One type of "Anniversary" ship per faction.. Look for a fleet and c-store version shortly after wards, and I would expect some sort of set bonus for having the anniversary, fleet, and c-store versions of the ships special device/equipment/console. Mount 'em all in the 10 console slot fleet version and go ruin someones day.
Of course it will be op.
Of course a few months down the road the dev team will regretfully nerf it in some way.
Likely right after the summer event.. and what ever new Risaian ships pops up to create buzz and interest.
Gee you don't think there's a pattern here do you? I do, and a successful one at that, but then I've been a business owner.
Just be glad the KDF is getting and actuall KLINGON Science ship.. (part time..ie: if your not using its special uber ability, its a science ship)
Oh yea, Proof... Bran Flakes dropped two hints in a thread. Pretty much confirmed science abilities.
Given how much Branflakes puts emphasis on how awesome these ships will be I doubt there's going to be a fleet version.
This is the only version we'll see and this Rep system will be the only way to get them, just like with the Breen ship.
Assuming the leaked pics are true I'll get one for my Lib Borg Klingon, she's flying around in a Vet Destroyer as a stand-in for a military scout anyway.
If the stats make it look good I'll also get one for my Romulan Sci, while the Ha'nom is a great ship IMHO, I liked what I saw on the pic.
The Fed one...HMMM...not sure if it's worth the effort.
It looked very boring. So unless it's not much better in looks than I expect right now, I'll stick to my Fleet Nebula and Fleet Olympic.
Interesting if it's going to be science heavy as engineering skills are king right now since the emer powers revamp (power to engines especially). Also with all the DEM and aux2whatever (battery and dampeners doffs) going around...
The escorts that have lt. cmdr eng or lt+ensign eng are better than those with lt cmdr sci.
The science ships that have lt. cmdr eng or lt+ensign eng are better than those that only have lt. eng.
Basically in the lower level skills eng is always more valuable than sci (consider doffs, especially cooldowns, bonus power, and debuff cleanser.) At lt. cmdr it is a tougher decision but I still think eng is more valuable.
It's a Sci oriented destroyer according to the blog, and by the Console layout, with a "Tactical Mode" mechanic, allowing you to swap between a Sci Cmdr and a Tac Cmdr BoFF, to give it more whoopass capabilities ... Nothing said about CD's or time limits though
The "Secondary Deflector" looks more like some sort of Uber Weapon console (4 extra weapon icons below the other 7) with maybe 4 'charges" to some sort of "sub-space" boom, booms ...
Oh and the Quad Cannon(?)/DHC , which may or may not be removable and which might either be some sort of "xxxx" Infused + <Faction> type or maybe all factions will get the same one ...
Special: Second deflector array Hanger bay(conjecture on this expect only to be able to carry certain hanger pets. and only a single group of them), can mount DC, and DHC.
Hanger pet may return to the ship when it transforms to a sci heavy destroyer.
the ship will keep the science ship strength shields (expect normal 130% science ship shields though KDF shields may be lower due to intrinsic cloak)
Transform.. recall pets? (conjecture, may possibly keep pets, pets them selves are conjecture) loose second deflector array abilities, gain dual heavy anti proton cannons forward (conjecture: possibly a slight increase in turn rate) Cmdr SCI become Cmdr TAC. LtC Tac become LtC SCi... possibility that you can pre assign different BOFF's to take these position at transformation..
Ship will have an animation for the transformation that will cover the second deflector array and reveal the dual heavy cannon. Justification here for an increase in turn rate.. On the federation ships shown a portion of the saucer closes up to cover the aux deflector and exposing the dual heavy cannon. This center lines a goodly portion of the ships mass and may provide a small but noticeable increase in maneuverability. (This is still Conjecture though.)
Hull, crew, turn rate should be fairly close to the vet rewards destroyer as should shield but with the typical science ship shield strength modification. Which for KDF may not be 130% base.. possibly only 125% base..
Note that other then the lock box Korath, and its mirror universe lobi store variant, this will be the FIRST KDF Klingon science ship. for our first were going to get a mighty spectacular ship t-5 plus all in all with 9 consoles.
