test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
FE "Mission Reputation Systems"
zeuslegion1
Member Posts: 93 Arc User
TL;DNR Summary: Featured Episodes could be paced a bit slower, have more to do, have a more authentic Trek feel, and buy Cryptic a bit more time to create new content since quick one-and-done missions are not effective in terms of cost, manpower, and time.
There's been a lot of discussion in the forums lately about the trade-offs Cryptic has to make when it comes to doing enjoyable story-oriented Featured Episodes. On one hand, the one-and-done nature makes them over all too quickly and leaves players asking "What's next?". The typical answer is a time-sink like an Adventure Zone and Reputation System which again are over far too quickly for Cryptic's development needs (as they need to buy time to make the next bit of content, squash bugs, etc.).
Star Trek should be more subtle, there should be more mystery, there should be discovery, there should be the same kind of "Getting Things Done" as you'd see Geordi, Data, Seven, The Doctor, Chief O'Brien, or anybody else do on an episode of Trek. They scan things, they compare things, they use the tools on their ships. Being able to do these kinds of things brings you more fully into that world.
What if the pacing of a Featured Episode was not just a 30 minute one-and-done blip but instead:
- slower paced with the urgency of crisis moments ramping things up
- broken into 3 to 5 major tasks that resulted in rewards
- you could use the kind of "Getting Things Done" tools and approaches (tricorder scans, computer research, firing various pulses at stuff, using containment beams, etc.) used by the characters in the shows
- your chosen division (Sci, Eng, Tac) made a difference in the difficulty of certain tasks
- the quality (white, green, blue, purple) of your Bridge Officers made a difference on the difficulty of certain tasks
As an example, I will use the most recent FE, "A Step Between Stars" broken into the 5 Major Tasks (each with a reward for the "Mission Reputation"):
1. [SCI] What if you (with your bridge crew) had arrived, been greeted by Adm. Tuvok, gotten a tour of the station (it not already being under attack in this case), and, instead of a 2-second cutscene of a dude getting shot and falling on the ground, you actually had to solve the mystery of his death using the various tools at the station? Doing so would uncover the fact the station has been infiltrated and you would be rewarded not only with a prize but a cutscene that takes you into the next task.
2. [TAC] Now that you've discovered the Voth have infiltrated the station, instead of walking over dead bodies you can't help, perhaps everyone (except that one dude above) is still alive and your job is to herd them to a secure location? [SCI] Maybe one of them is wounded and he or she is important to gaining access to some other part of the station so your next task is to treat them using the station's medical facilities (and not just a quick hypospray or the push of a button that says "Revive injured crewman" or whatever). Doing so gains you a reward and access to the next task.
3. [ENG] Now you need to find a way to secure the station and prevent the Voth incursion. You could designate your various Bridge Officers to handle certain tasks based on their divisions (secure/heal the survivors, get the automated defenses online, send a distress call, etc.) while you, Tuvok, and Cooper try to find a way to destroy the station. You go to the main control room with the glowing colored holograms, choose beams/swarmers/nothing (which could have been affected by how well your Engineering Bridge Officer(s) did their mission ? again decided based on their quality with a dash of chance), and make your way to the EV Suit room just as the FE does now. Now you've gotta go walking on the sun...
4. [TAC] Now you fight the swarmers, automated defenses, Voth troopers, and the pace and urgency really start to ramp up. [ENG] You get to the main control area to set the auto-destruct and [TAC] then fight your way out as the timer counts down, the building shakes, things explode, gases vent, and the urgency really has you going.
5. You win the Ground portion of the FE and, depending on how well your Bridge Crew did on their side missions, how well your Captain did on his/her mission, some random chance and what not, you find out if you were able to save any of the people on the station besides Tuvok and Cooper and you go off to fight the space mission portion (which, for example, could actually require your engineering and medical teams to fix the U.S.S. Jenolan and her crew instead of just pressing a button).
