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Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 178: It’s all for the Feds!
midniteshadow7
Member Posts: 787 Arc User
Tribbles in Ecstasy Take 178: It's all for the Feds! has been published on Holosuite Media, you can download and stream it from: http://bit.ly/1gypDow
This week Captain MidNite Shadow leads the crew of the USS Tribble in discussions about all the news out of Star Trek Online and general Star Trek news. Once again, this week's feedback from some of the crew includes harsher language than usual - this is why we have a adult rating!
We're also looking for new hosts, email holosuitemedia@gmail.com if you are interested.
In this week's episode the Tribbles crew discuss:
* Star Trek Online: Upgrade Weekend Event,
* Star Trek Online: Krenim Fleet Holding #2,
* Ships and Content for the KDF and Romulans,
* the new Role Playing Blog,
* Further discussion on the Featured Episode "Broken Circle",
* Heavy Escort Carriers,
* Star Trek Las Vegas,
* STO Release Notes,
* Star Trek: Anthology,
* Star Trek: Axanar,
* Star Trek Beyond,
* 5th Passenger,
* Star Trek: Renegades,
* a Foundry Mission Review,
* and more!
This week Captain MidNite Shadow leads the crew of the USS Tribble in discussions about all the news out of Star Trek Online and general Star Trek news. Once again, this week's feedback from some of the crew includes harsher language than usual - this is why we have a adult rating!
We're also looking for new hosts, email holosuitemedia@gmail.com if you are interested.
In this week's episode the Tribbles crew discuss:
* Star Trek Online: Upgrade Weekend Event,
* Star Trek Online: Krenim Fleet Holding #2,
* Ships and Content for the KDF and Romulans,
* the new Role Playing Blog,
* Further discussion on the Featured Episode "Broken Circle",
* Heavy Escort Carriers,
* Star Trek Las Vegas,
* STO Release Notes,
* Star Trek: Anthology,
* Star Trek: Axanar,
* Star Trek Beyond,
* 5th Passenger,
* Star Trek: Renegades,
* a Foundry Mission Review,
* and more!
0
Comments
Okay, first off... No offense taken, MidNite. I'm a guy. So instead of "they said" it's totally fine to use "he said".
Oh, and since I got the feeling this is gonna get into essay range again, feel free to pick and choose what you can fit into your discussion. I will cover a few different topics and then go indepth at the end...
And now let's do this...
KDF/Rom sci-ships:
You actually remembered them. The KDF does have science vessels. The gorn science vessels. You can argue that you specifically want klingon science vessels, but the KDF does have science vessels. And those are the infamous "klingon" science vessels that sell like stale beer.
Why do I think that? I'm glad you asked... we got two of the three Gorn science vessels during past giveaway events. Yes, two of the three. We never got any "bestseller" during those giveaways and that is fine, but it speaks volumes about the prospect of getting more "klingon" (namely gorn) science vessels into the game.
Quick note, not long ago there was a mention of Rom sci vessels being a little more probable because of RP reasons. (Implying that there might be proportionately more Rom scientists than KDF scientists.) I think that might have been in the G&T interview with CaptainGeko. (They had that interview series not long ago.) And yes, he did say (in that interview I think) that on the KDF side other ships, namely raptors and battlecruisers, sell way better. Not as good as basically any given Fed ship, but still...
Before you throw things at me, I will go into more detail later on, but for now, let's get to more feedback.
Marketing to klingons:
This discussion? Again? Still? Oh who cares...
Yes, this is in part a chicken and egg problem. There was no content, so there were no players, so they did not get content, so the few players left and so on.
But remember, Star Trek has always been first and foremost about the Federation. So you can bet your behinds that Cryptic talked to CBS about it and somewhere along those lines the now infamous "20%" reared its ugly head. What am I talking about? Dan Stahl once said that some sort of surveys and data clearly showed that basically 20% (I think 18% and 16% have been thrown into the mix at times, but let's just go with 20%) of us trekkies were klingon fans. And for that reason they never really planned/strived for faction parity (50:50 or maybe even 60:40).
Oh and about portraying klingons as mental patients... uhm... that's kinda canon, isn't it? I mean, I never really understood their appeal anyway. They like to talk about honor, but they have justified so many things that do not strike me as being particularly honorable... It's a little like the orcs in Warcraft. I never got into playing the Horde for a similar reason. Their whole culture is based on a concept of honor that is just bizarre to me. Like the klingons.