Un-known on how long the transformation takes, what sort of cool down it might have if any, and if it can be performed in combat. I assume It can based on abilities of certain fed ships. I'm assuming the KDF version has cloak as it is a Klingon ship but it's possible it does not.
Wait and see for the specific blogs dealing with the ships capabilities..possibly next week sometime as the ship get released onto tribble for serious testing by select testers..the blog makes it pretty clear that not everyone and their buddy gets to test this ship.
How long do you think it will take Klingon players to cry "No fair, the Rom/Fed ones are better!"?
Longer than it will take for the typical Spoon-Fed player to cry. "We want an intrinsic cloak for our Anniversary ship! And make the KDF's Uni consoles cross faction!"
A six year old boy and his starship. Living the dream.
Finally Cryptic provided KDF with a science destroyer. Sadly it looks ugly as hell and I doubt I would fly it. I am also not doing the stupid grind for the anniversary "free" ship with 9 consoles. Fail!
"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."
Finally Cryptic provided KDF with a science destroyer. Sadly it looks ugly as hell and I doubt I would fly it. I am also not doing the stupid grind for the anniversary "free" ship with 9 consoles. Fail!
Personal ship tastes vary, I think it looks nice personally but think of all the time you have saved by not grinding for an "ugly" ship and maybe the free giveaways next week will have something useful for you.
u know some on here dont want to grind for a new ship but me i have every ship minus the tal shiar lock box ship i have the lobi one i dont have the jem attack ship or the 2 tholian ships every other ship lock box or whether it was a free or zen priced i have im a ship collector so grinding is meanless to me i consider grinding for a ship acceptable anything else i aint grinding for HOLA HOLA
I don't know for certain it will have any sort of fighters.. just some real thin hints in that directing.. Assuming they are there, I suspect the with be of the some type as on the Obilisk carrier, but only a single bay or them...
We do have a sciency/tac fed ship with a single pet bay all ready existing..
Don't know in any way for certain.. I'm all wait and see on that.
.....................................................................................................
I don't give a flying fig about fed players that complain about the KDF or ROM version of this ship. The DEV team will ignore them. Those that do complain are a absolute minority of little children.. the vast majority of fed players have more class then that.
It's a non issue.
I'm going to pick up this ship on 4 of my 10 characters myself. It will of course be like extracting my own teeth about day 7.. but it beats paying for it in the c-store or buying lock box keys to get lobi..
I have utterly crappy luck with lock boxes any way, so I'm not going to make any great effort down that path.. if at all.
From the picture showing the ships equiptment there is no hangar bay. If it has any pets its consoles or set bonus based like with the Elachi ships.
I find it funny that some people complain that the Fed one is the only unattractive one, which I love the look of the federation one and I don't like the Klingon one as much, its just doesn't have the imposing presence a Klingon ship should have.
Still sticking the right appearance altering shields on it will help. I get it for my Orion, although I doubt I'll use it much on that one. I may start a KDF Trill Character who this ship would suit more as well, and I'll get it for a couple of my Fed characters as well and I've been meaning to create a Reman character.
From the picture showing the ships equiptment there is no hangar bay. If it has any pets its consoles or set bonus based like with the Elachi ships.
I find it funny that some people complain that the Fed one is the only unattractive one, which I love the look of the federation one and I don't like the Klingon one as much, its just doesn't have the imposing presence a Klingon ship should have.
Still sticking the right appearance altering shields on it will help. I get it for my Orion, although I doubt I'll use it much on that one. I may start a KDF Trill Character who this ship would suit more as well, and I'll get it for a couple of my Fed characters as well and I've been meaning to create a Reman character.
You never know....they might be planning to deflect the fed player ire by giving the Fed ship a hangar to 'compensate' for not having a cloak.
Personal ship tastes vary, I think it looks nice personally but think of all the time you have saved by not grinding for an "ugly" ship and maybe the free giveaways next week will have something useful for you.
ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!?
And not just you either..lets examine another persons comment too
Stupid Grind?
If you do the dilithum mine each day I got money that says that your dilithium mine dayly will take LONGER to do then the dayly for this ship.
