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The THEME of the expansion
leviathan99
Member Posts: 7,747 Arc User
I was mulling this over.
We know an expansion is planned for later this year and that it will not feature new factions. It may feature a level cap increase. We've been debating the merits of these things and new mechanics. The Klingon war will probably be over before then since Season 9 is A New Accord.
But it's not going to be THEMED on new mechanics. The theme has to be something that grabs casual people, lapsed players, people who have never played STO.
The expansions for the trading card game were:
Premiere (Fed/Klingon/Romulan)
Alternate Universe (Featuring alternate universes and distorted timelines from TNG)
The Q Continuum
First Contact (Based on the movie)
Deep Space Nine (Cardassians)
The Dominion
Blaze of Glory (Klingon themed)
The Rules of Acquisition (Ferengi themed)
The Trouble with Tribbles (TOS themed)
Mirror, Mirror
Voyager
The Borg
Holodeck Adventures
The Motion Pictures
All Good Things
Energize (Maquis)
Call to Arms (Borg/Dominion)
Necessary Evil (Centered around taking risks/violating faction rules)
Strange New Worlds (Ferengi/Android/Hologram/Minor races)
To Boldly Go (Enterprise themed)
Captain's Log (Voyager themed)
These are the Voyages (TOS themed)
In a Mirror, Darkly (Mirror themed)
The Decipher RPG tended to focus on Federation and random aliens. They did a Mirror expansion. They didn't get around to Klingons.
Last Unicorn tended to focus on Romulans and Vulcans. They got out books based on DS9 and Andorians. Their planned line of expansions focused on: Time travel, Earth-like planets, Klingons, Romulans, Starfleet operations, Bajorans, Dominion, Ferengi, Cardassians, Mirror Universe, Borg, Orions,. Rigelians, Dominion
Past video games have tended to focus on one of the following: Borg, Dominion, Prophets/Pagh Wraiths, ancient God-like beings, Klingons, Colonization, Mirror Universe, Starfleet/Klingon Academy, Starship Creation
Mulling over the big concept that has to appeal to people who have never played STO and considering no new playable faction...
I'd think it almost has to be:
- Starship construction (Maybe building on customized kits tech and loadouts to "scratch-build" or recustomize ships?)
- Armada/Squadron Battles (Not sure how marketable this is; someone who doesn't play wouldn't know that we don't already have this)
- Holodecks
- Time Travel (Esp. involving TOS)
- Alternate Universes
- The Q Continuum
- The Mirror Universe
I am going to say that I think the Mirror event right now is hype for it and that it centers on one or more alternate universes but probably centers on the Mirror Universe. I'll also go out on a small limb and suggest we get a mission that sends us back to Mirror TOS era.
Based on recent trends, there is probably a new Trek actor involved with the rollout. The last few updates have had Sela (LoR), Worf (Season 7), Tuvok (Season 8). I wouldn't be surprised to hear Dorn and Tim Russ BOTH in Season 9, probably negotiating peace between Klingons and Federation. (Tuvok said in the last update that he was going to broker the treaty. Worf hinted he was working on something.) So my tentative guess is that Dorn and Russ may have bit parts for a Mirror expansion but the big new draw will be Emperor Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes.
We know an expansion is planned for later this year and that it will not feature new factions. It may feature a level cap increase. We've been debating the merits of these things and new mechanics. The Klingon war will probably be over before then since Season 9 is A New Accord.
But it's not going to be THEMED on new mechanics. The theme has to be something that grabs casual people, lapsed players, people who have never played STO.
The expansions for the trading card game were:
Premiere (Fed/Klingon/Romulan)
Alternate Universe (Featuring alternate universes and distorted timelines from TNG)
The Q Continuum
First Contact (Based on the movie)
Deep Space Nine (Cardassians)
The Dominion
Blaze of Glory (Klingon themed)
The Rules of Acquisition (Ferengi themed)
The Trouble with Tribbles (TOS themed)
Mirror, Mirror
Voyager
The Borg
Holodeck Adventures
The Motion Pictures
All Good Things
Energize (Maquis)
Call to Arms (Borg/Dominion)
Necessary Evil (Centered around taking risks/violating faction rules)
Strange New Worlds (Ferengi/Android/Hologram/Minor races)
To Boldly Go (Enterprise themed)
Captain's Log (Voyager themed)
These are the Voyages (TOS themed)
In a Mirror, Darkly (Mirror themed)
The Decipher RPG tended to focus on Federation and random aliens. They did a Mirror expansion. They didn't get around to Klingons.
