where are all of the romulans?

whistlerdavid · December 2015

shouldn't there be a lot more romulan players?the reason i ask is because there is a big chunk of story that you even play has a fed but makes a lot more since if you play has a romulan. you bump into npc that you have known from start of game.then there are npc that you have been looking for in one of the major story arks that has a fed you just pass by. i must say i haven't enjoyed this game this much since game lunched

gradii · December 2015

I have no idea, the Romulan storyline is easily the best faction storyline in the game too! Romulans even have the stylishly pointy ears and stylish green ships! blood green!

whistlerdavid · December 2015

gradii wrote: »

I have no idea, the Romulan storyline is easily the best faction storyline in the game too! Romulans even have the stylishly pointy ears and stylish green ships! blood green!

i couldn't agree more

tomoyosakagami1 · December 2015

As of now from a recent concurrent of STO, Romulan is the least played faction with KDF lagging behind.

mewmaster101 · December 2015

Well, Romulans have gotten the short end of the stick number of ship wise. While they do by and far have the most powerful ships, they have very few, especially science ships. Also, they are not as old as feds and klinks, both of them are way older, and thus many palyers likely refused to change. Finally, not only do the feds have the most amount of ships in the most amount of varieties, but they are the "good guy" faction, so that automatically draws the attention of a massive part of the playerbase.

bernatk · December 2015

Yep, this is one of the thing that the new series can correct. I hope we will see 3 ships and its captains. 1 fed, 1 rom, 1kdf. All alien captains (eg. no hu-mans or pinkskins). And I hope certainly no JJ style, like the rom is a maniac serial killer or the klingon one is just a space orc.
Star Trek as IP can now actually learn from Blizzard. Bizarro...

whistlerdavid · December 2015

mewmaster101 wrote: »

Well, Romulans have gotten the short end of the stick number of ship wise. While they do by and far have the most powerful ships, they have very few, especially science ships. Also, they are not as old as feds and klinks, both of them are way older, and thus many palyers likely refused to change. Finally, not only do the feds have the most amount of ships in the most amount of varieties, but they are the "good guy" faction, so that automatically draws the attention of a massive part of the playerbase.

the romulan faction you play has are good guys.the Tal Shiar destroy your home your forced to find a new one.tons of drama and action

kodachikuno · December 2015

Well we actually do a lot of chatting in the Romulan sub-forum... imagine that. As for spotting us in space... lack of ships has a ton of Romulan players flying non-faction ships.

Unknown · December 2015

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Unknown · December 2015

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lessley00 · December 2015

Well most players never play as a rom because the Tovan haters get to them and soon they think good mister Khev is more annoying than the epohh lady, I personally think the opposite

yakodym · December 2015

Fed>KDF>Rom. As FED, you get to choose from three free ships each 10 levels, with each ship having three free costume variants for kitbashing. As Kdf, you also get the choice between several ships (BoP, raptor, cruiser), but with very limited kitbashing options. As a Rom, you get one fixed ship for each level-up as a "tutorial" for the romulan ship classes - The choice for both KDF and Rom only becomes more interesting after hitting level 40, but still, to have any fun kitbashing your ship, you need a handful of c-store unlocks.

...at least that is the biggest reason for me.

flash525 · December 2015

I would agree that as far as story progression goes, the Republic had the best one, hands down. However, once you've played through that, there's little to keep people playing within the Republic. The Republic, along with the Imperials, lack Science Ships. People keep asking, Cryptic keep ignoring; this is a reoccurring problem that's been ongoing for, well, too long.

The other problem with the Republic is their shortcomings. I did make a topic about them myself not that long ago, but they're limited to a mere two species when they could have a couple more (Suliban and Acamarian), they're lacking their unique weapons they used to have, in addition to their own version of an Omega Set, they've no contraband officer anywhere in their fleet.

The list goes on... It's no wonder most people default back to playing as a Feddy.

sunfrancks · December 2015

Romulan and KDF factions are kind of unsupported.

