Sphere of Influence feedback

gerwalk0769 · October 2013

Thank you. I really enjoyed this mission.

Excellent floor glass work design on New Romulus, the lava was very nice also. I even noticed panels on the backs of the tanks, good touch. The camera angle/animation used to shown Shon's capture was very nice, neat trick. Nice job on the metal designs on the floor work in the Carrier as well as the designs in it's out skin.

The liquid rippling in the sphere was gorgeous. It was good to hear Worf's voice again, although it sounded a bit halting. What weapon was he using? It did more damage than my MK XII MACO rifle.

I only play as a Fed so I'm interested as to what and who were the last people and planet shown.

There is a ghost figure by the final gateway. It appears at certain angles and in at least two instances for me: 1) As I initially walked over to the consoles (it was in the middle of the glowing set but disappeared when I walked over, and 2) standing to the right of Worf as I walked into the Gateway.

The first guardian I encounter moves forward after I and Worf kill it.

I'd like a complete 3 piece set, but thank you for the ship. May add more later...

age03 · October 2013

How did you solve the puzzle of reconfiguring the ceconfigure controls?

azurianstar · October 2013

Overall, I thought it was good with a nice pace to it.

And Mr. Dorn really nailed it.

Only things I didn't like was that the gate part was too much Stargate Universe.

Also in the Planet Room a few errors by the art team.

Earth:

1) ESD isn't fully rendered and I'm seeing through the mushroom.

2) ESD is in a Geostationary Orbit, so it supposed to be Orbiting above the North American West Coast.

Qo'nos: No Praxis Belt.

wanderer89 · October 2013

Someones been watching Prometheus, haven't they Cryptic?

Sphere of Influence has got me more excited about Star Trek than I have in a long time. And heres why. I loved the mechanics to the Gateway Network, following those different paths and reading about the different planets was genuinely goosebump inducing foreshadowing at its finest. I have my own theories behind the Iconians and I'm looking forward to seeing this particular story arc play out.

The Solanogen Aliens are as freaky as they were in Next Gen, I suddenly remembered why I was scared of them when I was a kid. Michael Dorn really slotted back into being Worf with ease, this is a guy who loves his character and his dialogue was all perfect, same with Captain Shon. I hope we see more of him.

Another thing I adored was the main console platform, pressing the colour buttons like Data and Picard in TNG. Amber, Amber, Red. Turning on every gate has certainly become, for me, a "Holy S***" moment.

Its taken you nearly four years, but you've made a "Star Trek" episode in game (not to say other missions aren't enjoyable) you've brought us a mission that isn't combat heavy, that has intrigue and mystery, world building and a true exploration of the unknown. Whats more you have the Romulans behaving like Romulans. We might be allied with Starfleet, but we wont let them dictate to us law. Even when A'dranna threatened D'tan would be "Displeased" if Starfleet destroyed the gate made me smile. "Whats that starfleet? We can't have Thalaron generators and the Iconian Gateway? Tough"

Oh and a random shout out to Dr Cooper, my favourite background character. I didn't know the Federation employed mad scientists

5 stars, hugely entertaining

yreodred · October 2013

Awesome episode +Worf!

It was really fun to see several TNG episodes being referred to, highly entertaining.

But a Carrier... seriously?

mokonzi · October 2013

I loved this new episode. I don't think commendation is given out often enough to everyone who works on STO... they do a great job in the Star Trek community... a community that has high demands and standards.

The play of the story was good. I agree with earlier comments that it feels like an episode of the show/shows. It had a mix of action plus puzzle which is often reflected in the TV series that can be missed in games where we demand action (and it's perhaps easier to give action on a random basis than it is to create a lot of intriguing content).

Good job!

beerxhyper · October 2013

i agree with the op guy there is a ghost npc thing at the controls to the gate also on the cutscene when u blow open the door to the holding cells worf has a disruptor rifle not the pistol he has been useing lol also all the npcs running into the gate with the gate showing klingon or borg or even looks like ESD yet u somehow end up on the carriers bridge lol but all in all i loved it.

tfomega · October 2013

age03 wrote: »

How did you solve the puzzle of reconfiguring the ceconfigure controls?

remember the old game simon says?
http://gamesatwork.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/miltonbradleysimon.jpg

repeat the colors

azyurion · October 2013

OMG! It was awesome to have Michael Dorn voice his character Worf, for Sphere of Influence!!!!

Why didn't STO hype this cameo up more?

I want more Star Trek alumni to do voice cameos for episodes and easter eggs

mvp333 · October 2013

wanderer89 wrote: »

Someones been watching Prometheus, haven't they Cryptic?