What would it take to make me play a klingon? Well, thanks for asking, but I do have characters within every faction. Mostly Feds, but also a couple KDFs and Roms/Remans. I will play whatever I feel like playing, but my main char is (and most probably always will be) a Fed.
Now, if the playable romulans were (like many wanted them to be...) imperial/Tal shiar romulans, I would probably play through their storyline once and then basically let them gather dust.
Just like in SWTOR. I enjoyed playing a cartoonishly evil dark side Sith Warrior. But I could not immerse myself in that character. Dark Side, if you play on the side of the Sith Empire, basically means: "Rawrggggghhh, I WILL BATHE IN THE BLOOD OF BABIES AND KITTENS AND PUPPIES!" It's kinda hilarious. In a sick and twisted way.
Chase Masterson at the STLV Panel:
Well, what does the fact that Chase Masterson will be at Cryptic's STLV panel indicate?
Let's think about this. We got Holo Leeta ingame. Voiced by Chase Masterson. And that's nice, but a complete waste of her talent. Now we get a picture of a revamped Holo Leeta.
Why? Why the effort, when we only ever see Holo Leeta at the dabo tables?
My theory? We will not just see her at the dabo tables. And I think we might not just see Holo Leeta, but real Leeta.
I remember an interview, it was probably CaptainGeko, it most often is... anyways, he talked about the possibility of a Ferengi story arc.
And now get your clues together: We got quite a bit of Nog (even though he was not on Voyager and this is still Delta Rising!), we seem to be getting more Leeta... if you remember the summer event, we got a ferengi ship, supposedly because those are canon whereas Risian ships are not...
The plot thickens!
Guroth:
Okay, Guroth really is that guy from Paris' taskforce. And yes, he is an outcast, but not because of his "un-klingon-ness", but because... even klingons considered him a madman (taken from one of the blogs). He seems to be way more fond of explosions and big guns and all that jazz than your average klingon. Yeah, let that thought sink in for a moment... So it is actually completely in character for him to just throw a bigger explosion at a problem.
Legacy of Cardassia:
sunseahl, I completely agree with you. Legacy of Cardassia would definitely require Garak. No ifs, buts or whens.
Which makes the following a little harder for me...
Broken circle: (Probably not suited for your feedback section.)
I'm sorry, sunseahl, but I just don't see when we could have had that "boots on the chest" moment. The only time that could have happened was when M'Tara was about to die. And by then she still had the energy to open that portal. We know that, because we saw it happen.
And you would have had to recklessly run up to an Iconian that could have grown a brain and tried to lure us in to do... something. Unlikely, I know, but our characters could not know that Iconians are dumb as doorknobs... They would/should have considered the possibility of it being a trap.
Could we have stopped her from opening the portal? I don't know. And my characters certainly don't know that either. Because we know nothing about the Iconians. And now imagine putting your boots on her chest and not being able to stop her from opening the portal.
I just don't see how you could have gotten your "we'll talk some sense into this damn Iconian" moment. The way the story was written just did not allow for that to happen. Maybe we'll just have to agree to disagree here. *shrug* Just like your problem with the "cloak"/"timeshift" that was never mentioned. You were fine with putting one and one together to conclude that Admiral Quinn supposedly wrote that one warblog, but here you refuse to put the clues together and insist on having Cryptic spell it out. Once again, they could have made it a little clearer, but I don't mind putting one and one together.
And those other Iconians: The way the episode presented the issue to us was... this was M'Tara's flagship. Guroth's idiotic maneuver and our attack seem to have damaged something and the ship loses energy and then we start shutting down energy conduits. And it seems that M'Tara is somehow tied into her ship's systems.
So when she loses energy she needs the ship to get "fueled up" again. (Would any Iconian ship do or does it need to be this specific ship? So many questions! Ugh...) Which is not working right now, because the ship loses energy. Basically her own power reserves were probably already running low. For some reason. Did I mention that we basically know nothing about Iconians and how they work?
Which means T'Ket and the other Iconian (I think one of the warblogs called her L'Miren?) were probably still all powered up. Which means "handwaving out of existence" would have worked.
Once again, you wanna stay? Fine, but I'm beaming out. On the double!
Oh... One last thing. When M'Tara first appears after we mess with the first console, she starts giving this grand speech about us insects and how dare we show up when she can just handwave us out of existence and she does the gesture while speaking and it doesn't work.
