Plus, the Typhon pact has members that are already a bunch of different playable races, such as the Romulans and the Orions.
Although we could go with the Novel-verse idea of the Breen.
Like the Federation, they draw on multiple races and cultures, and no race is legally subordinate to another. Where the Federation celebrates its diversity and the potential for new perspectives, the Breen fear bias to an extreme degree, and insist on hiding their diversity even as they utilize it. The Federation is open and bright, the Breen are secretive and dark.
In Starfleet Command, they had a race called the Interstellar Concordium, who wanted to bring order to the Galaxy by conquering it. Perhaps, a similar brand-new faction that has never been done before.
Cryptic has made their decision so Romulans are not getting their own faction. KDF players are complaining that they can't do certain PvE Queues due to there being far more Feds than KDF. If there is 3 full factions, then KDF and Romulans would suffer from it. So to get a full Romulan faction, we need lots more people interested in playing STO. If STO had anywhere close to the numbers that WoW has, then a third faction could work.
The Typhon Pact is limited to the novel universe so it is something we can't have. Something like it could work if we create a Federation/Klingon Empire Alliance to keep the 2 faction system, but that will probably irritate a bunch of KDF players.
Note that I said it would be cool and I would love it, not that I thought there would ever be a chance of it happening. Hence the whole "We'd get a T5-Connie before this" reference.
TBH, I am hoping for a Cardassian faction. I even wrote up my own little tutorial.
Species:
Cardassian
Jem'Hadar (500 Zen)
Vorta
Alien
Final week of boot camp. You and a group of cadets are in a shuttle on way to Big Ceremony. Suddenly shuttle crash. You and a Vorta Science Officer (VSO) are talking when the shuttle crashes. After waking up, you save VSO from sandworms. You and her are the only survivors. You decide to survive out in the desert and wait for rescue. However, ZOMG True Way Camp! After blowing it up, you hijack a ship and stop an attempted Coup of the government.
Note that I said it would be cool and I would love it, not that I thought there would ever be a chance of it happening. Hence the whole "We'd get a T5-Connie before this" reference.
And I mentioned that while we can't get the Typhon Pact, we could get something similar by rearranging a couple of things.
In Starfleet Command, they had a race called the Interstellar Concordium, who wanted to bring order to the Galaxy by conquering it. Perhaps, a similar brand-new faction that has never been done before.
Point of order: the Concordium was actually from Starfleet Battles (the tabletop wargame), so it wasn't a brand-new not seen before faction, exactly (there were plans to bring in the Andromedans, too, but those didn't pan out with Interplay's decay).
They could "bolt in" a new race at any time simply by adding a new set of starter missions or further customizing what's available.
I'm not convinced that they won't eventually introduce a Cardassian and/or Liberated Borg mini-faction. There's certainly at least a little demand for those. However, I predict that we won't see those happen until it makes sense to fit into the game's overall storyline and when Cryptic needs a new hook to monetize with.
And that's where we start to run into problems with this "mercenary" faction. The monetization potential is there, but the demand might not be. And unless they can make it fit in with the long-term storyline, it will never happen.
So... maybe Cryptic should take a page from the "Star Trek: Renegades" playbook. Have the player start out as an outlaw or independent that gets sucked into joining a clandestine, cross-faction operation to do the "dirty jobs" that the mainstream forces can't do. I'd have Drake blackmailing them into it, and let that be the turning point for whether the character allies with Starfleet or the Empire. And tie that in to the Iconian storyline somehow.
All they need is a great hook that makes players want to roll up a character, and they're set. For some of us, the opportunity to give Drake some kind of come-uppance would be plenty. Access to "Black-Market" vendors with reduced prices would attract others.
One hook I can see is this:
The Cardassians agreed to join Omega Force back in the 2800, despite not having a military. They've also got to be somewhat concerned about this Iconian business. It's a prospect for another war but it's also a chance for renewed independence.
The Japanese, if memory serves, lobbied to participate in both Iraq Wars. They were not allowed to have an offensive military after WWII but they managed to talk the U.S. into letting them assist, particularly when the US didn't have many allies in the second Iraq War. Demilitarized countries have also participated in training exercises.
Cardassians excel at ordered bureaucracy.
So have them in charge of training and licensing independents to fight.