Sphere of Influence has got me more excited about Star Trek than I have in a long time. And heres why. I loved the mechanics to the Gateway Network, following those different paths and reading about the different planets was genuinely goosebump inducing foreshadowing at its finest. I have my own theories behind the Iconians and I'm looking forward to seeing this particular story arc play out.

The Solanogen Aliens are as freaky as they were in Next Gen, I suddenly remembered why I was scared of them when I was a kid. Michael Dorn really slotted back into being Worf with ease, this is a guy who loves his character and his dialogue was all perfect, same with Captain Shon. I hope we see more of him.

Another thing I adored was the main console platform, pressing the colour buttons like Data and Picard in TNG. Amber, Amber, Red. Turning on every gate has certainly become, for me, a "Holy S***" moment.

Its taken you nearly four years, but you've made a "Star Trek" episode in game (not to say other missions aren't enjoyable) you've brought us a mission that isn't combat heavy, that has intrigue and mystery, world building and a true exploration of the unknown. Whats more you have the Romulans behaving like Romulans. We might be allied with Starfleet, but we wont let them dictate to us law. Even when A'dranna threatened D'tan would be "Displeased" if Starfleet destroyed the gate made me smile. "Whats that starfleet? We can't have Thalaron generators and the Iconian Gateway? Tough"

Oh and a random shout out to Dr Cooper, my favourite background character. I didn't know the Federation employed mad scientists

5 stars, hugely entertaining

Quoted for truth.

Only problem for me is that there isn't much mention of the Dyson Sphere, or how the heck the Voth got there... here's hoping there's going to be a sequel(s) released with S8.

wolfpacknz · October 2013

My only real critiques are small but ones I hope you would change.

1. When you are freeing the prisoners the emote you chose was using a console. There are no consoles in that room, let alone near where you are seeing your toon type. Maybe the tricorder emote or adding a console pad at the cell doors would be a better option

2. Worf. You guys did a great job on his face, he really looks the part now BUT.... You gave him a stance which in those clothes makes him look like a gorilla. Worf never stood that cheesily. Could you possibly see your way to giving him a stance more fitting of his characters status?

That's my only real issues. I hope you can look at them. As for the rest I am seriously impressed and blown away with the map room. Awesome job on raising the bar yet again...

captz1pp · October 2013

Two problems are one of the first NPCs you see is a "Deligate" and the ESD in the floating zone has an invisible saucer.

Edit: they also could have changed the line about Maieks getting the "liquid polymer" injection for something more original.

age03 · November 2013

reyan01 wrote: »

Enjoyed this mission from start to finish - have only done it (twice, for the rewards) with my primary (science, Fed) character - need to complete it with my other faction characters, and then my other Fed characters.

Have to admit, whilst (as stated) I enjoyed the whole thing, the part where it was realised that all of the gateways have been reactivated, and the subsequent 'angry response' to our presence, was simply AWESOME; a real 'oh ****' moment!

Have to admit, though, my one (small) complaint would be having to play it through twice to obtain both completion rewards. I have played it twice so far, as mentioned, but need to play through it again with my other characters & it could wind up being a fairly time consuming process playing through it twice with each of them. With five characters, I will obviously need to play through it ten times and it's safe to assume that the novelty will have worn off by the time I hit run-through number eight, which is a shame.

Anyway, minor gripe notwithstanding, a big thanks to the Dev's for an excellent, and very engaging, Feature Episode!

Never played that only the very old one where you stand up and do it.I eventually got 5 of my char through it.It not to bad of an episdoe except for this a little slower would be nice.

Dorn/Work did do great jop of it.

talore003 · November 2013

I liked the mission the layout was pretty cool looking. I will get hate but the voice acting for Worf was pretty bad either they edited it horridly or he kept dropping the line cards heh. It sounded kinda half done like okay I read it can I go now? I would like to see more of that story line though.

feiqa · November 2013

talore003 wrote: »

I liked the mission the layout was pretty cool looking. I will get hate but the voice acting for Worf was pretty bad either they edited it horridly or he kept dropping the line cards heh. It sounded kinda half done like okay I read it can I go now? I would like to see more of that story line though.

Going to disagree, he sounded very much like Worf from DS9.

All the tie ins were great. Starfleet being shutdown on their usual, 'No one is allowed to have any toys.' routine was excellent. And each character present felt like they had their own view point instead of being automatons to finish the mission. Perfect.

If I had to make a change request, it would be to dim the console shine while doing the colour sequence. It made it a little harder to see properly.

markhawkman · November 2013

captz1pp wrote: »

Two problems are one of the first NPCs you see is a "Deligate" and the ESD in the floating zone has an invisible saucer.

Edit: they also could have changed the line about Maieks getting the "liquid polymer" injection for something more original.