NO 10th Console
No 10th console..Oh give me a BREAK! You have a SECOND deflector dish operating in science ship mode, a turn mode of 12 to 15 most likely, can mount dual heavy cannon, and have phenominal shield strength.. Fire power, agility ENHANCED science abilities and you still get 4 science device slots. That second deflector is easily the equal of 2 to possibly 3 additional science slots depending what deflector you slot in there... It not FIXED.. though I'm pretty sure the second deflector they do give you with it isn't to shabby.. notice that little infinity symbol and it is a PURPLE grade deflector.. if there is any restricton on that deflector it will be that it can only be used on this ship or its fleet or c-store varient.
you are not going to see a BETTER science ship untill season 10 at the earliest, and all things considered.. it WILL NOT be a KDF ship...*sighs and growls at the same time*
egad, THE BEST science ship in the game for at least the next 6 months, and the BEST science ship we KDF will have for the next year or so if not forever, and a clearly superior tactical science ship and its KLINGON!!!! not Gorn, or all faction race X lockbox. It's KLINGON!
And your grousing because you have to run a single mission 15 days out of 25. 20 hours between missions, if you set an alarm you can have it even faster! Willing to sacrifice a sleep period and you CAN trim that to 15 mission runs in 13 days! If your willing, buy some doggone lock box keys if you cant get it done in the 25 day event window and spend some doggone lobi to make up the difference! The ship project is not going to magically go away the moment the event ends!
I want your parents names, and thier address, so i can as Jakie Gleason use to say "go slap the **** of your Mother for giving birth to you!"
((Not really, I WOULD NOT ever actually do that but in YOUR case, I will think about it! Jeezzz dude!))
Eexy Peezy grind for a clearly superior KLINGON science ship that doesn't even need a 10th console, and may just out end up classing our best battlecruisers and raiders for over all damage output...
yea, I got no respect for ya none, zero.. you may be upset by the process of getting this ship but i swear you owe the faction an apology for even considering grousing over this.
I'm not overly crazy about its looks either, assuming what we saw in the blog is what we are getting, but OMG its capabilities are over the top and way better then anything else we have that DOESN"T carry pets.. and this one might just carry a bays worth of pets.. If it does it'll be a no contest best Science abilities ship the KDF has. And assuming the 2nd deflector update for science ships happens in season 9, it will still be better, and they'll be a fleet version by then!
If you have this one on a toon likely only 1 or 2 fleet modules, else it'll be 4 to 5 of them.. ie a $20 to $25 ship.
so either get from the event, or MAYBE pay cash later.. if you do it via lobi it will cost you more then any cstore ship. but we do not know if it will ever be in the c-store, or if there will be a mirror version, or if there will be a fleet version.
KDF faction has only one C-store uniform... and its cheap nuff that if you don't all ready have it, you likely have no interest in it
Last year the let us have a t-3 and a t-4 ship in the giveaway for KDF side if I recall correctly. we got 2 ships because otherwise there just isn't very much to give to KDF faction players.
The give away is nice, but the anniversary ships is the real gold.. a klingon science ship an actuall Klingon science ship. Get it while you can, because you may not ever see another.
Here I was hoping the new Dyson Hybrids were given as mission rewards on the new FE a la Obelisk Carrier, introducing a new set and with an advanced version available thru lobi store (C-Store preferable) given that the whole "system" of the free Obelisk giveaway really gave good results in the game as seen as so many players were using their new shiny (and ugly imo) ship thru the game (I even got to see 4 on a PUG-ed ISE) and getting the lobi version for the 3rd console.
But no... instead Cryptic opted for the grind. Well I find the ships good looking and would like to own one, but I don't think I'll be getting one, cause simply I don't like to grind, even more so on a freaking schedule. That's why I don't own a Breen ship.
Now, I ask from a business perspective, what makes the grind a better way to get players money?, I mean the obelisk "system" should have been better at making money for Cryptic I think, but this? yeah I know it's meant to be "free" but the previous Anniversary ships were not tied to such a system so why change it?
Well anyway, just my two-cents on why some players will not be finding this as a good implementation on getting free ships in the game.