So... They're not your government or your commanding officer (unless you play a Cardassian peacekeeper). They're the annoying bureaucrat looking over your shoulder, inspecting your cargo. Follow their regulations and you can transport previously banned goods, access the Gamma Quadrant, and carry VERY. HEAVY. WEAPONS. that would ordinarily not be permitted for civilians.
You may be a human trader, a Romulan miner, a Klingon soldier of fortune, a ferengi entrepreneur, a Chalnoth, or any one of MANY, MANY species. But the Klingons and Federation have quietly agreed to let the Cardassians oversee regulating you. They're not your government, again. They're inspectors, subcontracting the job of overseeing your ship for the Klingons or the Federation.
If you play an actual Cardassian, you get a somewhat different spin on that story but the bottom line is you seize control of a non-compliant vessel after discovering that the Captain has ties to the Tal Shiar. OFFICIALLY, you're not an agent of the Cardassian government. Unofficially... well... There's a simple tailor turned politician back on Cardassia who thinks it might be VALUABLE to have seized ships overseen by Cardassians because it MIGHT convince the Klingons and Federation to let the Cardassians have their own fleets again.
I still vote for the Xindi, would be cool, the base races would be the Arborians, Primates, Reptilians and Aquatics (who would use photonic avatars to move around) and Insectoids can be purchased in the C store.
On a side note would anyone here want to see the Suliban as a race in the Romulan faction? Since they are already in their story line as a friend of the republic and enemy of Tal'Shiar.
Ugh no more factions. With the way the faction system works now in order to force players to align with Fed or Klingons we'll get all sorts of story butchery like the job they did with the Romulan Republic. New playable species fine, but mini factions are a joke.
personally having a mini faction is no problem as far as I can see, sure you end up playing all the same story lines as the faction you choose but then after a certain point didn't the kdf have many of the same story missions as the feds anyhow and once you hit lvl 50 apart from your home base (ie earth space dock) there is very little difference with any of the factions, we all do the same reps,pves & events and apart from the fleet starbase looking a little different even the fleet holdings are very similar with just a few minor differances.
now if it was a tal shiar operative or a member of the orion syndicate that might be a different story but I don't think that's likely to happen.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
IMHO STO doesn't need another faction yet, but if the Devs really feel the need, then Cardies are invariably the way they should go. As for who to ally them with, in the past the Cardies brought in the remains of the Alpha quadrant Jem haddar, as well as the Breen, so tthat should cover off allies and ships needed.
I just don't know what kind of story Cardies could bring, unless its cleaning up the messes made by some offshoot groups (the 'renagade' Breen from Defara, the leftover Jem haddar from the 'New Link' episode, etc).
I suppose a rebuilding storyline could work, as well as having to chase down the 'New Way' thugs, and deal with the remnants of the Obsidian Order. Thats a LOT like the Roms though, so I dunno how original that would feel.
The Cardassians agreed to join Omega Force back in the 2800, despite not having a military. They've also got to be somewhat concerned about this Iconian business. It's a prospect for another war but it's also a chance for renewed independence.
The Japanese, if memory serves, lobbied to participate in both Iraq Wars. They were not allowed to have an offensive military after WWII but they managed to talk the U.S. into letting them assist, particularly when the US didn't have many allies in the second Iraq War. Demilitarized countries have also participated in training exercises.
Cardassians excel at ordered bureaucracy.
So have them in charge of training and licensing independents to fight.
So... They're not your government or your commanding officer (unless you play a Cardassian peacekeeper). They're the annoying bureaucrat looking over your shoulder, inspecting your cargo. Follow their regulations and you can transport previously banned goods, access the Gamma Quadrant, and carry VERY. HEAVY. WEAPONS. that would ordinarily not be permitted for civilians.
You may be a human trader, a Romulan miner, a Klingon soldier of fortune, a ferengi entrepreneur, a Chalnoth, or any one of MANY, MANY species. But the Klingons and Federation have quietly agreed to let the Cardassians oversee regulating you. They're not your government, again. They're inspectors, subcontracting the job of overseeing your ship for the Klingons or the Federation.
If you play an actual Cardassian, you get a somewhat different spin on that story but the bottom line is you seize control of a non-compliant vessel after discovering that the Captain has ties to the Tal Shiar. OFFICIALLY, you're not an agent of the Cardassian government. Unofficially... well... There's a simple tailor turned politician back on Cardassia who thinks it might be VALUABLE to have seized ships overseen by Cardassians because it MIGHT convince the Klingons and Federation to let the Cardassians have their own fleets again.
