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Art of Command Ships

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  • ssbn655ssbn655 Member Posts: 1,894 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    hypl wrote: »
    http://images-cdn.perfectworld.com/arc/76/8b/768bd7911ccf727900ed9daee58e9ce91424401391.jpg

    Uh, this looks waaay better than what we actually got. Can we get this warbird in the future? :rolleyes:

    I hope they don't looks to much like that awful JJ Trek "Klingon" Bird of prey. NO JJ TREK STUFF HERE EVER!
  • mightybobcncmightybobcnc Member Posts: 3,354 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Dat concept art tho. :cool:

    Joined January 2009
    Finger wrote:
    Nitpicking is a time-honored tradition of science fiction. Asking your readers not to worry about the "little things" is like asking a dog not to sniff at people's crotches. If there's something that appears to violate natural laws, then you can expect someone's going to point it out. That's just the way things are.
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    patrickngo wrote: »
    Given how Tier Six is structured, you won't see a new Bird of Prey of any kind, not even a JJ bird, since one of the defining traits of the BoP is an all-universal seating arrangement, and Universal seats were specifically excluded from equipping either intel, or Command, BoFF abilities.

    Where they designed to never be Specialization-capable, or where they just designed so that they wouldn't automatically give access to all specializations? There is a difference, but I am not sure the original source of this description is precise enough to make it.


    Anyway... There is more to BOPs than Universal slots. Speak, Maneuverability, Battle Cloak, and the general design language.

    I would have no problems with a Tier 6 BOP that:
    • Has Universal slots but has no access to Specializations at all
    • Sacrifices some Universal Slots for access to Specializations.
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • gavinrunebladegavinruneblade Member Posts: 3,894 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Love the blog and all the behind the scenes art. That is for the insights and seeing the other possibilities.
  • darpinkdarpink Member Posts: 340 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    I sure wish I could use one of the new ships. Bug the UI lag, repeated SNR's and Random Disconnects have made that impossible.

    But the new ships LOOK great! :)
    Nice job...........
  • gambit9526gambit9526 Member Posts: 10 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Very interesting look behind the scenes and interesting concept art.

    Kit bashing however does not mean what you think it does.

    Thumbnailing might be closest.

    But kit bashing probably hasn't happened since first contact.
  • toivatoiva Member Posts: 3,276 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    Ugh, I'm not sure what you're basing your talk about 'universals not allowing specializations' on, but those remarks I've seen seemed to indicate no specific seat could currently support a 'universal specialization'. AKA you couldn't choose yourself whether you'd use an intel officer (with some intel abilities) or a command one (with some command) - or simply basic abilities of the right career. I'll remind you it's not intended for a Boff to use both intel and command specs (and thus abilities) at once as well. At least currently.

    In that regard, I don't see why a particular universal slot couldn't be a hybrid universal intel or universal command.

    Of course it'd still be possible to make a line of BoPs with a hybrid Intel Commander eng, Intel Commander tac and Intel Commander sci. Or the same with a lower station, or command spec. There are raiders with some fixed career stations afterall: Kazon, Plesh brek, Aquarius.
    TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class.
    Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
    Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.

    Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
  • toivatoiva Member Posts: 3,276 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    patrickngo wrote: »
    those raiders aren't BoPs, they're rather unpopular Escorts-you see them right around the event they're acquired in, aand never again.

    You can get a Kazon raider on the exchange for the price of a Mirror ship-and less than the price of a Mirror BoP.

    which might tell you something about how popular the entire Raider classification is among non-KDF, and how popular THOSE raiders are among KDF.

    For the first four years of this game, Cryptic had a superb "Pilot's" ship-the Bird of Prey. It was a pared-down, straight-forward, flexible ship that balanced defense and offense effectively enough to play tag with the big boys while not BEING the big boys.

    If you had a Sci, you could use a BoP and be effective, a Tac, you could use a BoP and be effective, even an Engineer could be effective in a BoP-and without going to the same cloned layout. (In fact, cloned layouts didn't work...)

    This is the thing Cryptic fundamentally did NOT understand when they intro'd the Breen Raider and updated the Aquarius-that fixed seating pretty much corners a ship that has the combination of traits that the Bird of Prey lays out.

    basically a ship that's "Not quite as good as" a Defiant, JHAS, or T'Varo.

    which is why you hardly ever see one. OTOH, Fleet alerts, Qo'noS, etc. anywhere you have KDF content, the odds of seeing a BoP are actually pretty good.


    Even NOW.

    and part of me thinks you might be right in your interpretation that there won't be any single-seat setup that allows a Bridge Officer to use both CMD and INTEL abilities on the same BoFF...

    but then, I remember Geko's comments over the years, and Pessimism takes over.

    BoP/Raider classes are really only popular with KDF, and Geko doesn't wnat to make KDF content anymore, unless it can be cross-factioned, and the other factions don't WANT ships that, on paper at first glance, are fundamentally inferior to the BFAW cruisers and DPScorts they already have more of, at higher quality, than KDF has.

