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March 2015 Dev Blog (leaked)
humblesheep
Member Posts: 423 Arc User
Crypticnerfbat here with an update on some upcoming changes to the powers granted by the Specialization system!
As weve expanded the Specialization system to include more and more content, weve created a number of cool powers for players to pick up.
However, each time we have made a new Specialization, weve had to constrain our powers due to the fact that the most dedicated players would have all of them active at any given time.
Ultimately, its been clear that the system as it exists on live is not infinitely scalable if we had 200 Specialization powers, the difference between a fresh max-level character and one whod spent hundreds of hours at endgame would just be too large for them to play together.
However, we like the appeal of the Specialization systems escalating power rewards they feel good to earn and good to use.
The solution that lets us balance passive power creep and give even better rewards than before for Specialization progression is very similar to the solution we used for Traits let players earn power options, then pick and choose which of those powers they want to be using at any given time.
Due to this systemic similarity, were renaming Specialization powers to Specialization Traits.
With a system revamp like this, we also get to take a close look at which goals the original system was meeting, and which goals it wasnt.
We want players to be able to use all of the powers theyve earned, and we want to encourage experimentation and gaining a deeper understanding of how the games mechanics work.
To that end, were changing how powers are selected you can now change your selection of 4 passive Specialization Traits for free, any time youre out of combat.
All players will have four slots for passive Ground powers, four slots for passive Space powers.
We recognize that this system revamp will cause some players to lose simultaneous access to powers theyve earned, and its important to us that the powers you choose to slot feel impactful and worthy on their own, now that you can only use 4 passives at once in any given region.
We hope this will make the selection of your powers a set of interesting choices, and not just a single best spec that people copy from a guide.
What follows is a work-in-progress list of our buffs to Rep passives please keep in mind, all of these are not subject to change, following testing on Tribble.
As Last Year
As weve expanded the Specialization system to include more and more content, weve created a number of cool powers for players to pick up.
However, each time we have made a new Specialization, weve had to constrain our powers due to the fact that the most dedicated players would have all of them active at any given time.
Ultimately, its been clear that the system as it exists on live is not infinitely scalable if we had 200 Specialization powers, the difference between a fresh max-level character and one whod spent hundreds of hours at endgame would just be too large for them to play together.
However, we like the appeal of the Specialization systems escalating power rewards they feel good to earn and good to use.
The solution that lets us balance passive power creep and give even better rewards than before for Specialization progression is very similar to the solution we used for Traits let players earn power options, then pick and choose which of those powers they want to be using at any given time.
Due to this systemic similarity, were renaming Specialization powers to Specialization Traits.
With a system revamp like this, we also get to take a close look at which goals the original system was meeting, and which goals it wasnt.
We want players to be able to use all of the powers theyve earned, and we want to encourage experimentation and gaining a deeper understanding of how the games mechanics work.
To that end, were changing how powers are selected you can now change your selection of 4 passive Specialization Traits for free, any time youre out of combat.
All players will have four slots for passive Ground powers, four slots for passive Space powers.
We recognize that this system revamp will cause some players to lose simultaneous access to powers theyve earned, and its important to us that the powers you choose to slot feel impactful and worthy on their own, now that you can only use 4 passives at once in any given region.
We hope this will make the selection of your powers a set of interesting choices, and not just a single best spec that people copy from a guide.
What follows is a work-in-progress list of our buffs to Rep passives please keep in mind, all of these are not subject to change, following testing on Tribble.
As Last Year
Post edited by humblesheep on
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Fleet Admiral Rylana - Fed Tac - U.S.S Wild Card - Tactical Miracle Worker Cruiser
Lifetime Subscriber since 2012 == 17,200 Accolades = RIP PvP and Vice Squad
Chief of Starfleet Intelligence Service == Praise Cheesus
Thank you. Now we do not have to write it. We will just do our usual copy/paste job.
Cryptic team.
*points at the bit where you can only have one primary and one secondary specialization active*
Doesn't make it any less of a ridiculous grind, though.
Infinite possibilities have implications that could not be completely understood if you turned this entire universe into a giant supercomputer.
Yes I know.
It's not supposed to be taken too seriously. It's just a word for word copy of last years rep nerf with the word 'specialisation' replacing 'reputation'.
The only serious point would be, that we have no guarantee that after hours of grinding out spec points that sometime in the future they could nerf them in a similar way to the way they nerfed rep powers.
Now that would smart!