I REALLY like it now
Great ideas!
Or, in Mythbuster parlance...
Plausible.
My views may not represent those of Cryptic Studios or Perfect World Entertainment. You can file a "forums and website" support ticket here Link: How to PM - Twitter @STOMod_Bluegeek
#1: Cardassian Union > Subfaction to the Federation and the Klingon Empire Playable Races: Cardassian, Alien/Hybird Ships: Hideki, Galor, Kledon, (more orginal ships need to be made by Cryptic) Notes: The Cardassians are still in the midst of rebulding their homeworld and colonies which were devastated with hundreds of millions of cardassian lives lost during the Dominion War from the Jem'hadar murderous rampage. At this moment in the timeline of the game the Cardassians are the puppets of the Federation which they sign a treaty that the Cardassian Union would not field a military nor wage war, but this would change in the new Federation-Klingon conflict which the Federation forces are tied up in thier fight vs the Klingons, incursions by thye Borg and threats from mutiple opened Iconian gateways, this would not doubt force the Cardassians to rebuild their military and it will also brings opportunity for the KDF to support the rebelous Cardassian factions who felt subjugated by the Federation-Cardassian Treaty since the Cardassians are a proud people.
#2: Dominion > 3rd Major Faction (storyline needs to be set in 2410) Playable Races: Founders, Vorta, Jem'hadar, Kremma, Dosi, Hunters, Alien/Hybird Ships: Fighter, Attack Ship, Heavy Escort (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Battleship, Dreadnought Carrier (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Hunters Starships, Hunters Shuttle (aka Tosk ship) and Kremma starships (more original ships need to be made by Cryptic) Notes: Even though the Dominion failed to control Alpha Quadrant (major factor is due to interferance from the Prophets of the Wormhole preventing reinforcements), The Dominion is still far larger and more powerful than both the Federation and the Klingon Empire combined. even though Odo cured his people, many of his people still feel resentment towards the ''Solids'' and sent about to bring ''Order'' to rest of the chaotic Galaxy from their newly captured reactivated Icionian Gateways.
#3: Liberated Borg > Subfaction to the Federation, Klingon Empire and the Dominion Playable Races: Liberated Borg (Alien/Hybird) Ships: Lore's Renegade Borg Ship (More variations similar to this type is needed to be made by Cryptic) Notes: Dev's in the past have mention them along with the Cardassians as possible future factions. Liberated from Collective, (see ST:Voy S7) the Libertaed Borg community try to live their indepentant lives only to be pursued by the Borg Collective who agressively seeks to reintergrate them back into the Collective which would forced the Liberated Borg make an alliance with the Federation, Klingons or the Dominion to fight the Borg Collective and other potential threats.
#1: Cardassian Union > Subfaction to the Federation and the Klingon Empire Playable Races: Cardassian, Alien/Hybird Ships: Hideki, Galor, Kledon, (more orginal ships need to be made by Cryptic) Notes: The Cardassians are still in the midst of rebulding their homeworld and colonies which were devastated with hundreds of millions of cardassian lives lost during the Dominion War from the Jem'hadar murderous rampage. At this moment in the timeline of the game the Cardassians are the puppets of the Federation which they sign a treaty that the Cardassian Union would not field a military nor wage war, but this would change in the new Federation-Klingon conflict which the Federation forces are tied up in thier fight vs the Klingons, incursions by thye Borg and threats from mutiple opened Iconian gateways, this would not doubt force the Cardassians to rebuild their military and it will also brings opportunity for the KDF to support the rebelous Cardassian factions who felt subjugated by the Federation-Cardassian Treaty since the Cardassians are a proud people.
#2: Dominion > 3rd Major Faction (storyline needs to be set in 2410) Playable Races: Founders, Vorta, Jem'hadar, Kremma, Dosi, Hunters, Alien/Hybird Ships: Fighter, Attack Ship, Heavy Escort (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Battleship, Dreadnought Carrier (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Hunters Starships, Hunters Shuttle (aka Tosk ship) and Kremma starships (more original ships need to be made by Cryptic) Notes: Even though the Dominion failed to control Alpha Quadrant (major factor is due to interferance from the Prophets of the Wormhole preventing reinforcements), The Dominion is still far larger and more powerful than both the Federation and the Klingon Empire combined. even though Odo cured his people, many of his people still feel resentment towards the ''Solids'' and sent about to bring ''Order'' to rest of the chaotic Galaxy from their newly captured reactivated Icionian Gateways.