They get new ships, but only when the fed's get one..

Not seen anything unique for those factions since over a year ago.

tarran61 · December 2015

lessley00 wrote: »

Well most players never play as a rom because the Tovan haters get to them and soon they think good mister Khev is more annoying than the epohh lady, I personally think the opposite

I tried to air lock him but glad I didn't once I started understanding the traits. Now he is my 2nd in PINK.

OP, I do fly mostly Romulan ships but yes I have a really nice Xindi-Insectoid Olaen Heavy Escort Carrier named Death. My Romulan is a sister to my main.

mustrumridcully0 · December 2015

flash525 wrote: »

I would agree that as far as story progression goes, the Republic had the best one, hands down. However, once you've played through that, there's little to keep people playing within the Republic. The Republic, along with the Imperials, lack Science Ships. People keep asking, Cryptic keep ignoring; this is a reoccurring problem that's been ongoing for, well, too long.

Because Science Ships are what keeps people playing a faction?

I don't think so.

flash525 · December 2015

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Because Science Ships are what keeps people playing a faction?

I don't think so.

I never claimed them to be though, did I? You've quoted one of three paragraphs.

Regardless of that, there are people asking for Science Ships. Maybe, just maybe, if Cryptic gave a damn about the Science aspect of the game apart from DPS overload, there would be more interest in Science. Most people no doubt play as Tactical or Engineer, because they get the weapon slots and the ability to maximize their DPS better than any Science Ship would.

Science Ships need a purpose more than a mere secondary deflector. They also need more than three fore weapon slots.

harlequinpixie · December 2015

It all comes down to lack of choice, and yes. Romulans lack science ships. So, most people play the feds because they have a huge amount of ships to pick from. That is why most players can fill their hearts desires because of the choice of ships with the feds.

Science ships are part of the issue, as one class. Which is the science officer, lacks their class of ships to pick from. I have three Romulan characters, and one of them is a science officer. I am rather annoyed that there is no choice of a T6 science ship for a Romulan character.

alcyoneserene · December 2015

whistlerdavid wrote: »

the romulan faction you play has are good guys.the Tal Shiar destroy your home your forced to find a new one.tons of drama and action

Tablets and smart phones have really done a number on grammar and spelling errors. If the internet were skynet, it would think humanity has suffered a drastic and sudden IQ drop across the board (non-English speakers notwithstanding).

The Republic is the faction we are forced to play, but I play as a Romulan, which the Star Empire manages to portray more accurately despite still capturing a period in Romulan history that's filled with negative things, mistakes, and external influences, as if no Star Trek universe species has ever had a dark period of time which they struggled through to grow out of and change.

It makes for a great story, the best one (IMO) in STO, preserving the Tal Shiar as an oppressor and villain, but then goes downhill when forced to side with Feds or KDF and to buy into their image of 'Romulans' (Republicans) as opposed to letting the player decide who they want to be and role play in their own independent faction.

Now, I'm poorly versed in Star Trek lore despite it being my most favorite franchise, and I'm learning as I go, so correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know how the Romulans were conceived, and whether they ever intended the species to be more than a villain representing the shadow side (at least the military and political aspects always seemed to be front and center as if they defined Romulans as a whole, which I don't believe they did).

One thing I do notice is some general archetype of some Elf species drawing from encounter with little people many of which were dangerous and possessing supernatural powers. This might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm also seeing parallels in the artwork and style of completely unrelated franchises such as Starsiege Tribes (eg. Diamond Swords).

Romulans still have no T6 Science ships, only two T5F-U Science ships out of which only one is an account-wide unlock (Dysons), still have no faction independence and worse forced to share everything with one side or the other, still try to pigeonhole us in to this Republic business, provide no I.R.W. prefix options for newer ships, no contraband and prisoner-turn in contact outside of Fed or KDF bases, no real ship customization options, a boff we're stuck with whether we like him or not (I don't), zero carriers (Dyson one doesn't have a singularity core or a Romulan design), no Romulan fleet starbase (despite contributing to fleets just as much as any other faction), no reputation armor, but we do get the best crew and some of the best ships.

warpangel · December 2015

They should join the factions so everyone gets all the stuff and only the storyline is different based on where you start.

