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"Sphere of Influence" Now Live!
pwebranflakes
Member Posts: 7,741
We are proud to announce that our latest Feature Episode, "Sphere of Influence," is now live! Team up with Ambassador Worf (voiced by Michael Dorn himself!) today to earn special rewards.
Link to the news article.
Link to the news article.
Post edited by pwebranflakes on
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Since it went live with the Patch yesterday?
Thank you for the time...
Cryptic, would you actulaly like me to spend actual Money? It's Simple:
Yeah, this was live yesterday. What's the deal? :P
lets say i did the mission a few times (4 times... 2 times on on two of my characters)
and i didnt get the hint of the mission be related with their name... if is something related with the line about quarra or one of the secondary consoles were one of them show something about andromeda...
Somebody please enlight me!!!
spocked thumb face...
Well, i think its related to the S8, to make a connection, since both have sphere in their name and indeed as u mentioned, i think is also about the influence of the iconians around this galaxy and even further away into another galaxy, andromeda.
...just like it has been since yesterday's patch. :P
There I said it.
Is this how he sounded in the shows? I've never watched a single Star Trek episode in my life so I really have no frame of reference, but after having played the episode a handful of times on different toons, I must say Worf's lines are insufferably over the top. Sounds more like Worf is channeling Shatner's Kirk:
"I'm... picking up... something.... BEYOND this dooooor!"
Absolutely hideous. I had to turn voice volume off, I just can't stand the guy.
Not trolling, just my honest to gorn opinion.
Cheers.
I wouldn't go quite that far. That said, he's done much better VO in "I Am Weasel" and "Gargoyles". he honestly still was better at VO in STO then Denise Crosby was (and again, not try to harp on anyone, but acting with your voice alone is different them acting in plays, or on TV/in film; and very few handle acting well across all these different mediums.)
My only real thought was, his 'Worf voice' for this wasn't quite as deep as it had been during the TNG/DS9 series, or the TNG feature films; but it may not be that easy a voice for his to do as he gets older; or maybe he does also need the costume and makeup to get fully into the 'Worf' character.
Again, I didn't find it horrendous myself; overall it was okay, and IMO added a lot to the FE itself. What I personally found a bit jarring though was the fact that a lot of times, they only had some characters voicing the first line of a large dialogue box. <--- I get that VO is expensive and time consuming to produce and work into the game engine, but again, having one character fully voiced, while the rest voice one line in ten seems off. I'd rather just have the rest of the cast not be voiced at all in this situation.
VMMV - but overall, I found the FE well done, and very 'Trek'. You had multiple characters working together; and most had good solid parts. We got to work more closely and directly with the captains of the Federation and KDF flagships in this FE, and that was fun.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
I hate to say it but I have to agree. It came off as very rushed and somewhat wooden to say the least.
That being said, I wasn't very impressed with the mission. That weird light/dark stuff going on when you walk between platforms was strange and frankly I don't see where any of it fits into the storyline, at least not as far as the point being to bring everyone 'up to speed' for season 8. It explained little to nothing and went nowhere
I hope season 8 is a considerable improvement from the episode, but at this point i'm not holding my breath
Loved the episode. It was great having Michael Dorn appear as Worf! I am eagerly awaiting Season 8 and more adventures with Worf!
Yeah, pretty obvious that trolling is precisely what you're about with that post. Pretty sad and mighty small of you, but to each their own.
So just because I've never watched Star Trek that means I'm trolling?
I may not have a frame of reference to compare Michael Dorn's work here with his own work in the shows. I do, however, have heard a lot of other works done by a myriad of other voice actors in a wide variety of media with which to compare Michael Dorn.
I expressed my opinion based on -and in comparison to- countless other voice works I've heard over the years in other MMOs, commercials, documentaries and animated TV shows or movies, and it is my honest appreciation that this particular work by Mr. Dorn is well below what I would consider a good voice work, and there seems to be other people in this thread who agree.
Perhaps I should have added "apologies if this offends anyone" in my original post.
Here, consider it added.
Cheers.
I agree and disagree with you. Now some of it was fine and some of it was not so good. It is almost like they never gave him the script of the story and told him what was going on. Just that he came in and read lines, probably under little direction. Michael Dorn has done some great voice work in animated series and other video games. It is the same thing with Denise Crosby. Some of the emotion s misplaced or is not there, same with the other voic acting in this episode. I'll give Cryptic a break on this one because they have had to Star Trek greats back to back. Just next time...let them see the mission a few times first and give them the final script.
As a whole the mission was okay, but the story felt choppy with the click this click that run over here run over there. A little too much of that I think and it definitely broke up the flow. I also would have liked if they either did all the lines for all the characters as VO or none. The VO of just the first line was a tad odd.
Gameplay, again it was okay. The animations of the extending walk-ways were cool but alot of money went into that set for just a small return. Very slow paced and these missions are starting to feel like a Star Trek episode you are taking part in. So you guys are getting there. I did almost have a glimpse of hope when everyone was arguing about whether to blow the gate up or not that the Romulans would pull out of their alliance and tada, form there own faction. It was a faint glimmer of hope. The carrier...I did not like anything about it, the design, the stats, the performance.
I think a couple of more weeks in the can and they would have had this episode at 100%. I also really do not see the repeatability aspect of this issue, even doing it twice on one character. If I go to two, three, etc... But, I am glad I don''t like the carrier.
So here is how I score it:
Environmental Art - A+ - the sets and animations were awesome
Animations - C- - the NPC animations in this game seriously need work in cut-scenes.
Gameplay - B - as I said it was very choppy but the novel minigame boosted it (love me some Simon)
Story - B- - I think it could have been written, voice acted and presented way better.