Last Unicorn tended to focus on Romulans and Vulcans. They got out books based on DS9 and Andorians. Their planned line of expansions focused on: Time travel, Earth-like planets, Klingons, Romulans, Starfleet operations, Bajorans, Dominion, Ferengi, Cardassians, Mirror Universe, Borg, Orions,. Rigelians, Dominion
Past video games have tended to focus on one of the following: Borg, Dominion, Prophets/Pagh Wraiths, ancient God-like beings, Klingons, Colonization, Mirror Universe, Starfleet/Klingon Academy, Starship Creation
Mulling over the big concept that has to appeal to people who have never played STO and considering no new playable faction...
I'd think it almost has to be:
- Starship construction (Maybe building on customized kits tech and loadouts to "scratch-build" or recustomize ships?)
- Armada/Squadron Battles (Not sure how marketable this is; someone who doesn't play wouldn't know that we don't already have this)
- Holodecks
- Time Travel (Esp. involving TOS)
- Alternate Universes
- The Q Continuum
- The Mirror Universe
I am going to say that I think the Mirror event right now is hype for it and that it centers on one or more alternate universes but probably centers on the Mirror Universe. I'll also go out on a small limb and suggest we get a mission that sends us back to Mirror TOS era.
Based on recent trends, there is probably a new Trek actor involved with the rollout. The last few updates have had Sela (LoR), Worf (Season 7), Tuvok (Season 8). I wouldn't be surprised to hear Dorn and Tim Russ BOTH in Season 9, probably negotiating peace between Klingons and Federation. (Tuvok said in the last update that he was going to broker the treaty. Worf hinted he was working on something.) So my tentative guess is that Dorn and Russ may have bit parts for a Mirror expansion but the big new draw will be Emperor Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes.
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The actor is still going to be Tuvok, that has been know for a while
I don't think Undine are big enough to hinge an expansion on that will entice people not already playing STO and their revamp is in Season 9. They may be in the expansion but I'd expect them to play an Elachi type role.
I think an expansion pretty much has to hook fans of multiple series or be broad enough to focus on an entire series. In which case I could maybe see a Voyager themed expansion. The Undine would be a part of it but would probably share billing with Hirogen, Borg, Talaxians, Voth, and Krenim.
Also not sure what new actor they could nab as a novelty hook. Probably Jeri Ryan or Kate Mulgrew?
I don't think an expansion level theme can or should be dictated solely by story sense but needs a strong marketing angle. The Undine alone as a focus would be a letdown, especially since they're the Season 9 villain. The Undine's presence in the Dyson Sphere was a curve ball just as the Voth's was. I think if we can draw a straight line between S9 and the expansion, it will lack oomph when they announce it.
The Undine are the focus of Season 9. The new expansion I think is going to be Season 10 (Or possibly 11 depending on when it lands).
Me too.
I think if you went by forum popularity, top topics would be Mirror, Borg, TOS, Time Travel, Holodecks, The Original Series, Ship Cuistomization (of which interiors would be one subset).
I could yet see an Original Series themed expansion down the road and even a Tier 5 assortment of TOS ships but I imagine they would be unusuable in normal space or scale down to T1 level, with BO stations that only work in the TOS sector blocks and missions. Kinda like a shuttle but with special loadouts that become active only on 23rd century maps.
That sounds incredibly unlikely. If people are going to spend money on ships, they are going to demand to be able to use them in the entire game. It would be a PR disaster.
Odan Brota (Science Officer): Captain of a 28k DPS Scryer Intel Science Vessel, U.S.S. Kepler
Patiently waiting for a Romulan Science Vessel
1. Because it would allow Cryptic to reuse older game assets like the original ESD and Drozana station has well has the original Qo'nos (first city).
