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[Proposition] Buying layouts instead of whole ships
dkratasco
Member Posts: 585 Arc User
Hi, I'd like to propose idea of buying ship layout (stats, BOFFs stations, consoles and weapons slots, etc.) plus skin instead of buying whole ships as we have now. I believe that my idea can generate additional profit for Cryptic and please some players.
Whole idea base on the separation of skins from ships layouts. Which mean when I buy for example Patrol Escort layout I can give it any escort skin I want from those which I already poses from any tier. Only limit would be that escort layouts can use only escort skins, sci-sci, cruisers-cruisers. I believe that many players are fans of ST universe and want to fly iconic ships like Galaxy. Unfortunately current Galaxy layout is outdated and simple weak compared to newer ships. My idea would allow those players fly Galaxy skin ship with stats of any other cruiser type ship they want/poses.
OK and where is profit for Cryptic? Simple, players who want use different skin on different layout have to buy two ships instead one. And maybe in the future they will sell skin packs as they did before.
Thread (and me) is open for any suggestions, feedback, etc.
Whole idea base on the separation of skins from ships layouts. Which mean when I buy for example Patrol Escort layout I can give it any escort skin I want from those which I already poses from any tier. Only limit would be that escort layouts can use only escort skins, sci-sci, cruisers-cruisers. I believe that many players are fans of ST universe and want to fly iconic ships like Galaxy. Unfortunately current Galaxy layout is outdated and simple weak compared to newer ships. My idea would allow those players fly Galaxy skin ship with stats of any other cruiser type ship they want/poses.
OK and where is profit for Cryptic? Simple, players who want use different skin on different layout have to buy two ships instead one. And maybe in the future they will sell skin packs as they did before.
Thread (and me) is open for any suggestions, feedback, etc.
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Somebody flew the Galaxy as a Captain and really enjoyed it. They move on to RA and have to pick another ship. Somewhere between RA and VA (including VA), they end up grabbing the Assault Refit or say the Avenger. They like the ship, but they miss the look of the Galaxy. They could buy the Galaxy Retrofit and use that skin/costume on their Assault Refit or Avenger.
You mentioned it being locked to types, would it also be locked to "levels" so to speak? Cryptic's not going to allow folks to run the Connie skin/costume at T5. But there are others as well...would you need the Fleet Galaxy in order to have the Galaxy skin/costume on a Fleet Assault or Fleet Avenger and not just the Galaxy Retro? That sort of thing...
No lock to tiers. We already have fleet versions of ships from lower tiers so there shouldn't be any problem with someone flying Fleet Patrol looking like Saber. If you want fleet skin variant for galaxy than yes, you have to buy fleet galaxy to obtain its skin. Idea is that you can use any cruiser skin that you previously obtain no matter if it was bought from C-Store, fleet shipyard or as free ship token from promotion to higher rank.
About Connie simple solution, block option to choose it skin.
The way it would have worked as I pitched it, you would add a drop down menu on the ship customization window that would allow you to choose the tier. If you are able to fly a tier 4 ship, but love the Excalibur, then you would choose Tier 1 on the menu, and the window would change to only allow you to mix and match parts available at that tier, as it currently works. No kitbashing of a Galaxy saucer and Excalibur hull for example.
This could still work for PWE/Cryptic as a revenue generating scheme. Offer the ship with the fancy console for a premium price, and say two months later, they offer just the skin for a much reduced price. Players that have to have that new flashy console can pay full price, and the company can still make money on those that want only the look.
As before, the PvP crowd will complain that they HAVE to know what they are fighting so they don't lose any edge they may have. Hate to break it to them, but that is the nature of combat. You never really know your enemy's capabilities until you make contact. However, I also considered a means for PvPers to be happy. A mechanic that would assign a generic base ship configuration for all ships in a PvP zone based on the spaceframe being used. If you are in an assault cruiser, you would show up to everybody as flying a Sovereign.
They make a wondrous mess of things. Brave amateurs, they do their part.
