introduced into the game.
4. Cryptic decides that they are going to treat all non-Fed factions in the same way with the same sort and amount of content going forward. They make a sort of template from which to easily create future factions and drop them into the game. This will allow them to better gauge where they will earn the best return on their investment of development time.
5. Cryptic squeezes non-Fed content down to the minimum necessary to get a non-Fed faction character up and playing in STO.
6. Since Klingon fans are not an income resource already, losses from Klingon fans leaving the game is not felt at all while the vast amounts of income from other faction fans greatly improves the corporate bottomline which in turn leads to more content for all faction players. (side benefit/perk is the quieting on the forums due to the massive outflux of negative commenters) .
:cool:
Seems kinda-sorta-like very narrow-minded thinking to me.
If we had been told that the game was going to be shut down in a couple of months, there might be reason to be concerned...
But as far as I can tell, at the moment the future is very bright.
KDF'ers rejoice, your future STO play-time will not be taken away from you.
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
1) 'Mini Faction'- The idea that players would create a romulan/reman character, play a few missions, and then be told to join the Feds or KDF. If I wanted to play a fed or KDF romulan, I'd buy the hypothetical 'playable federation/kdf romulan' like the already existing 'federation playable klingon' I'd actually rather have that option than a mini-faction, because at least it doesn't slam the door on the possibility of a proper romulan faction in the future.
2) D'Tan faction. I like D'Tan. The reunificationists in the series were sympathetic, and I don't object to the existance of his faction. However, D'Tan does not represent the Romulan Star Empire. When I say I want to play as Romulans, I mean I want sinister plots, grey uniforms with pointy shoulders, a desire for conquest of other races, cutthroat politics, and a general hatred of the KDF and the Federation-not a bunch of bald miners and refugees living in tents in a rainforest. I would be strongly annoyed if this proved to be the case.
Who says you can't have both, they could make a choice for the Rommie char to pick which side. THe Romulan Republic on New Romulus or the Tal Shair
I, for one, hope they do not release a third faction as the KDF is still bereft in many regards and can you honestly believe the will launch a third faction and give it the actual attention when they cannot even keep the KDF above water in terms of content.
I suspect it is an announcement that will be in conjunction with the new JJ Binks movie...maybe some Romulan themes content released.
1) Simple to do: No need for a third starbase model, no need for another series of DOFF assignments, etc.
2) Would give KDF a few new ships to balance out with the Feds.
3) Would give KDF more players.
4) Would only TRIBBLE the few Feds dreaming of a Scimitar with thalaron weaponry and an instant I-Win console (ok, ok! That makes for a lot of Feds :P but oh well...).
very good analysis
would also add - they are slowly being out of the ship designs.. so before raising the roof - give us new factions. Aka : new ships, new toon slots, new bank slots, new DOFF packs, uniforms, are sold..
Romulans as a try, if that works, perhaps Cardies, Dominion, Ferengi, whatever..
btw - they made the whole Tau Dewa in what - 3 months?
so you think they cannot use assets from the foundry, create a green HQ and Embassy, copy paste the DOFF system from KDF, and here you go.. yeah 3 free ships, 3 fleet ships and 3 Zen-store ships.. in 5 months .. doable
Just coincidental timing meant I could take this screen shot.
Excited and I don't even know what its going to have included, hoping for more balanced PVP, and playable Romulan's
What's most interesting for me is whether this Romulan update is a new season for all use, a new faction, or both. I'd love to see both, but the development time for that would be pretty huge, which is why I'm interested to see if they'll go for a dual citizenship twist to cut down on the content they need to add.
After all, while we still have lots of Federation vs KDF stuff in the end-game content, I'm not sure the Federation is meant to be at war with the KDF at all once you reach level 50; it seems like the intention is that the two factions are converging towards at least some kind of shaky alliance against the Undine and Iconian threats, currently foreshadowed by the Tholians that we've all been fighting recently.
Game Balance - Ship Size and Wingmates