#3: Liberated Borg > Subfaction to the Federation, Klingon Empire and the Dominion Playable Races: Liberated Borg (Alien/Hybird) Ships: Lore's Renegade Borg Ship (More variations similar to this type is needed to be made by Cryptic) Notes: Dev's in the past have mention them along with the Cardassians as possible future factions. Liberated from Collective, (see ST:Voy S7) the Libertaed Borg community try to live their indepentant lives only to be pursued by the Borg Collective who agressively seeks to reintergrate them back into the Collective which would forced the Liberated Borg make an alliance with the Federation, Klingons or the Dominion to fight the Borg Collective and other potential threats.
#3 Would not make sense since it would take away the probably only great perk of the life time subscribers, the playable Liberated Borg.
#2 You cannot have Founders as a playable race, the mechanics alone would be impossible and if you can't do them justice than don't add them. Also Vorta are useless in fights so better skip them. Would be better to replace those two with the Yaderans and the Son'a.
#1 Personally I would very much like a faction with more than 1 race.
And why is no one liking the idea of a Xindi faction? :P
Terran Empire, it would be nice to be evil for a while and plus there is the fact that the Alliance war could provide a nice back drop to the faction story.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Terran Empire, it would be nice to be evil for a while and plus there is the fact that the Alliance war could provide a nice back drop to the faction story.
You know, I really don't mind a Terran Empire faction based off timelines and temporal mechanics, I can see Franklin Drake getting a huge role in regards to the voice acting portion if it comes to this faction.
1: No new Factions until the Romulans can be at least played as a fully independent faction.
2: The next playable faction should be the Dominion. It is larger and far more powerful than the federation; with many races, ships, and paths for players.
I like that idea, with the Alpha Q Dominion and their apparent home-world located within Cardasian territory it would make more sense for them to align them with that. Id love to have a Cardasian/Dominon. I would even enjoy a possible playable Species 8472.
There's a simple tailor turned politician back on Cardassia who thinks it might be VALUABLE to have seized ships overseen by Cardassians because it MIGHT convince the Klingons and Federation to let the Cardassians have their own fleets again.
Let's not exaggerate here. The Cardassians do have a Defence Force, with ships flying around and all (for instance, they got two ships above Bajor at on point, at least for Fed or Fed-aligned Romulan characters). It's just a pretty small one.
IMHO STO doesn't need another faction yet, but if the Devs really feel the need, then Cardies are invariably the way they should go. As for who to ally them with, in the past the Cardies brought in the remains of the Alpha quadrant Jem haddar, as well as the Breen, so tthat should cover off allies and ships needed.
From what I recall, it was the Dominion that brought in the Breen, with the Cardassians being indicated to have traditionally been hostile with them (and weren't several Cardassian worlds handed over to the Breen as a sweetener? Hardly the kind of thing that would endear even extremists like the True Way to the Breen).
I would bet we won't be getting any new factions anytime remotely soon. Also it would be a smart bet that any new faction won't be one that we already have lockbox ships for. So definitely no cardassians or dominion.
If we were to ever get a new faction, I would vote for something of cryptic's own design. Mostly because I would like to see what they could come up with that would be different from anything we have now.
#3 Would not make sense since it would take away the probably only great perk of the life time subscribers, the playable Liberated Borg.
#2 You cannot have Founders as a playable race, the mechanics alone would be impossible and if you can't do them justice than don't add them. Also Vorta are useless in fights so better skip them. Would be better to replace those two with the Yaderans and the Son'a.
#1 Personally I would very much like a faction with more than 1 race.
And why is no one liking the idea of a Xindi faction? :P
#3 Too bad it's not really my idea to plan a future possible Borg faction for the game it's the Dev's, Dstahl has mention in a blog b4 the LoR came saying it's is possible they gonna add a Borg faction sometime in the future. i personally don't like an idea of a Borg Collective faction i rather see an offshoot renegade faction that was shown on the TV series which is in this case ST: VOY S7, instead of a Borg Collective drone that spends it's time on the exchange selling things instead of assimilating people as it suppose to do.