PS; I'm one of those who hates mining, the academy particles mini-game and the Breen ship grind system/ snow races
Now, I ask from a business perspective, what makes the grind a better way to get players money?, I mean the obelisk "system" should have been better at making money for Cryptic I think, but this? yeah I know it's meant to be "free" but the previous Anniversary ships were not tied to such a system so why change it?
1. The previous anniversary ships were just that. Just ships with no new mechanics or gimmicks, just different T5 variations on things we've already seen. For all the new features they have the Dyson ships have much more, so Cryptic obviously feels that they're worth the effort. Hell, they've made us grind for less (Breen Ship, Risian corvette, etc.)
2. Rep systems are the new paradigm because it's very important for an F2P game to give players as many reasons as possible to log in every day. "Daily Participation" is a key metric in F2P design, because the more often you "visit" the game, the more chances they have to sell you something.
3. And even if YOU don't buy something, the 15 minutes to an hour you spend refreshing doff missions, doing a rep grind, or running ISE for marks keeps the game's activity rate and player count up, prompting the paymasters at PWE to continue supporting the game and greenlighting further investment into things like expanding server capacity, renewing licenses (VERY IMPORTANT!), licensing new parts of the Star Trek IP, allocating QA, testing, and support resources, and other back-end stuff.
4. The forums are the minority, and their (our?) opinions don't represent the general state of the game (or even the opinion of the forums, for that matter).
I'll just repost this here about my thoughts on the potential anniversary grind:
wrote:
As already stated by branflakes, this anniversary will not be a grindfest. On completion of the FE once, you will be rewarded with 400 free marks, leaving only 600 more to get. Q's mission on averageon an underpopulated in-house test server will take no more than 3 - 5 minutes to complete where upon completion you will receive a further 40 marks, meaning it will only take 15 out of the 25 days of the event.
Reality may trump in house testing when thousand of players try to get into the limited number of Academy instances to run the Mini-Q mission, hopefully the other mission will not be at the academy also. As the academy instances can be extremely laggy at the 40player cap for them, KDF not so bad not as many wandering npcs
Grinfest maybe the wrong word but Limited-time availability to receive the ship means scheduling time to run the necessary missions on as many characters as you want the ship on before it is no longer available. though there usually is the option to spend real money and obtain the ship if say you were unable to log in for 2 weeks which has happened recently due to game glitches I believe. Honestly if the ship was available anytime during the next couple of months using the quoted criteria I don't think most people would be so annoyed by it.
like this currently randomly occurring Glitch kinda hard to run any mission when that occurs.
Since the anniversary ship comes with a Dyson secondary deflector array maybe that is where the transform ability comes from?
Thus allowing it to be used without consuming a console slot. :eek:
We'll know more next week with the Dev blogs, frankly if I'm able I might grind these out on my 48 characters hopefully the 2dry mission they mentioned for grinding will be better than the party patrol mission option as at the academy is normally laggy for me with everything having collision effects on all the NPCs there, but I just had back surgery this wendsday and am only now getting comfortable sitting for any length of time.
ps. and yes I did grind out 48 Breen heavy raiders during the winter event while stuck at home waiting for surgery. :P
pps kinda wondering where people get the idea of hanger pets as the ship doll shows no hanger slot or mentions any kinda pet?
pps2 :P
Players that use Subspace Field Modulator for defense with its -400 Proton Damage resistance for 15 sec could mean you just killed yourself vs another player
1. The previous anniversary ships were just that. Just ships with no new mechanics or gimmicks, just different T5 variations on things we've already seen. For all the new features they have the Dyson ships have much more, so Cryptic obviously feels that they're worth the effort. Hell, they've made us grind for less (Breen Ship, Risian corvette, etc.)
Technically the free Oddy/Bort did have a new feature. They were the first ships to have 1m QSS instead of 30s. Not a BIG feature, but... it's there. :P
That minor niggle aside, I totally agree with your point. Aside from the Obelisk, which you really needed play the mission twice for(and it's not a short mission), oh and the fun goodies for the Obelisk were a hidden feature on the map... :P special "free" limited time ships in STO have been pretty boring in the past.