    Thus, it wouldn't sell (Witness the Aquarius, which costs as much as a Fleet Norgh, Hoh'sus, or B'rel of the same Tier.) YOu see Norghs, Hoh'sus, and B'Rels all the time, there are even Fleet B'Rels that have been upgraded out there.

    Basically 32 dollar ships trapped behind the need for T5 shipyards.

    Feds don't buy the Aquarius, because they have ships that fit the Fed playing style better already available at lower cost.

    meaning even if you cloned a general "Non-BoP raider" and gave it a BoP skin as part of a joint release, by Cryptic's algorithms, it's a non-seller. Feds won't buy it, so it won't be made as anything but a lockbox cross-faction non-Bird of Prey.

    all of that, of course, digresses from the main topic here.

    which is, the Art department showing a bit of the process behind how they decided to work out the Command Flight-Deck-Cruisers. (I too, refuse to call them 'Battle'Cruisers, the description doesn't fit.)

    only question I have, is why do the KDF versions look so...rushed? The finished products, tbh, look kinda sketchy still, as if they were pushed out on "emergency time" in a hurry or something.

    Overall, I guess I'd agree with your points.

    The fact raiders aren't that popular with the FEDs might have several causes, and I'm only speculating here:
    - First, there might still be leftover focus of FEDs towards PvE (for which a more resilient escort with one more turret - or one more front weapon - will be better) while the original 'spirit' of KDF was focused on PvP and overall better handling of ships.
    - Then, none of the FED available raiders are truly fitting (for some a rather extravagant Breen Plesh Brek and a craft from the mocked Kazon) or easy to get (upgradeable Aquarius pretty damn expensive without a discount possibility, non-Fleet unupgradeable Aquarius still needing quite some Fleet credits for what's truly an outdated Tier 5). And overall, that's not a very large offering of raiders.
    - Lastly, and I'm afraid I'm opening the gate for future tragedy here, you're right those non-BoP raiders offer less customization (some of those fixed Boff stations) and I'd say less fun than battlecloaking BoPs (heck the Battlecloak may even, in some cases, offer at least some protection for the fragile craft).


    And because I don't want other factions to get a true BoP-like raider, I can only call for a KDF only new ship. *Insert your laughter here.* Yes, we all know how much that is likely. But what I was saying is that such a ship, from my understanding, could technically get intel (or command, which honestly doesn't quite fit in my mind) specialization Boff slots in the current system, despite keeping all universal slots.

    Hope dies last. If not a BoP, perhaps a Tier 6 carrier will come to KDF (before T7 arrives, preferrably)...
    TOIVA, Toi Vaxx, Toia Vix, Toveg, T'vritha, To Vrax: Bring in the Allegiance class.
    Toi'Va, Ti'vath, Toivia, Ty'Vris, Tia Vex, Toi'Virth: Add Tier 6 KDF Carrier and Raider.
    Tae'Va, T'Vaya, To'Var, Tevra, T'Vira, To'Vrak: Give us Asylums for Romulans.

    Don't make ARC mandatory! Keep it optional only!
  • robeasomrobeasom Member Posts: 1,911 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    patrickngo wrote: »
    Given how Tier Six is structured, you won't see a new Bird of Prey of any kind, not even a JJ bird, since one of the defining traits of the BoP is an all-universal seating arrangement, and Universal seats were specifically excluded from equipping either intel, or Command, BoFF abilities.

    I don't care for intel or command abilities so they should still release a Tier 6 B'rel but not a jj trek one as jj trek is not trek to me
    NO TO ARC
    Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
    Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
    Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • robeasomrobeasom Member Posts: 1,911 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    patrickngo wrote: »

    He's not incompetent, he's hostile, and he's open about being hostile-which is, at least, honest.

    even respectable.

    Not respectable enough for me to agree with his position, but at least we KNOW his position.
    Yeah well we are the ones that give Cryptic the money to pay his wages so if he likes it or not he should do what he is told I don't like my job but I do it all the same. But a Tier 6 BOP would be the only thing I see worth me opening my wallet for and if Cyptic don't want it then I know other game companys that do want the money plus we need more tv ships not this rubbish that is coming out recently The Only iconic tier 6 ships is Voyager
    NO TO ARC
    Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
    Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
    Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • worffan101worffan101 Member Posts: 9,518 Arc User
    edited February 2015
    From what I've seen of the new EP, he seems like a good guy, and his track record as a dev is extremely strong. I trust him to do well by the players, including the KDF.

    Geko has said some very...let's be nice and call them poorly-thought-out things, and he's already got a pretty bad rep with the playerbase. I'm not sure how much I trust him.

    KDF has been pretty royally screwed by DR, though. I can't play most of the content believably as anything but a Fed, and I'm not happy about that. Nor are my friends and fleet, tbh.
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