#2 Why not the founders? in game they're not much different than any other humaniods in terms of mechanics only difference is the NPC versions don't have any weapons, let's say if there's a playable version of a founder, of course there will need to be something to balance it like they can use weapons, but when they use a special founder melee attack abilities their weapons can't be used at the same time, as for the melee abilities themselfs i would suggest they should selected from the traits and not as a racial passive (maybe except strangle hold) but these abilities would need a cd timer like any other, as for shape shifting i would suggest only a character mimic ability, which the founder can turn into a enemy player it mimics while friendly to both ally which the founder is on still how it's name>title>fleet to allies, and to the enemy which will look like one of thier own but the difference the Founder mimic the player has only their name show to the enemy, but not the Titles or Fleet names on it and if the player thinks its a founder they can shoot at it canceling the friendly color bar of the founder and turn into enemy color bar to them. this mimic ability should have a timer as well due to balance.
The Vorta do have eye, ears, hands and feet so they can handle any weapons just like any other race, and besides the same could be said that tellarites are useless in fights yet in this game they can use any weapon. since the Vortas does have a commanding ability as show in DS9 i would suggest they have Space Traits to increase whatever stats similar to a operative, subterfuge, pirate and leadership trait and have a Ground Trait similar to a Human Teamwork trait and can buff nearby teammates.
#1 Cryptic could always add a ally race to Cardassian faction like the Klingons have with their Mercenary Races such as the Nausicaans and Letheans. maybe the Son'a could be playable for the Cardassians since they were allies with them during the Dominion war (after the events of ST: Insurrection) or any other race mention that helping the Cardassian on DS9.
#1 Cryptic could always add a ally race to Cardassian faction like the Klingons have with their Mercenary Races such as the Nausicaans and Letheans. maybe the Son'a could be playable for the Cardassians since they were allies with them during the Dominion war (after the events of ST: Insurrection) or any other race mention that helping the Cardassian on DS9.
Maybe Boslics? They showed up in several DS9 episodes and apparently traded with the Cardassians.
The Cardassians agreed to join Omega Force back in the 2800, despite not having a military. They've also got to be somewhat concerned about this Iconian business. It's a prospect for another war but it's also a chance for renewed independence.
The Japanese, if memory serves, lobbied to participate in both Iraq Wars. They were not allowed to have an offensive military after WWII but they managed to talk the U.S. into letting them assist, particularly when the US didn't have many allies in the second Iraq War. Demilitarized countries have also participated in training exercises.
Cardassians excel at ordered bureaucracy.
So have them in charge of training and licensing independents to fight.
So... They're not your government or your commanding officer (unless you play a Cardassian peacekeeper). They're the annoying bureaucrat looking over your shoulder, inspecting your cargo. Follow their regulations and you can transport previously banned goods, access the Gamma Quadrant, and carry VERY. HEAVY. WEAPONS. that would ordinarily not be permitted for civilians.
You may be a human trader, a Romulan miner, a Klingon soldier of fortune, a ferengi entrepreneur, a Chalnoth, or any one of MANY, MANY species. But the Klingons and Federation have quietly agreed to let the Cardassians oversee regulating you. They're not your government, again. They're inspectors, subcontracting the job of overseeing your ship for the Klingons or the Federation.
If you play an actual Cardassian, you get a somewhat different spin on that story but the bottom line is you seize control of a non-compliant vessel after discovering that the Captain has ties to the Tal Shiar. OFFICIALLY, you're not an agent of the Cardassian government. Unofficially... well... There's a simple tailor turned politician back on Cardassia who thinks it might be VALUABLE to have seized ships overseen by Cardassians because it MIGHT convince the Klingons and Federation to let the Cardassians have their own fleets again.
#3 Too bad it's not really my idea to plan a future possible Borg faction for the game it's the Dev's, Dstahl has mention in a blog b4 the LoR came saying it's is possible they gonna add a Borg faction sometime in the future. i personally don't like an idea of a Borg Collective faction i rather see an offshoot renegade faction that was shown on the TV series which is in this case ST: VOY S7, instead of a Borg Collective drone that spends it's time on the exchange selling things instead of assimilating people as it suppose to do.