Capt Geko talks about the new Dyson ships: 0.40.25 - 0.51.00
0.45.45 - 0.46.10 The Proton DHC cannot be swapped for another weapon and runs off of standard weapon power levels.
Comments
R.I.P
Of course it will be op.
Of course a few months down the road the dev team will regretfully nerf it in some way.
Likely right after the summer event.. and what ever new Risaian ships pops up to create buzz and interest.
Gee you don't think there's a pattern here do you? I do, and a successful one at that, but then I've been a business owner.
Just be glad the KDF is getting and actuall KLINGON Science ship.. (part time..ie: if your not using its special uber ability, its a science ship)
Oh yea, Proof... Bran Flakes dropped two hints in a thread. Pretty much confirmed science abilities.
This is the only version we'll see and this Rep system will be the only way to get them, just like with the Breen ship.
Assuming the leaked pics are true I'll get one for my Lib Borg Klingon, she's flying around in a Vet Destroyer as a stand-in for a military scout anyway.
If the stats make it look good I'll also get one for my Romulan Sci, while the Ha'nom is a great ship IMHO, I liked what I saw on the pic.
The Fed one...HMMM...not sure if it's worth the effort.
It looked very boring. So unless it's not much better in looks than I expect right now, I'll stick to my Fleet Nebula and Fleet Olympic.
The escorts that have lt. cmdr eng or lt+ensign eng are better than those with lt cmdr sci.
The science ships that have lt. cmdr eng or lt+ensign eng are better than those that only have lt. eng.
Basically in the lower level skills eng is always more valuable than sci (consider doffs, especially cooldowns, bonus power, and debuff cleanser.) At lt. cmdr it is a tougher decision but I still think eng is more valuable.
When asked if it was a science ship he said:
He also said in the same thread ( don't really want to go looking for it) that each ship is faction specific
The "Secondary Deflector" looks more like some sort of Uber Weapon console (4 extra weapon icons below the other 7) with maybe 4 'charges" to some sort of "sub-space" boom, booms ...
Oh and the Quad Cannon(?)/DHC , which may or may not be removable and which might either be some sort of "xxxx" Infused + <Faction> type or maybe all factions will get the same one ...
as a sci ship 3/3 layout, 3 consumables slots consoles.. 2 end, 4 sci 3 tac.
Boffs: Cmdr SCI, Lt SCi, LTc TAC. Ens TAC, LT Eng.
Special: Second deflector array Hanger bay(conjecture on this expect only to be able to carry certain hanger pets. and only a single group of them), can mount DC, and DHC.
Hanger pet may return to the ship when it transforms to a sci heavy destroyer.
the ship will keep the science ship strength shields (expect normal 130% science ship shields though KDF shields may be lower due to intrinsic cloak)
Transform.. recall pets? (conjecture, may possibly keep pets, pets them selves are conjecture) loose second deflector array abilities, gain dual heavy anti proton cannons forward (conjecture: possibly a slight increase in turn rate) Cmdr SCI become Cmdr TAC. LtC Tac become LtC SCi... possibility that you can pre assign different BOFF's to take these position at transformation..
Ship will have an animation for the transformation that will cover the second deflector array and reveal the dual heavy cannon. Justification here for an increase in turn rate.. On the federation ships shown a portion of the saucer closes up to cover the aux deflector and exposing the dual heavy cannon. This center lines a goodly portion of the ships mass and may provide a small but noticeable increase in maneuverability. (This is still Conjecture though.)
Hull, crew, turn rate should be fairly close to the vet rewards destroyer as should shield but with the typical science ship shield strength modification. Which for KDF may not be 130% base.. possibly only 125% base..
Note that other then the lock box Korath, and its mirror universe lobi store variant, this will be the FIRST KDF Klingon science ship. for our first were going to get a mighty spectacular ship t-5 plus all in all with 9 consoles.
Un-known on how long the transformation takes, what sort of cool down it might have if any, and if it can be performed in combat. I assume It can based on abilities of certain fed ships. I'm assuming the KDF version has cloak as it is a Klingon ship but it's possible it does not.