Actually, Shon got the Riker treatment....

Maiek, unfortunately, got to relive what the Solanagen aliens did to one of the redshirts on the Enterprise.

royalsovereign · November 2013

markhawkman wrote: »

Maiek, unfortunately, got to relive what the Solanagen aliens did to one of the redshirts on the Enterprise.

Which begs the question, why would they repeat that particular experiment? Why, indeed, would they perform such an experiment at all? Did they really think to gather some earth-shattering intel on the alpha quadrant by finding out that they could do a lube job on a Rommie and he would live vs. killing a random earther with it? Just a wee bit more creativity with the actual experiments would have been welcome.

locutusx5 · November 2013

Hi,

I first would like to say this FE was very trekky in feel for me and i thank the whole cryptic team for their hard work.

I know some hated not having loads of combat but for me i enjoyed that fact is was light on it purely because most of trek wasn't combat based. The new puzzles were cool and worked well instead of the usual ui puzzles.

I loved reading through all the intelligence report but i now want to read the Borgs hehe. That's i what i enjoyed a lot about the romulan FE series. I think it was the mines enemy where you could read loads of reports on different species.

The art/scenery was amazingly done and very dark feeling imo which totally set the mood/edge for the whole mission. I know i probably took ages playing the mission as some fleeties said lol as spent a good hour ish making sure i explored everything lol.

Anyway if season 8 has more this type on content coming bring it on!!

Cheers cryptic sto team for a awesome new mission

Thanks
Loc

feiqa · November 2013

royalsovereign wrote: »

Which begs the question, why would they repeat that particular experiment? Why, indeed, would they perform such an experiment at all? Did they really think to gather some earth-shattering intel on the alpha quadrant by finding out that they could do a lube job on a Rommie and he would live vs. killing a random earther with it? Just a wee bit more creativity with the actual experiments would have been welcome.

When the TNG episode occured, one of the victims was Data. I got the impression they though he was a regular crew member and were trying to determine what his 'blood' did for other members of his race. IE they did not themselves know he was not organic.
Why repeat an experiment. . . Best guess is they still do not comprehend Data. He is a glitch in their data on various life forms and are trying to iron out the differences. They may assume he is a supperior Borg and he totally assimilates a host body. Would not know till you read their files on the subject. Maybe a future mission will answer that question.

markhawkman · November 2013

royalsovereign wrote: »

Which begs the question, why would they repeat that particular experiment? Why, indeed, would they perform such an experiment at all? Did they really think to gather some earth-shattering intel on the alpha quadrant by finding out that they could do a lube job on a Rommie and he would live vs. killing a random earther with it? Just a wee bit more creativity with the actual experiments would have been welcome.

the previous victim was human. Maiek was Romulan. maybe they hadn't tried it on a Romulan before?

We don't know much about their biology, so it's possible they were trying to develop a blood substitute that worked on humanoids. It might be that that procedure is standard for one of their race that is bleeding heavily.

dareau · November 2013

While I enjoy a good "romp through the script with a few shots and 'press F here'", there was one part that I felt particularly railroaded...

Right in the beginning, when dealing with A'drianna, you can check the power levels, and one of them is much lower than the rest. While I noticed it right on my first playthrough and immediately (through the intense power of knowing the mission is foreshadowed) thought that the power level discrepancy was going to fit into the story somehow...

Therefore, when my Fed Sci, then my Fed Engie, didn't even have the option to ask why the power level would be so low, I felt that something was missing...

spoilers
And then I remembered that in the ramp chamber, one of the consoles mentioned the fact that the owners influenced A'drianna into scrambling the settings to cause Mol'Rihan's collapse...

So, why doesn't my "speed promoted save-the-galaxy Admiral" even have the chance to mention it?

markhawkman · November 2013

Is there a reason why they would be the same?

dareau · November 2013

markhawkman wrote: »

Is there a reason why they would be the same?

I'd say that there's more reasons for them to be the same than different. Especially in light of the fact that the whole lead up of the mission to that point revolved around the Dewans "pre-warp society" mangling power levels / distribution and the Romulan (our) warp-capable society has the key to maintaining "appropriate" power levels...

And considering 2409's continued lack of circuit breakers...

So, as a plain 21st century ex-computer programmer, nevermind a 25th century Scientist or Engineer, the discrepancy screamed "issue" to me and I would have at least asked "is this intentional?" One too low? 3 too high? I don't care, it just "seemed" off and I couldn't address it at all...