I strongle believe that the Galaxy Class was the most beatiful ship in the whole ST universe. Despite how I love the look I don't use this ship because both boff stations and console slots are completely useless to me. If I may use my trusty Fleet Patrol Escort with Galaxy look - that would be fantastic.
Unfortunately you wouldn't, it would be a bit strange if you fly escort with 70+k hull from cruiser layout, or cruiser with DHC from escort layout. That is why skins would be restricted to same type as layout.
*delete as appropriate.
Still waiting to be able to use forum titles
As such, I suggested and now reiterate that suggestion:
Allow the purchase of one boff slot as "universal" on a ship, but only one. The fee could be something like 500 zen... Not free, but hardly catastrophically expensive, and not so much as to make an already $25 cstore ship ludicrously overpriced.
This will satisfy many criticisms... It can help get rid of the redundant "ensigns" that aren't helpful. It can also help make a single boff slot more immediately useful to any given role, just like was done in the shows COUNTLESS times.
Sometimes you need more sci, eng, or tac for a desired effect, however the overall function of the ship remains the same. Yes you might make a cruiser/carrier more tactical, you might make an escort more science angled, and everything in between, but it is otherwise unchanged.
It doesn't gain any more boff seats, it only changes boff power slots, so gain one place is directly traded for a loss elsewhere.
Why restricted it only to T5 ships? We already have Fleet ships with look of low tier ships so that isn't any problem. As for T5 Connie as I wrote before, simple solution: Block it's skin that you can't use it.
What you write don't have anything common with idea of this topic. You suggest option to modify ships layouts. It's not about making your escort more eng or sci. This idea doesn't change any thing in layouts it only give players option to use different skins at already existing layouts.
It has everything to do with the idea of this topic... The basic idea is to have whatever boff layout you want on whatever hull you want... An easier way to say that is "why not make all boff slots universal"...
You can try to suggest otherwise, or attempt the splitting of semantic hairs down to the last atom, but the end result is quite clear... To seat whatever boffs in whatever seats the player wants wrapped in a hull that wouldn't otherwise have that seating.
Sure it would be great to be able to buy the layout of any ship in any way you like it, but simultaneously such a suggestion is all but certain to fall upon deaf ears at Cryptic/PWE...
They aren't just going to change to "Burger King" mode and make everything "your way right away", and if the last 3+ years have taught us anything, they are far more willing to make modest change(s) than radical ones.
Even the most "radical" changes to date are akin to the difference between "vanilla" and "french vanilla"...
However, proposing a fairly modest change of just ONE buyable universal boff seat, which just happens to be one that would make them money on existing ships, new ships, dilithium ships, and c-store ships alike will likely garner more favor than making it so that a player would only ever get into one ship and perpetually move the seating around.
That would make ultimately fewer purchases for the developers of new ships since they would only sell based upon their hull appeal since the boff seating would no longer be relevant.
We see this in Ds9 as well where the cardassian barge ship's storage bay was retrofitted with a planetary defense cannon of all things. It would make them more $ if they were smart and allow PVErs and PVPrs some equally gained footing on fitting their ships with their own design.
I highly doubt devs would allow custom layouts in total so that would be a fair compromise as well as earning more cash for the game. But then again, feedback doesn't go too far with devs unless you present the issue as small and harmless to their own interests as possible.
while still making newer ships that have more power and otpions for sale
Maybe for yuo bro but i will love to DONT know already only for the looks of the ship what im againts , the element of sorprise will be a great addition to the game what already have to many preloads/premade, and goin to be more funy this already boring pvp and plus any one can fly their favorite ship with the Boff setup they find more usefull.
And by the way MANY OTHERS MMO have skins o "costumes" what hide the gear of the player so no really place for what yuo say , example? NineDragons there yuo can buy a costume what cover all yuor gear...
Also this topic is already tallk in here with some good ideas: http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=846521
go take a look there and tks
Sry for mi english
This...only restriction needed is cruiser for cruisers, escorts for escort and so on.