Just my 2 cents.
PS to Devs: Also please add Personal Holdings to unused planets/stations and Fog of War to unexplored areas of space (like the DQ).
There's been a lot of discussion in the forums lately about the trade-offs Cryptic has to make when it comes to doing enjoyable story-oriented Featured Episodes. On one hand, the one-and-done nature makes them over all too quickly and leaves players asking "What's next?". The typical answer is a time-sink like an Adventure Zone and Reputation System which again are over far too quickly for Cryptic's development needs (as they need to buy time to make the next bit of content, squash bugs, etc.).
Star Trek should be more subtle, there should be more mystery, there should be discovery, there should be the same kind of "Getting Things Done" as you'd see Geordi, Data, Seven, The Doctor, Chief O'Brien, or anybody else do on an episode of Trek. They scan things, they compare things, they use the tools on their ships. Being able to do these kinds of things brings you more fully into that world.
What if the pacing of a Featured Episode was not just a 30 minute one-and-done blip but instead:
- slower paced with the urgency of crisis moments ramping things up
- broken into 3 to 5 major tasks that resulted in rewards
- you could use the kind of "Getting Things Done" tools and approaches (tricorder scans, computer research, firing various pulses at stuff, using containment beams, etc.) used by the characters in the shows
- your chosen division (Sci, Eng, Tac) made a difference in the difficulty of certain tasks
- the quality (white, green, blue, purple) of your Bridge Officers made a difference on the difficulty of certain tasks
As an example, I will use the most recent FE, "A Step Between Stars" broken into the 5 Major Tasks (each with a reward for the "Mission Reputation"):
1. [SCI] What if you (with your bridge crew) had arrived, been greeted by Adm. Tuvok, gotten a tour of the station (it not already being under attack in this case), and, instead of a 2-second cutscene of a dude getting shot and falling on the ground, you actually had to solve the mystery of his death using the various tools at the station? Doing so would uncover the fact the station has been infiltrated and you would be rewarded not only with a prize but a cutscene that takes you into the next task.
2. [TAC] Now that you've discovered the Voth have infiltrated the station, instead of walking over dead bodies you can't help, perhaps everyone (except that one dude above) is still alive and your job is to herd them to a secure location? [SCI] Maybe one of them is wounded and he or she is important to gaining access to some other part of the station so your next task is to treat them using the station's medical facilities (and not just a quick hypospray or the push of a button that says "Revive injured crewman" or whatever). Doing so gains you a reward and access to the next task.
3. [ENG] Now you need to find a way to secure the station and prevent the Voth incursion. You could designate your various Bridge Officers to handle certain tasks based on their divisions (secure/heal the survivors, get the automated defenses online, send a distress call, etc.) while you, Tuvok, and Cooper try to find a way to destroy the station. You go to the main control room with the glowing colored holograms, choose beams/swarmers/nothing (which could have been affected by how well your Engineering Bridge Officer(s) did their mission ? again decided based on their quality with a dash of chance), and make your way to the EV Suit room just as the FE does now. Now you've gotta go walking on the sun...
4. [TAC] Now you fight the swarmers, automated defenses, Voth troopers, and the pace and urgency really start to ramp up. [ENG] You get to the main control area to set the auto-destruct and [TAC] then fight your way out as the timer counts down, the building shakes, things explode, gases vent, and the urgency really has you going.
5. You win the Ground portion of the FE and, depending on how well your Bridge Crew did on their side missions, how well your Captain did on his/her mission, some random chance and what not, you find out if you were able to save any of the people on the station besides Tuvok and Cooper and you go off to fight the space mission portion (which, for example, could actually require your engineering and medical teams to fix the U.S.S. Jenolan and her crew instead of just pressing a button).
Just my 2 cents.
PS to Devs: Also please add Personal Holdings to unused planets/stations and Fog of War to unexplored areas of space (like the DQ).
Post edited by zeuslegion1 on
0
Comments