#2 Why not the founders? in game they're not much different than any other humaniods in terms of mechanics only difference is the NPC versions don't have any weapons, let's say if there's a playable version of a founder, of course there will need to be something to balance it like they can use weapons, but when they use a special founder melee attack abilities their weapons can't be used at the same time, as for the melee abilities themselfs i would suggest they should selected from the traits and not as a racial passive (maybe except strangle hold) but these abilities would need a cd timer like any other, as for shape shifting i would suggest only a character mimic ability, which the founder can turn into a enemy player it mimics while friendly to both ally which the founder is on still how it's name>title>fleet to allies, and to the enemy which will look like one of thier own but the difference the Founder mimic the player has only their name show to the enemy, but not the Titles or Fleet names on it and if the player thinks its a founder they can shoot at it canceling the friendly color bar of the founder and turn into enemy color bar to them. this mimic ability should have a timer as well due to balance.
The Vorta do have eye, ears, hands and feet so they can handle any weapons just like any other race, and besides the same could be said that tellarites are useless in fights yet in this game they can use any weapon. since the Vortas does have a commanding ability as show in DS9 i would suggest they have Space Traits to increase whatever stats similar to a operative, subterfuge, pirate and leadership trait and have a Ground Trait similar to a Human Teamwork trait and can buff nearby teammates.
#1 Cryptic could always add a ally race to Cardassian faction like the Klingons have with their Mercenary Races such as the Nausicaans and Letheans. maybe the Son'a could be playable for the Cardassians since they were allies with them during the Dominion war (after the events of ST: Insurrection) or any other race mention that helping the Cardassian on DS9.
#2 Have you fought a changeling in a mission? Have you seen what it does, I sincerely doubt that it would be possible from players view.
As for Vorta it is a matter of fluff/lore. If you make them a playable race than there will be Vorta Duty/Bridge officers and can you imagine Vorta taking orders from a Jem'Hadar?
4th fraction? There are only two fractions in this game. Romulans are Remens are races which can choose to be the part of KDF or Federation. If they are going to introduce more species then they will follow the same pattern.
Grinding for MkIV epic gear?
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That
As for Vorta it is a matter of fluff/lore. If you make them a playable race than there will be Vorta Duty/Bridge officers and can you imagine Vorta taking orders from a Jem'Hadar?
In the right circumstances, but they would be very rare right circumstances (of course, taking advice is another matter). If one wants to be technical, it actually already is possible in-game - there aren't Vorta bridge officers (that I know of), but there are Vorta duty officers... and a Jem'Hadar Tactical bridge officer
Comments
In Starfleet Command, they had a race called the Interstellar Concordium, who wanted to bring order to the Galaxy by conquering it. Perhaps, a similar brand-new faction that has never been done before.
Note that I said it would be cool and I would love it, not that I thought there would ever be a chance of it happening. Hence the whole "We'd get a T5-Connie before this" reference.
Species:
Cardassian
Jem'Hadar (500 Zen)
Vorta
Alien
Final week of boot camp. You and a group of cadets are in a shuttle on way to Big Ceremony. Suddenly shuttle crash. You and a Vorta Science Officer (VSO) are talking when the shuttle crashes. After waking up, you save VSO from sandworms. You and her are the only survivors. You decide to survive out in the desert and wait for rescue. However, ZOMG True Way Camp! After blowing it up, you hijack a ship and stop an attempted Coup of the government.
That's a rough outline for now.
And I mentioned that while we can't get the Typhon Pact, we could get something similar by rearranging a couple of things.
One hook I can see is this:
The Cardassians agreed to join Omega Force back in the 2800, despite not having a military. They've also got to be somewhat concerned about this Iconian business. It's a prospect for another war but it's also a chance for renewed independence.
The Japanese, if memory serves, lobbied to participate in both Iraq Wars. They were not allowed to have an offensive military after WWII but they managed to talk the U.S. into letting them assist, particularly when the US didn't have many allies in the second Iraq War. Demilitarized countries have also participated in training exercises.
Cardassians excel at ordered bureaucracy.
So have them in charge of training and licensing independents to fight.