That is so cartoony. I mean, either you want to deliver a grand speech, then you should probably wait til you finish the speech and then destroy them or you just destroy them without all that talk, but trying to deliver a speech while destroying your audience is just so... stupid...
Warning: Indepth KDF ship discussion following: Might not be suitable for your feedback section, but very suitable for a discussion here:
Now, let's get into the nitty-gritty stuff. Why are the "klingon" science vessels (with the exception of the Dyson Science Destroyer (DSD)) not actually klingon vessels but gorn vessels?
Klingons are not very science-y. Never have been, never will be. The shows were pretty clear on that.
Does that make any lick of sense? Not really, because if that was the case they should fall behind technologically, but it is canon...
Let's take a closer look at the different factions.
Starfleet is a very homogenous, unified faction. It's all about working together and getting along. That's why starfleet ships are easily identifiable as starfleet ships. Even something as "exotic" as the Defiant... so there are basically no "species ships" anymore.
I mean, what do we have? The Vulcan D'Kyr (with the Tal'kyr shuttlecraft) and the Andorian Kumari. That's it. Some people are probably still waiting for an Andorian battlecruiser (although since they could not get the broadsider idea to work properly, that ship most probably died with it).
And what about a Tellarite ship? I mean, we got Risian ships ingame, but no love for the fourth founding member of the Federation? Yeah, me neither, I don't even care about the Andorians. But I would not mind another Vulcan ship or how about a Betazoid ship just for giggles...
Now let's look at the romulans. One species. (The remans were thrown in later...) One way to build ships. All with the "bird motif". (The romulan D7 was part of a shortlived exchange with the klingons which got the ridgeheads their cloaking technology.) The one ship that's standing out like a sore thumb is a reman design, the Scimitar.
Last but not least, the KDF. The way it is presented to us, it is a ragtag band of conquered/subjugated/"convinced"/actually convinced species under klingon leadership.
Orions got Flight Deck Cruisers.
Gorn got Science vessels.
Nausicaans got Destroyers.
Klingons basically cover the rest: Carriers (even using the Fek'ihri thingy), Battlecruisers (not even regular cruisers, afaik), Escorts (Raptors), Raiders (Birds of Prey)
What do we see? A clear divide. The klingon empire delegates the fabrication of ships to the species that (supposedly) have the most affinity for that particular brand of ships.
Should that be changed? Now we're getting into the right discussion!
I mean, I would probably have the Gorn build some meaty cruisers, but that might be too much overlap with the meaty klingon battlecruisers. Maybe have them build a dreadnought cruiser? And leave the science ships to the Letheans? I mean, we still don't have any Lethean ships.
That's not easy... But right now, that's the way the KDF is built. You wanna change that? Okay, then fire away.
Oh, and one last thing that I found interesting. In a somewhat recent interview (not sure whether G&T or P1) CaptainGeko said something along the lines of "when we build a ship, we can build one that sells thousands/tens of thousands or one that sells in the dozens, which is more sensible?" and he also mentioned that maybe a way out of this dilemma is to cut down on the time investment by taking an existing ship and giving it a reskin instead of modelling a new ship from the ground up.
Well, that's what I got out of the interview. I might have misunderstood something, so if you hate that idea, don't immediately hate on him.
Okay, that's it. I'm done. I'm free!
I just hope you don't hit a nerve with your next show. This is getting exhausting...
I tend to think of anything $20 or more for pixels to be a bit on the absurd side. Esp since those pixels will go poof when the game sunsets. I don't mind, and have spent hundreds over time but $60 for a 3 pieces set of pixels? lolno. I wouldnt even spend that for a full game like DA:I. When prices cross a certain threshold I expect a bit more for my cash, like a physical copy of a game in the instance of DA:I.
Yes, it is.
Is it too much in context?
No, it is not.
Why?
sunseahl mentioned WoW (and no, you don't get a WoW expansion for 30$, at least not when it launches. It's more in the 50$ ballpark...) In WoW you can buy a few mounts in the store. Those mounts cost 25$. A ship in STO is similar to a mount, when you use it in sector space. But it literally becomes your avatar in space combat. It has stats. It got consoles/starship traits. It is actually way more useful than "just a mount". So if people are willing to pay 25$ for a simple mount in WoW, it is completely reasonable to ask for 30$ for a ship in STO. Especially if you consider that STO is F2P. Why is that fact important? You pay 25$ for a WoW mount and you need to keep paying for your subsciption, if you want to keep logging in to use that mount.