Reward - D - I do like free don't get me wrong, but the ship lacks in art, design, and functionality. Add that it's three piece set is locked behind a huge paywall.
I give it an overall 80%, B-.
Mine Trap Supporter
Since I liked your method of scoring:
Environmental Art - A+
The environment was great, and while they did remind me of other games I've played in it was well executed
Animations - C
They were STO animations. Nothing great, nothing terrible. They get a passing grade from me.
Gameplay - B-
Well implemented, but the only "New to STO!" element was the playing Simon. Which is actually why I scored it into the B's... the "maze" segment needed more than one actual path to make it intereting, and maybe some unique little Easter egg souvenir. Yes, I went to every side platform (not path, just side platforms)... and all I got was this imaginary T-Shirt.
Story - B
I actually liked the story, though I would have preferred a little more suspense. When a mysterious "something" is making my people disappear, it really should take a bit more time to do so in order to build suspense... and be harder to kill when I do find it.
Reward - C-
Mostly rated this well due to getting a free ship. Not sure I'll actually use it, but it was free...
I took the Omni-Directional Proton Beam Array. It turns out to have the DPS of a Mk XII turret with the same modifiers, rather than performing like a beam array, and therefore is not quite as useful as just getting a Mk XII turret with 3 [Mods] or 2 [Mods] + an extra Proc. Really disappointed since it in theory uses a [Mod] to widen the [Arc] of a Beam Array. Oh, it still drains like a Beam Array, so there is that :P
The Warp Core might be a better idea; it is an Overcharged Warp Core Mk X.1667 [Rep] [A->S] [SCap] [SSR] [SSS] [SST]. You might get a slight bump with a Vesta using the Aux DHC's or a pure "caster" type Science ship, since it increases max Aux power by 10, but overall the core is of limited use. Good for getting about, if you want to use it as a clicky in sector space along with an Assimilated Engine. This is purely a convenience thing, though; since Tour was nerfed there's little point to making yourself especially fast in sector space.
2-piece set bonus is cool in theory, but it takes up the Warp Core slot with something less effective than would otherwise be the case; not worth it.
3-piece set bonus is neat, but is extremely expensive. If you're going to spend that much Lobi there are superior vessels to purchase, and again that Warp Core is meh.
Honestly, if they'd just let me take one of the Rechargeable Batteries as a reward I'd have been happier... but those are limited to their demo ships.
Overall - B-
The mission was solid, the rewards are meh. Michael Dorn was just fine, by the way :P
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=897841
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=898571
Please fix this bug before December 5th. I am delaying playing this mission until this bug is fixed.
There may be some story weaknesses or so, but i don't care. You catched the Spirit of trek quite good and that's what counts for me the most.
+WORF!
Seriously Michael Dorn made a great job!
I think it's a shame we don't have Worf much more often around.
Just a thought, Ambassador Worf could have been made something like a Klingon Tovan Kev.
Maybe it's just me but to hear Worf in STO, made this game feel really like Star Trek the first time.
But why a carrier?
(Not very trekkish IMO :mad:)
This is Awesome! Another one of the Greats being apart of STO !!!
Got me curious as to wondering if there will be anyone else in the future?
Michael Dorn does a Fantastic job, (as always), in this episode as Worf. And I have to admit, that it got me playing the game again right now, after not doing so for many months.
Perhaps in the near future we may have Captain Picard or Janeway in an episode or two. Or , which would be funny, is Data.
Anyone really from the original star trek , next generation or Voyager, is Brilliant.
Kes from Voyager, is my favorite character.
Anyhow well done STO!!! Keep up the great work!
As for the rest of the episode, I've already posted my comments elsewhere: I thought the art was beautiful, but there was basically no gameplay value for me. It was generally just an extended story dump followed by the generic "here check out our new ship" segment we got in the last Featured Episode.
Ann Manistee Traverse - Human Science ~~ Oken Miquat - Saurian Tactical
Exin Jor - Joined Trill Engineer ~~ Vartox - Romulan Science
Dn'Dok, son of Ladok - Klingon/Romulan Engineer ~~ Mosa M'ren-faa - Ferasan Tactical
Krushan Twinn - Orion Science
We see what you did there.
Though thanks for proving creating new powers and abilities on short cool downs isn't beyond you. So I guess its just sloppy Bridge officer skill seeding programming stopping us from getting any new bridge officer skills in the last 4 years.
Good mission i'm looking forward on how this story will evolve.
I was hoping for some information about the undine if they are featured since we are moving to the delta quadrant
So if you don't have a frame of reference, how are you able to pass an opinion?
I think the only differences with Dorn's voice here and in the shows is that he does sound a little older (for obvious reasons) and in the shows he did have more moments where he was able to be more subtle.
And I agree with the guy who said that he sounds more natural than Denise Crosby, at least for her portrayal of Yar. Can't fault her voice work for Sela - she was positively unnerving during "Mind Game" and that sold me on her performance.
I really have to give credit where credit is due and Cryptic has really stepped up their game as of late with the Denise Crosby FE, LoR and now SoI. The storytelling, plots, cinematics and just the overall Trekiness are all much improved. Not to mention giving us some pretty sweet ships gratis to boot.
You guys rock and the way things are trending I cannot wait to see what you have in store for us in the future.
Wishing you all much success.
Thanks Cryptic!
Carrier is limited time but are the AP beam and the Warp core also limited time (or can we go back and get the beam or warp core at any time)?
Mainly just want to run them once per character but will be a nightmare if I gotta do it twice per character.
Oh, and I love flying the Obelisk.
My character Tsin'xing
Yeah I had like one alt that didn't have a ship so I'm probally going to get the whole set for that one. Possibly more if I find a reason with the others but hoping its like the others with the slight change where I can get the whole thing later on if I want too