So... They're not your government or your commanding officer (unless you play a Cardassian peacekeeper). They're the annoying bureaucrat looking over your shoulder, inspecting your cargo. Follow their regulations and you can transport previously banned goods, access the Gamma Quadrant, and carry VERY. HEAVY. WEAPONS. that would ordinarily not be permitted for civilians.
You may be a human trader, a Romulan miner, a Klingon soldier of fortune, a ferengi entrepreneur, a Chalnoth, or any one of MANY, MANY species. But the Klingons and Federation have quietly agreed to let the Cardassians oversee regulating you. They're not your government, again. They're inspectors, subcontracting the job of overseeing your ship for the Klingons or the Federation.
If you play an actual Cardassian, you get a somewhat different spin on that story but the bottom line is you seize control of a non-compliant vessel after discovering that the Captain has ties to the Tal Shiar. OFFICIALLY, you're not an agent of the Cardassian government. Unofficially... well... There's a simple tailor turned politician back on Cardassia who thinks it might be VALUABLE to have seized ships overseen by Cardassians because it MIGHT convince the Klingons and Federation to let the Cardassians have their own fleets again.
On a side note would anyone here want to see the Suliban as a race in the Romulan faction? Since they are already in their story line as a friend of the republic and enemy of Tal'Shiar.
personally having a mini faction is no problem as far as I can see, sure you end up playing all the same story lines as the faction you choose but then after a certain point didn't the kdf have many of the same story missions as the feds anyhow and once you hit lvl 50 apart from your home base (ie earth space dock) there is very little difference with any of the factions, we all do the same reps,pves & events and apart from the fleet starbase looking a little different even the fleet holdings are very similar with just a few minor differances.
now if it was a tal shiar operative or a member of the orion syndicate that might be a different story but I don't think that's likely to happen.
When I think about everything we've been through together,
maybe it's not the destination that matters, maybe it's the journey,
and if that journey takes a little longer,
so we can do something we all believe in,
I can't think of any place I'd rather be or any people I'd rather be with.
I just don't know what kind of story Cardies could bring, unless its cleaning up the messes made by some offshoot groups (the 'renagade' Breen from Defara, the leftover Jem haddar from the 'New Link' episode, etc).
I suppose a rebuilding storyline could work, as well as having to chase down the 'New Way' thugs, and deal with the remnants of the Obsidian Order. Thats a LOT like the Roms though, so I dunno how original that would feel.
I REALLY like it now
Great ideas!
Or, in Mythbuster parlance...
Plausible.
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My character Tsin'xing
#1: Cardassian Union > Subfaction to the Federation and the Klingon Empire
Playable Races: Cardassian, Alien/Hybird
Ships: Hideki, Galor, Kledon, (more orginal ships need to be made by Cryptic)
Notes: The Cardassians are still in the midst of rebulding their homeworld and colonies which were devastated with hundreds of millions of cardassian lives lost during the Dominion War from the Jem'hadar murderous rampage. At this moment in the timeline of the game the Cardassians are the puppets of the Federation which they sign a treaty that the Cardassian Union would not field a military nor wage war, but this would change in the new Federation-Klingon conflict which the Federation forces are tied up in thier fight vs the Klingons, incursions by thye Borg and threats from mutiple opened Iconian gateways, this would not doubt force the Cardassians to rebuild their military and it will also brings opportunity for the KDF to support the rebelous Cardassian factions who felt subjugated by the Federation-Cardassian Treaty since the Cardassians are a proud people.
#2: Dominion > 3rd Major Faction (storyline needs to be set in 2410)
Playable Races: Founders, Vorta, Jem'hadar, Kremma, Dosi, Hunters, Alien/Hybird
Ships: Fighter, Attack Ship, Heavy Escort (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Battleship, Dreadnought Carrier (T5 3-pack Zen-Store), Hunters Starships, Hunters Shuttle (aka Tosk ship) and Kremma starships (more original ships need to be made by Cryptic)
Notes: Even though the Dominion failed to control Alpha Quadrant (major factor is due to interferance from the Prophets of the Wormhole preventing reinforcements), The Dominion is still far larger and more powerful than both the Federation and the Klingon Empire combined. even though Odo cured his people, many of his people still feel resentment towards the ''Solids'' and sent about to bring ''Order'' to rest of the chaotic Galaxy from their newly captured reactivated Icionian Gateways.