IMO it would require a lot less work to build a Mirror Universe because pretty much everything that they would need to do so is already in use in game or has been used in the past.
The hardest part about building a Mirror Universe Expansion IMO would be coming up with a feasible story for the Expansion to exist.
The Mirror Universe could be a grittier looking rehash of things that we already have.
Mostly the same NPC Characters that we already have in the Prime Universe but with perhaps an actcually useful James Kurland that we don't all want to kill :P
Mirror Universe ships look EXACTLY the same as normal ships...just with yellow paint splashed on them. That being the case, why would the interiors look so different?
Expansions are not seasons. They are separate updates. Season 10 will probably come, then the expansion, then maybe the start of season 11 testing by the end of the year.
- Level cap increase
- Gear tier increase
- Delta Quadrant
- The ST character is still Tuvok with Voyager
- Fleet "tactical" holding - probably for building T6 ships and upgrading T5 ships to T6 (something mentioned to be in prospect on interviews in 2013)
- Krenim (the playerbase asked for it, remember?)
- Kazon Lockbox (ok, I know it would probably be Krenim, but I'd lol so hard if it's Kazon for a change)
- Neelix (because Neelix will cause riots :P)
What I'll be genuinely impressed and very happy to see:
- A Cardassian f(r)action
- VO work from mr. Andrew Robinson in the role of Elim Garak
I wish, but I think that any ships added would be available through the entire game. Which I would like more anyway.
Also, I find it amusing that you mentioned TOS twice. :P
I'd much rather see playable Cardassians and Garak, too, though.
The Fleet Holding. The C-Store ships. The $120 pack. The $20 pack. The costumes.
I could see maybe a colony or Caretaker Array. Playable Talaxians. Talaxian (C-Store), Hirogen, and Ocampa bridge officers. But the overall add-on potential aside from mission content seems limited.
Like I said earlier, maybe they finally revamped the exploration system, and the Delta Quad is what we'll be exploring.
Not if they are really doing something fresh.
The Delta Quadrant could serve as some sort of a "expansion" ground story-wise.
For the Alpha/Beta Allliance - and maybe the Dominion.
At least I would set the Dominion up there as a political antagonist, to create some kind of Cold War race for influence there. No open war. Just a race - holding the possibility for a future Dominion faction (far, far in the future!).
If the Dominion realizes that the Alpha/Beta Quadrant powers are expanding across the Galaxy, they may want to expand their own sphere of influence.
Maybe they too are now preparing for the Iconians behind the scenes.
Their ranks just got boosted with almost 2800 Dominion War era ships, which could - after a litte refit - serve as a spearhead force into the DQ.
The Dominion also got the female founder back, and she might prove to make them acting more aggressively again.
I think that might really add up.
So, beside the local superpowers (Borg, Krenim, Undine in some sense, Voth), we would have an expanding Dominion coming from the Gamma Quadrant (insert some McGuffin for them to manage to get there quick enough to keep up with the Alliance, which can use the Iconian Gateways. Perhaps they have their own Gateway now, since they opened up ALL over the Galaxy).
To the actually new mechanics to build upon this framework: Create some kind of "open" Reputation system.
Not each and every player gets it, it's working on a "global" scale. We determine via this Meta-Reputation how the Alliance's campaign in the DQ is going. Which local worlds known from Voyager we are allying with, which ones we want to attack, etc.
There could always be a sub-division, too, for the three playable factions. Since they should be true allies after S8 (peace between Feds and Klinks), they won't work against each other, but their can always be some competition.
The DQ is a huge pie after all.
So... combined with story missions (stuff about the Voth and their war, the Borg, the Krenim, the Undine etc etc), some of the more iconic species from Voyager, a few new sector blocks, a bunch of dailies, new DQ ships (we need lock boxes to finance this stuff), perhaps new fleet holdings (A Colony would be neat!!!) and a level cap increase, this Meta-Reputation would - in my mind - be enough to form a proper expansion.
If that works out as I would wish it to work out, it would actually change the game much, much more then the excellent LoR.
And here what I don't want: a new faction. For at least two years. Romulans should complete their emancipation first.