Wait and see for the specific blogs dealing with the ships capabilities..possibly next week sometime as the ship get released onto tribble for serious testing by select testers..the blog makes it pretty clear that not everyone and their buddy gets to test this ship.
Longer than it took for you to make a typical "Klingons are whiners" post.:rolleyes:
There, fixed that for ya'.
- Judge Aaron Satie
Personal ship tastes vary, I think it looks nice personally but think of all the time you have saved by not grinding for an "ugly" ship and maybe the free giveaways next week will have something useful for you.
And I personally like the look of the KDF version. I see my Klingon Sci jumping at the chance to get this one.
Gen
I'm sure your DPS is great, but as Kahless said, "a petaQ with high system mastery is still a petaQ." (Well, he should have said it...!)
We do have a sciency/tac fed ship with a single pet bay all ready existing..
Don't know in any way for certain.. I'm all wait and see on that.
.....................................................................................................
I don't give a flying fig about fed players that complain about the KDF or ROM version of this ship. The DEV team will ignore them. Those that do complain are a absolute minority of little children.. the vast majority of fed players have more class then that.
It's a non issue.
I'm going to pick up this ship on 4 of my 10 characters myself. It will of course be like extracting my own teeth about day 7.. but it beats paying for it in the c-store or buying lock box keys to get lobi..
I have utterly crappy luck with lock boxes any way, so I'm not going to make any great effort down that path.. if at all.
I find it funny that some people complain that the Fed one is the only unattractive one, which I love the look of the federation one and I don't like the Klingon one as much, its just doesn't have the imposing presence a Klingon ship should have.
Still sticking the right appearance altering shields on it will help. I get it for my Orion, although I doubt I'll use it much on that one. I may start a KDF Trill Character who this ship would suit more as well, and I'll get it for a couple of my Fed characters as well and I've been meaning to create a Reman character.
You never know....they might be planning to deflect the fed player ire by giving the Fed ship a hangar to 'compensate' for not having a cloak.
ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?!?
And not just you either..lets examine another persons comment too
Stupid Grind?
If you do the dilithum mine each day I got money that says that your dilithium mine dayly will take LONGER to do then the dayly for this ship.
NO 10th Console
No 10th console..Oh give me a BREAK! You have a SECOND deflector dish operating in science ship mode, a turn mode of 12 to 15 most likely, can mount dual heavy cannon, and have phenominal shield strength.. Fire power, agility ENHANCED science abilities and you still get 4 science device slots. That second deflector is easily the equal of 2 to possibly 3 additional science slots depending what deflector you slot in there... It not FIXED.. though I'm pretty sure the second deflector they do give you with it isn't to shabby.. notice that little infinity symbol and it is a PURPLE grade deflector.. if there is any restricton on that deflector it will be that it can only be used on this ship or its fleet or c-store varient.
you are not going to see a BETTER science ship untill season 10 at the earliest, and all things considered.. it WILL NOT be a KDF ship...*sighs and growls at the same time*
egad, THE BEST science ship in the game for at least the next 6 months, and the BEST science ship we KDF will have for the next year or so if not forever, and a clearly superior tactical science ship and its KLINGON!!!! not Gorn, or all faction race X lockbox. It's KLINGON!
And your grousing because you have to run a single mission 15 days out of 25. 20 hours between missions, if you set an alarm you can have it even faster! Willing to sacrifice a sleep period and you CAN trim that to 15 mission runs in 13 days! If your willing, buy some doggone lock box keys if you cant get it done in the 25 day event window and spend some doggone lobi to make up the difference! The ship project is not going to magically go away the moment the event ends!
I want your parents names, and thier address, so i can as Jakie Gleason use to say "go slap the **** of your Mother for giving birth to you!"
((Not really, I WOULD NOT ever actually do that but in YOUR case, I will think about it! Jeezzz dude!))
Eexy Peezy grind for a clearly superior KLINGON science ship that doesn't even need a 10th console, and may just out end up classing our best battlecruisers and raiders for over all damage output...
yea, I got no respect for ya none, zero.. you may be upset by the process of getting this ship but i swear you owe the faction an apology for even considering grousing over this.