#3: Liberated Borg > Subfaction to the Federation, Klingon Empire and the Dominion
Playable Races: Liberated Borg (Alien/Hybird)
Ships: Lore's Renegade Borg Ship (More variations similar to this type is needed to be made by Cryptic)
Notes: Dev's in the past have mention them along with the Cardassians as possible future factions. Liberated from Collective, (see ST:Voy S7) the Libertaed Borg community try to live their indepentant lives only to be pursued by the Borg Collective who agressively seeks to reintergrate them back into the Collective which would forced the Liberated Borg make an alliance with the Federation, Klingons or the Dominion to fight the Borg Collective and other potential threats.
#3 Would not make sense since it would take away the probably only great perk of the life time subscribers, the playable Liberated Borg.
#2 You cannot have Founders as a playable race, the mechanics alone would be impossible and if you can't do them justice than don't add them. Also Vorta are useless in fights so better skip them. Would be better to replace those two with the Yaderans and the Son'a.
#1 Personally I would very much like a faction with more than 1 race.
And why is no one liking the idea of a Xindi faction? :P
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
You know, I really don't mind a Terran Empire faction based off timelines and temporal mechanics, I can see Franklin Drake getting a huge role in regards to the voice acting portion if it comes to this faction.
Also, expect Tholian entanglements.
I like that idea, with the Alpha Q Dominion and their apparent home-world located within Cardasian territory it would make more sense for them to align them with that. Id love to have a Cardasian/Dominon. I would even enjoy a possible playable Species 8472.
Um... no.
My character Tsin'xing
Since we will not get a full faction, I would say an independent trader/bounty hunter/merc would be nice or a Caitian/Ferasan one.
If we were to ever get a new faction, I would vote for something of cryptic's own design. Mostly because I would like to see what they could come up with that would be different from anything we have now.
#3 Too bad it's not really my idea to plan a future possible Borg faction for the game it's the Dev's, Dstahl has mention in a blog b4 the LoR came saying it's is possible they gonna add a Borg faction sometime in the future. i personally don't like an idea of a Borg Collective faction i rather see an offshoot renegade faction that was shown on the TV series which is in this case ST: VOY S7, instead of a Borg Collective drone that spends it's time on the exchange selling things instead of assimilating people as it suppose to do.
#2 Why not the founders? in game they're not much different than any other humaniods in terms of mechanics only difference is the NPC versions don't have any weapons, let's say if there's a playable version of a founder, of course there will need to be something to balance it like they can use weapons, but when they use a special founder melee attack abilities their weapons can't be used at the same time, as for the melee abilities themselfs i would suggest they should selected from the traits and not as a racial passive (maybe except strangle hold) but these abilities would need a cd timer like any other, as for shape shifting i would suggest only a character mimic ability, which the founder can turn into a enemy player it mimics while friendly to both ally which the founder is on still how it's name>title>fleet to allies, and to the enemy which will look like one of thier own but the difference the Founder mimic the player has only their name show to the enemy, but not the Titles or Fleet names on it and if the player thinks its a founder they can shoot at it canceling the friendly color bar of the founder and turn into enemy color bar to them. this mimic ability should have a timer as well due to balance.
The Vorta do have eye, ears, hands and feet so they can handle any weapons just like any other race, and besides the same could be said that tellarites are useless in fights yet in this game they can use any weapon. since the Vortas does have a commanding ability as show in DS9 i would suggest they have Space Traits to increase whatever stats similar to a operative, subterfuge, pirate and leadership trait and have a Ground Trait similar to a Human Teamwork trait and can buff nearby teammates.
#1 Cryptic could always add a ally race to Cardassian faction like the Klingons have with their Mercenary Races such as the Nausicaans and Letheans. maybe the Son'a could be playable for the Cardassians since they were allies with them during the Dominion war (after the events of ST: Insurrection) or any other race mention that helping the Cardassian on DS9.
My character Tsin'xing
YES!!!! Just......yes!!!! I love this idea.
I agree, great plot-line! Also, what about the abandoned sister starbase of DS9.
#2 Have you fought a changeling in a mission? Have you seen what it does, I sincerely doubt that it would be possible from players view.
As for Vorta it is a matter of fluff/lore. If you make them a playable race than there will be Vorta Duty/Bridge officers and can you imagine Vorta taking orders from a Jem'Hadar?
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]