Do I think 25$ for a WoW mount or 30$ for a STO ship are justified? Well, I would prefer them to be cheaper... But since people seem to be okay with those prices, they will stay that way.
Now, paying 60$ to get basically the same ship three times or 120$ to get the "9 ship" packs...
Yes, they have slightly different stats and nowadays they have slightly different costumes and starship traits/consoles. So yes, Cryptic is actively trying to sweeten those deals. But they are still not worth it to me.
I have to agree with this, I also consider the pricing as of DR to be a bit too steep for my taste. I know that opinions may vary and hell - people have thrown hundreds of dollars for single ships in SC, a game that hasn't even been released yet, but my observation is that if the pricing of the T5 ships sufficed for the game to gain playes, keep growing and expand the dev team as Stahl often used to say - then what's with the increased prices for T6? Creating a T6 ship costs as much as a T5 ship, if it keeps going like this are we to be expected to shell out 50 bucks for a ship at T8 in the future? I mean, where do you put the limit?
Now, you may be someone that never bought into subscription games, but you have to realize that a lot of people did, and that means that yes - 30 $ for a ship that you can keep until the game closes down can be quite a good deal for them. If it lasts only another 3 months, they are basically even with the sub model. And chances are - any purchase you make right now is gonna be useable for more than 3 months. Because neither is the game going to close down that soon, nor will there be another level cap increase that soon.
But ... you don't need to spend that 30 $. You can choose not to have the ship. Or you can choose to grind for it and have someone else pay the money for it.
One has also to realize - at some point, a cheaper prize means that the total volume of money the game makes is insufficient to operate the game, especially if you want a profit margin. There is no hard cut-off point, of course. If the game makes slightly less, the company could choose to make less content to compensate. At some point, you get to where Champions Online is now. Practically no new content releases, but apparently still with enough income to justify a small team to keep it running. I am not sure if STO can operate on that level - they have a license to pay off, but they might also be able to retain more players than CO did so far.
The question is probably more: Where do players put the limit? And when will T7 or T8 come? I'd say Tier 6 will last us at least 2-3 years, considering Tier 5 lasted for 5 years. Who is willing to wager on what is going on with the game - or anywhere in the world - in 2-3 years? I mean, sure, I won't bet on a miracle PvP revival or anything, but it's too far off to now what will be happening to then.
Most of the Tier 6 ship releases so far have always come with two types of discounts:
- 500 Zen less than the final price
- Cross-Faction Package Discount that lower the price an additional 33 %. (e.g. one ship for free).
This means you basically still pay the Tier 5 prize for these ships if you buy early. Which is an incentive for players to do exactly that, which also increases the likelihood of them buying ships they might have otherwise not bought.
Also, the triple-feature likely means that many people actually spend 5,000 Zen when they might have only spend 2,500 Zen in the past, because, hey, it's one ship for free.
(I'd say this is also the best argument for Cryptic to work harder on making alting more interesting again - if people feel they can maintain only one character anyway, they don't need cross-faction packages, since they are playing only one faction probably.)
- Sub ($15) + ship purchase
- Ship purchase
- Ship purchase for the Trait only .
I pulled out of new ship purchases because of the the latest option .
I never liked the F2P ship prices (yes, I can still recall DStahl saying that ships will be cheaper after going F2P) -- but I absolutely draw the line at $30 for a Trait .
Considering how many (and then how few) Phantom's I saw / see, I may be a minority with that perception .
NP ... , dat don't bother me .
If you just in there for the trait, I can understand why you find it too expensive. Personally, I would not be interested without the new ship costumes. I love tinkering/kitbashing my own look.
Yeah, forgot the 'bundles' for a sec .
And it's interesting that you mentioned them because if I remember correctly , before they were introduced , the ships sold separately had at times "cosmetic options" (mild changes toyour ship look) .
With the advent of the bundle, it seems like you now have to purchase it to get cosmetic options ... , so we've regressed in that sense as well .
@alex1ger : It's not that Klingons "don't have scientists" It's that their culture has pushed the promotion of the warrior to the forefront. B'elana mentions this in Voyager "Warriors get all the glory but it's the Engineers that build empires," and even Archer's Legal Counsel in Enterprise mentioned that non-warrior professions were suddenly falling into a second and third Caste. So at one time the Klingons themselves were just as unified as the federation. Scientists do still exist within the Klingon Empire no matter how many other races they conquer, subjugate, or "convince" to join them. I've never understood why they even have so many different Racial ships other than "Here's your [race] RP vessel, it can fight too!"