I'm not overly crazy about its looks either, assuming what we saw in the blog is what we are getting, but OMG its capabilities are over the top and way better then anything else we have that DOESN"T carry pets.. and this one might just carry a bays worth of pets.. If it does it'll be a no contest best Science abilities ship the KDF has. And assuming the 2nd deflector update for science ships happens in season 9, it will still be better, and they'll be a fleet version by then!
If you have this one on a toon likely only 1 or 2 fleet modules, else it'll be 4 to 5 of them.. ie a $20 to $25 ship.
so either get from the event, or MAYBE pay cash later.. if you do it via lobi it will cost you more then any cstore ship. but we do not know if it will ever be in the c-store, or if there will be a mirror version, or if there will be a fleet version.
Or do without.
KDF faction has only one C-store uniform... and its cheap nuff that if you don't all ready have it, you likely have no interest in it
Last year the let us have a t-3 and a t-4 ship in the giveaway for KDF side if I recall correctly. we got 2 ships because otherwise there just isn't very much to give to KDF faction players.
The give away is nice, but the anniversary ships is the real gold.. a klingon science ship an actuall Klingon science ship. Get it while you can, because you may not ever see another.
But no... instead Cryptic opted for the grind. Well I find the ships good looking and would like to own one, but I don't think I'll be getting one, cause simply I don't like to grind, even more so on a freaking schedule. That's why I don't own a Breen ship.
Now, I ask from a business perspective, what makes the grind a better way to get players money?, I mean the obelisk "system" should have been better at making money for Cryptic I think, but this? yeah I know it's meant to be "free" but the previous Anniversary ships were not tied to such a system so why change it?
Well anyway, just my two-cents on why some players will not be finding this as a good implementation on getting free ships in the game.
PS; I'm one of those who hates mining, the academy particles mini-game and the Breen ship grind system/ snow races
1. The previous anniversary ships were just that. Just ships with no new mechanics or gimmicks, just different T5 variations on things we've already seen. For all the new features they have the Dyson ships have much more, so Cryptic obviously feels that they're worth the effort. Hell, they've made us grind for less (Breen Ship, Risian corvette, etc.)
2. Rep systems are the new paradigm because it's very important for an F2P game to give players as many reasons as possible to log in every day. "Daily Participation" is a key metric in F2P design, because the more often you "visit" the game, the more chances they have to sell you something.
3. And even if YOU don't buy something, the 15 minutes to an hour you spend refreshing doff missions, doing a rep grind, or running ISE for marks keeps the game's activity rate and player count up, prompting the paymasters at PWE to continue supporting the game and greenlighting further investment into things like expanding server capacity, renewing licenses (VERY IMPORTANT!), licensing new parts of the Star Trek IP, allocating QA, testing, and support resources, and other back-end stuff.
4. The forums are the minority, and their (our?) opinions don't represent the general state of the game (or even the opinion of the forums, for that matter).
Reality may trump in house testing when thousand of players try to get into the limited number of Academy instances to run the Mini-Q mission, hopefully the other mission will not be at the academy also. As the academy instances can be extremely laggy at the 40player cap for them, KDF not so bad not as many wandering npcs
Grinfest maybe the wrong word but Limited-time availability to receive the ship means scheduling time to run the necessary missions on as many characters as you want the ship on before it is no longer available. though there usually is the option to spend real money and obtain the ship if say you were unable to log in for 2 weeks which has happened recently due to game glitches I believe. Honestly if the ship was available anytime during the next couple of months using the quoted criteria I don't think most people would be so annoyed by it.
like this currently randomly occurring Glitch kinda hard to run any mission when that occurs.
That minor niggle aside, I totally agree with your point. Aside from the Obelisk, which you really needed play the mission twice for(and it's not a short mission), oh and the fun goodies for the Obelisk were a hidden feature on the map... :P special "free" limited time ships in STO have been pretty boring in the past.
My character Tsin'xing
http://priorityonepodcast.com/po158/
Capt Geko talks about the new Dyson ships: 0.40.25 - 0.51.00
0.45.45 - 0.46.10 The Proton DHC cannot be swapped for another weapon and runs off of standard weapon power levels.