This idea is brilliant and would add much cash flow and customization that the game needs
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
And you'd have to own both ships of course, so I imagine there would be a lot of Gal-R/Defiant-R/Intrepid-R sales just for skin alone. Plus it would need some error checking for any special abilities that use ship geometry, or else someone tries launching the Hoh'sus from their D7-skinned Bortasqu and odd things happen.
I hope Cryptic milks this cash cow in the future....Vanity+functionality is a truly amazing source of sales in the mmo community
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
Defiant variants? Could you elaborate?
My PvE/PvP hybrid skill tree
I suspect the poster was referring to the Tactical Escort, Tactical Escort Refit, Tactical Escort Retrofit, and Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit.
I actually had a couple questions on the idea:
1) Why all the discussion about ship abilities, 70k hull, and so forth when the idea is merely to allow bridge layouts to function as an unlock? If the only thing you can move is the bridge officer station setup from one Escort category ship to another Escort category ship, wouldn't this logically leave the payload, maneuverability, crew, hull, shield modifier, device slots, console setup, and special abilities tied to the "skin"?
2) How do you determine ship categories, and how would that function with cross-faction ships? For example, a S'Golth Escort is clearly an Escort category ship as the name implies... what Klingon ships would be able to use its bridge officer setup? Similarly, a Tal Shiar Adapted Destroyer could use its bridge officer setup on any Destroyer category ship, but what Federation ships would be able to use its bridge officer setup; would that bridge officer setup only unlock access for the "popular" Aquarius Destroyer?
3) If bridge officer setup is intended as a balancing tool for the developers, such as in the case of the 5-Tac console Escorts, what statistic or mechanic would you nerf on the Andorian Kumari Escort or Fleet Tactical Escort Retrofit in place of restrictive bridge officer seating?
4) For the Romulan faction, every ship is tagged as a Warbird; would this allow you to use the bridge officer setup of any Warbird you own on any other Warbird?
5) For the Klingon (and Romulan, if Warbirds are subdivided) faction, there are significantly less available ship options; this means that for each ship category there are less available bridge officer setups. What would you buff on these factions to balance the increased flexibility of the Federation faction?
6) One of the few perks of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey ships is the Universal bridge officer seating; what would you improve on these ships to allow them to keep up with Federation Escorts and the Tactical classes of Romulan Warbirds? Ignoring that they are already underwhelming compared to those other Bird-of-Prey ships...
I love the idea overall, but there are also a few things to consider from a gameplay standpoint before we actually use this. Implementation could be problematic, even if balance issues are (as is often the case) ignored.
You don't take only bridge officer setup, you take all stats. Or more simply you put new skin for your current ship without changing any of it stats. If you use for example Fleet Patrol Escort layout you have its BOFFs stations, consoles and weapons slots, etc. no matter what other escort skin you use on it. You may use some T2 skins but game system will still see you as T5 Fleet Patrol Escort.
Class names may be different, but those ship still are tac/sci/eng oriented.
For the first... that could actually be kind of neat, especially using some of the more counter-intuitive combinations. Having a "Nebula" that used Aux DHCs and runabouts would be entertaining, if irritating for PvP.
For the second... not all ships properly distinguish based upon career specialty. For example, KDF Bird-of-Prey class ships are intentionally built to be a little of everything... to the point where you need Fleet access to get anything with more than 3 Tactical consoles. For another example, the Jem'Hadar Dreadnought Carrier has the same bridge officer seating and weapons slots as a Risian Corvette, and 4 Tactical consoles. Engaging a "Risian Corvette" that turns out to have 45k base hull and a 1.15 shield modifier, along with Bugship frigates, seems like it would really mess with PvP. I know PvP is broken, but this seems like this could really mess it up further.
How about a free holo-emitter unlock when you acquire a ship? You can use the holo-emitter for your own amusement to make your ship look however you like, but the distinctive blue "flicker" could keep it from breaking PvP even more than it is... Heck, maybe just more varieties and less expensive holo-emitters so that we don't have to spend hours clicking the dang Dabo! wheel to buy one from the GPL conversion console?