Voyager didn't have a really good costume department did they....
Some type of delta quadrant expansion, with multiple sectors, new story missions and adventure zones.
Or the arrival of the Iconians. From the vibe I'm getting it may even be too soon for that, althought I hope they do that soon. These guys need to show their faces soon.
I figure the Iconians will always be the B-plot because they don't really mean a lot to people who aren't already playing STO. Even if you had an Iconian heavy update, I figure the focus would be on who they're allied with or who we're allied with against them because the big selling point of an expansion should be something that attracts the attention of very casual fans of Trek. Big, broad elements. The kind of stuff that would make a good general audience Jeopardy question. Green women. People from mirror universes with goatees.
I'd expect the Ferengi to be spotlighted in an expansion before the Iconians. Doesn't mean the Iconians can't show up but I don't think the name means much to people passingly familiar with Trek.
Well, I can't see the big ship potential. Maybe a 2409 successor to the Intrepid aside from the Dyson ship? There's a handful of lockboxes there but the Romulans added long term update potential whereas the Delta Quadrant seems like something that will be fun for a few months but nobody will be talking much about once the 2015 expansion drops. Whereas they will still be continuing to do stuff with Romulans.
Then again, I thought the same about the Burning Crusade in WoW and they're milking a second expansion out of Draenor/Outland there. Then again, the environment has sentimental attachments to WoW fans due to lore and as the home of Orcs and Draenei.
Voyager never built any of the locales into aplace I can see sentimental attachment to aside from Voyager itself. Maybe the interior of Voyager could be an adventure zone?
If Klingons came from the Delta Quadrant, maybe there would be more of a hook. Maybe toss in the Hur'q as Delta Quadrant natives and have Seven join us on the Borg missions and there's something that would give it an emotional arc, since it would be going home in some ways then.
I think TOS often got around this problem by visiting very earth-like planets. TNG was more ship based. DS9 had a home base. Voyager was ship based and looking for ways home.
1: Allow us to interact with mirror universe characters we know and love/hate. such as, just for an example. "Mirror D'tan" whom has seized power in the RSE in a evil coup. and Mirror seela, whom is leading a rebellion to turn the RSE into a democracy. Mirror versions of various Starfleet quest givers bedeveling us ETC.
2: take elements of the Nemisis system over in CO and use it to allow us to generate our "mirror double" I mean how cool would it be to run around chasing our double around?
3: give us some mirror klingons, mirror romulans etc.
thats just some quick "late night need to sleep soon proably" brainstorming
My character Tsin'xing
[/SIGPIC]
It may not be the most likely outcome, but I really like the ideas you put forward here. An expansion like this would do a lot in terms of putting a Trek 'feel' in the game.
I've already predicted that the Iconians will figure in the expansion. Consider how closely their plotline has paralleled that of the Dominion's in DS9: At first they tried to covertly destabilize the AQ from afar by manipulating the Undine into pitting its major players against one another, but now that the two big ones - the Federation and Klingon Empire - are not only onto them but apparently on the verge of ending their war, that strategy is failing. In DS9, when the Dominion arrived at this point, they dropped that strategy for the most part, in favor of conquering the quadrant the old-fashioned way.
I suspect that's what we're about to see with the Iconians - they'll re-establish their Alpha (and other) Quadrant presence in a big way: Gateways popping up all over the place, at least one of which leads to their as-yet-unrevealed lair in Delta Quadrant; a new endgame FE series and some new queued events to begin the Iconian War. The Undine will likely have a big role too, as they are roughly the equivalent of the Cardassians in the DS9 analogy - maybe not actual allies or even servitors of the Iconians, but at least someone the Iconians can use as a stalking horse (as, in a way, they already have been doing).
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Glad someone commented.
I don't consider my ideas very likely, too.
But I would love to see it, or at least some of it, nonetheless.
New mechanics (yet building on existing ones), and a continuation of many not yet resolved storylines (Dominion, Voth and of course Iconians and friends).
I don't want more out off a full expansion.
I very much see this happening. The foreshadowing is already there (replay Sphere of Influence, they're recruiting in the DQ).
TRIBBLE Hydra! Hail Janeway!