Then the spoiler "gives it away to me" that said power levels actually drove the whole mission...

markhawkman · November 2013

Well, think of it like using multiple generators to power a building. You don't need to have all of the generators providing the same output.

dareau · November 2013

True. Yet, and to continue with a RL metaphor, if you were relying on multiple generators to power a city, and the last heat wave had a downtown blackout that led to a riot downtown, a smart person would question anything that looked off - like is one generator underperforming and ready to lead to a brownout / blackout / other lack of power, or are the other three going to pop a circuit breaker somewhere and do basically the same thing...

Granted, there may be a reason for that off generator to be set that way - it's an older generator, the sector of town that the off generator powers has a lesser demand, all sorts of things that said "smart person" wouldn't be aware of, and would remain "blissfully" unaware of unless he asks - or the very problem that everyone was attempting to avert reoccured and it came up in the debrief to much facepalming and anguish...

shevet · November 2013

It's very nice, on the whole. Lots of fun.

One detail has been bugging me a bit, though. What happens to Admiral Kererek? It looks, in the cutscene, as though he's one of the ones trapped in the chamber when the rock blocks the exit... and someone wearing a uniform much like his runs into the gateway... but he's not there when you get to the "Unknown Location", and in fact the next time you see him, he's on the communicator from New Romulus, with D'Tan, kvetching about the gates being opened.

So... did he send a stand-in? Was Kererek really an Undine or a changeling or some other infiltrator, who did a quick change into an alternative disguise while passing through the gate? Or did he get lucky, and get re-routed to New Romulus Command while everyone else wound up - somewhere else?

(Or was it just a continuity error? Naah, that could never happen!)

vengefuldjinn · November 2013

I stated this in another post, but I'm gonna leave it here for feedback.

I LOVED THIS MISSION !

I loved hearing Worf's voice in something new !

When the mission was over, and Worf told my character, (who to me represents NEW TREK), That he had won much honor, I had a "Picard meets Kirk" moment. I really did !

I sorry to say, I didn't really feel like that when my character met Tasha, maybe because we got to know Worf better, maybe because of Tasha's fate, I don't know, but I had a total nerdgasm at the moment Worf and my character saluted one another !

That right there was nothing more than pure Star Trek.

I might not agree with Cryptic's interpretation of Trek with every decision that they make, (like Romulans having to ally themselves ect.), but they DELIVERED with this episode !

THANK YOU CRYPTIC !

comtedeloach2 · November 2013

wolfpacknz wrote: »

My only real critiques are small but ones I hope you would change.

1. When you are freeing the prisoners the emote you chose was using a console. There are no consoles in that room, let alone near where you are seeing your toon type. Maybe the tricorder emote or adding a console pad at the cell doors would be a better option

2. Worf. You guys did a great job on his face, he really looks the part now BUT.... You gave him a stance which in those clothes makes him look like a gorilla. Worf never stood that cheesily. Could you possibly see your way to giving him a stance more fitting of his characters status?

That's my only real issues. I hope you can look at them. As for the rest I am seriously impressed and blown away with the map room. Awesome job on raising the bar yet again...

Hey, Worf had his back completely replaced on STTNG, if he has a little hunch give him a break....

comtedeloach2 · November 2013

mvp333 wrote: »

Quoted for truth.

Only problem for me is that there isn't much mention of the Dyson Sphere, or how the heck the Voth got there... here's hoping there's going to be a sequel(s) released with S8.

At the end the Enterprise says the gateway is locked on a fixed point. Thats going to be the Dyson Sphere...

markhawkman · November 2013

dareau wrote: »

True. Yet, and to continue with a RL metaphor, if you were relying on multiple generators to power a city, and the last heat wave had a downtown blackout that led to a riot downtown, a smart person would question anything that looked off - like is one generator underperforming and ready to lead to a brownout / blackout / other lack of power, or are the other three going to pop a circuit breaker somewhere and do basically the same thing...

Granted, there may be a reason for that off generator to be set that way - it's an older generator, the sector of town that the off generator powers has a lesser demand, all sorts of things that said "smart person" wouldn't be aware of, and would remain "blissfully" unaware of unless he asks - or the very problem that everyone was attempting to avert reoccured and it came up in the debrief to much facepalming and anguish...

Well, I think a better example would be using diesel generators. If you have multiple models of generator, they may or may not have the same energy output. Sure, it'd be best to have several with the same output, but that may or may not be practical.

Also... the Romulans are using some sort of geothermal system....

captainoblivous · November 2013

azyurion wrote: »

OMG! It was awesome to have Michael Dorn voice his character Worf, for Sphere of Influence!!!!

Why didn't STO hype this cameo up more?

I want more Star Trek alumni to do voice cameos for episodes and easter eggs

Big names doing VO is all well and good, but they have to give good performances AND have good writing.
The mission had neither.

Loved the premise though.

Sphere of Influence feedback

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