Could they make actual "Klingon" Science vessels? Yes. Will they? Probably not and I totally understand that, at this point what gets me is they literally take a giant metal pike and poke the Klingons with "Hey... You're not popular enough for us to do anything but make you the victim of our story, but maybe one day we'll make a kickstarter to see how interested people are in us making you content, you know... cause we don't promote you, cause you're not even popular enough for that." which seems frelling two-faced to me.
I mean hell you just mentioned Orions getting FDCs... and here we are with the first ever KDF Raptor FDC.... That's literally proof of concept that they can do just about anything if they have the gumption to do so.
Still... That aside, what we understand of Klingons is really frelled up, period and that's Bad Writers faults, not the Klingons faults. Klingons have always suffered from a strange combination of Saturday Morning Villain Syndrome("I'll get you next time Federation.... NEXT TIME!!!"), Bad Admiral Syndrome, and these weird moments of them having an actual discussion of their own history and culture that seems so in-depth and genuinely honorable(ah-la creation, Khaless' history, various recountings of their religion, the current ideal dominating Klingon social society) that just seem to be there for filler at times which is COMPLETELY wasted to me. Klingons have always been portrayed as villain characters, and to an extent that does tend to be the case quite often, but when the Quadrants have their Dominion War moments, like now, there should be no reason to continue making them blusterous villains who are so about attacking things, dying for things, that the moment this threat is over J'mpok will go right back to attacking the Federation.
I went back to look up a BUNCH of what happened within the KDF during the Path to 2409 lore (Which you can't even read all of unless you play a stupid mini-game, another stupid idea) To find out why we were even in this war in the first place... and a LOT of it has to deal with the Undine threat, but yes, also J'mpok's War Hawk nature...
http://sto.gamepedia.com/Path_to_2409
Relevant points:
The Gorn/Klingon Conflict
Volume 6, Chapter 1
Volume 7, Chapter 3
Volume 8, Chapter 8
Volume 9, Chapter 3/4
Volume 10, Chapter 2
Volume 11. Chapter 1/2/3
Volume 12, Chapter 2/3/4
Volume 13, Chapter 2/3
Volume 14, Chapter 1/2/3
The Undine Reveal:
Volume 16, Chapter 5
The Undine Conspiracy:
Volume 17, Chapter 3 - 4
Volume 18. Chapter 2
Volume 19, Chapter 5
The Undine Infiltration:
Volume 20, Chapter 4 - 6
Volume 21, Chapter 1 - 2
Volume 22, Chapter 3 - 4
The Federation Stance on Undine and Resignation of Worf:
Volume 22, Chapter 5
The Beginning of the End of the Gorn Conflict:
Volume 23, Chapter 1
The Conquering of Gorn and the Galactic "Oh Snap" Moment:
Volume 24, Chapter 1-5
The Start of the Federation War:
Volume 25, Chapter 3
Volume 26, Chapter 1 - 3
Just reading though this stuff again you can see how much Martok could/would have missed without J'mpok stepping in, but you also see how much J'mpok lacks in the diplomacy department. Which is why entirely new Klingon content dealing with all this would be a MUCH welcomed break from the "ALL KLINGONS BE BAD!" thing.
=========
Now as for the assuming it's Quinn thing. I admit that I did think it was, at first, but later in the episode You can hear that I changed my stance on it as I did say "whoever this admiral is" cause now even I really can't say who it is with absolute certainty.
As for Guroth.... see THAT is the biggest problem I have.... Klingon throws himself at the big, bad, Herald ship because "A Klingon never retreats" and all anyone who's NOT really paying attention goes is "Who the hell was this idiot again?" Cause we only meet him, like... ONCE.
Captain Paris' Task Force: Red Shirt *slow clap* Excellent writing /sarcasm
=========
As for the Romulans.... Remember... They didn't just make a season, they dedicated and entire frelling expansion to promoting Romulans. At that point they still hadn't really "fixed" or even marketed the Klingons and they're pushing a WHOLE NEW half-faction? WHAT THE FRELL? So of course the Romulans are gonna get better stuff, why? Because the marketed the frell out of them and made people wanna play and now those people want more. Soon the Romulans will also have more in-store purchasable ships than the KDF(if not already) simply because Cryptic's "metrics" already say people are playing more Romulans than Klingons.
*sighs* well that took.... hours....
- Well, I never said they had "no scientists at all", but... how do I put this... Remember that episode on DS9, where Worf's son was serving aboard a klingon... I think it was a Bird of Prey... anyways, he was the butt of the joke for the klingons. Not just because of his upbringing (mind you, Worf's human adoptive parents took care of him for most of his life...) but also because he was not a warrior. It was only when he saved the ship with his "mad skillz" as an engineer (I think) that they started tolerating him and he got "promoted" to being the ship's "mascot".
Yeah, it's been a while, maybe I should rewatch that episode again. But anyways, being tolerated is not the same as being truly accepted for who you are.
So, yes, they have scientists. I don't doubt that. But imagine you were a klingon child and you told your parents you did not want to be a warrior, but a scientist. Now imagine the same thing as a romulan or a member of a Federation/Federation-aligned species. That's what I was getting at.
Now whether or not the Gorn of all KDF species would be more qualified to be scientists... that is another can of worms.
- Yes, they did promote romulans when they released Legacy of Romulus. Promoting klingons (during that time) would have taking away from the focus of that expansion which was, you guessed it, romulans. Could they have promoted them afterwards? Maybe? You know, when Al said he was pushing for a revamp of the Fek'ihri story arc after the revamp of the Cardassian story arc (which is still missing...), but there were people pushing for a revamp of the Breen story arc instead... Well, the Fek'ihri arc is way older, but the Breen arc is playable by all factions...
But if they ever did revamp the Fek'ihri arc as part of season...47... that would be a nice hook to promote klingons, wouldn't it? At this point I doubt they would devote an entire expansion to the klingons. I mean, they burnt quite a bit of money on them already...
- And now I have the terrible duty to crush your "hopes"... The new klingon flight deck raptor is not encroaching on the Orions' monopoly when it comes to the fabrication of KDF flight deck cruisers. Because a raptor is not a cruiser. Btw, since we're already talking about them... the Marauder Patrol Cruiser, the most expensive Orion FDC available... yes, it has also been part of a past giveaway.
So many people seem to ask for more species' ships and then (at least on the KDF side) they just don't seem to sell. Except for the Nausicaan ships. They have not been given away yet. Maybe because one of them comes with the plasmonic leech console?
- To the "all klingons are bad"... No, they are not. Worf was a good klingon. Martok was kinda good. They seem to be the federation's best "frenemies". But how would you want them to be/behave to become more marketable without driving away their hardcore fans? I seem to remember quite a few angry romulans who wanted (and still want) to play a scheming backstabber who is not afraid of using torture and other means of psychological warfare to get what he wants.
- To Guroth... No, what people think (unless they pay somewhat closer attention to the debriefing dialogues) is that Captain Kagran just offed himself.
The klingons have nothing special to offer to a old/new player, and thats why they are going down.
I'm not worried about the Flight Deck Raptor really encroaching on anything, my point was that they can make much more advanced "silly" concepts like a Flight Deck Raptor when the Flight Deck Escort is everything a BoP is, minus the cloak/flank damage but Klingons can't have a science ship or a canon, fixed-wing ship that's lore'd off as being pulled from a Tholianed-up mirror universe....
- The K'vort class, iirc?
Yeah, I got nothing.
There are much sillier ships in the game already, so you got my blessing for your crusade for the K'vort. Not that it matters to anyone, but still.
- But those science ships... I still think you're fighting the wrong fight there.
You're arguing that the KDF needs a science vessel. I understand that notion. I remember the days when KDF scientists had to "make do" with carriers or raiders or just abandon a heavy science focus and go for raptors/battlecruisers. Then Cryptic answered the pleas and implemented the Gorn science vessels.
They did not sell.
I don't know about the Klingon Dyson Science Destroyers, but they were obviously not making that much money either, because if those had been "a license to print money" Cryptic would have flooded us with KDF science vessels.
(Just like we're getting flooded with all kinds of Fed cruisers. I'm not saying, I'm just saying...)
So I believe the question that needs to be asked is not: "Would KDF players buy science vessels?" (Since the answer seems to be "no" or "not enough".) but more along the lines of: "What would it take to make them buy science vessels?"
Or another way to look at it: "Why did those ships not sell?"
Well, technically Cryptic should be trying to find answers to these specific questions, but if I understood that one interview correctly, they seem to be going for "How can we cut down on the investment for the ship designing process?" for those kinds of ships instead.
And to be honest, I don't know if anyone is gonna like the result of that.
Her. I Identify as female. Please remember this everyone.