Things would be much more even, then.

flash525 · December 2015

warpangel wrote: »

They should join the factions so everyone gets all the stuff and only the storyline is different based on where you start.

Things would be much more even, then.

That's pretty much how it is already. Once the initial story is out of the way, everything new is generic, and I hate the fact that Cryptic did that.

guljarol · December 2015

Interestingly enough, quite recently I thought that in spite of the statistics, saying that KDF and Roms are about 10% of the playerbase each, I see a lot of Rom and KDF ships and players around me. Be it sector space, DS9, QWW, battlezones... I should see LOTS & LOADS of Feds, and noticeably fewer others, but while there are lots of Feds around, the others don't feel like a rarity.

mewmaster101 · December 2015

whistlerdavid wrote: »

mewmaster101 wrote: »

Well, Romulans have gotten the short end of the stick number of ship wise. While they do by and far have the most powerful ships, they have very few, especially science ships. Also, they are not as old as feds and klinks, both of them are way older, and thus many palyers likely refused to change. Finally, not only do the feds have the most amount of ships in the most amount of varieties, but they are the "good guy" faction, so that automatically draws the attention of a massive part of the playerbase.

the romulan faction you play has are good guys.the Tal Shiar destroy your home your forced to find a new one.tons of drama and action

Obviously, i know that, that has nothing to do with my point. When i said "Good guy" faction, i meant, similar to the Alliance from WOW, or the Republic with Swtor, etc. They are the "Standard" faction might be a better way if putting it.

alcyoneserene wrote: »

whistlerdavid wrote: »

the romulan faction you play has are good guys.the Tal Shiar destroy your home your forced to find a new one.tons of drama and action

Tablets and smart phones have really done a number on grammar and spelling errors. If the internet were skynet, it would think humanity has suffered a drastic and sudden IQ drop across the board (non-English speakers notwithstanding).

The Republic is the faction we are forced to play, but I play as a Romulan, which the Star Empire manages to portray more accurately despite still capturing a period in Romulan history that's filled with negative things, mistakes, and external influences, as if no Star Trek universe species has ever had a dark period of time which they struggled through to grow out of and change.

It makes for a great story, the best one (IMO) in STO, preserving the Tal Shiar as an oppressor and villain, but then goes downhill when forced to side with Feds or KDF and to buy into their image of 'Romulans' (Republicans) as opposed to letting the player decide who they want to be and role play in their own independent faction.

Now, I'm poorly versed in Star Trek lore despite it being my most favorite franchise, and I'm learning as I go, so correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know how the Romulans were conceived, and whether they ever intended the species to be more than a villain representing the shadow side (at least the military and political aspects always seemed to be front and center as if they defined Romulans as a whole, which I don't believe they did).

One thing I do notice is some general archetype of some Elf species drawing from encounter with little people many of which were dangerous and possessing supernatural powers. This might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm also seeing parallels in the artwork and style of completely unrelated franchises such as Starsiege Tribes (eg. Diamond Swords).

Romulans still have no T6 Science ships, only two T5F-U Science ships out of which only one is an account-wide unlock (Dysons), still have no faction independence and worse forced to share everything with one side or the other, still try to pigeonhole us in to this Republic business, provide no I.R.W. prefix options for newer ships, no contraband and prisoner-turn in contact outside of Fed or KDF bases, no real ship customization options, a boff we're stuck with whether we like him or not (I don't), zero carriers (Dyson one doesn't have a singularity core or a Romulan design), no Romulan fleet starbase (despite contributing to fleets just as much as any other faction), no reputation armor, but we do get the best crew and some of the best ships.

The Romulan Star Empire was originally meant to potray Space Russia of sorts, an enemy they were technically not at war with, but were VERY close to fighting. The Political and Military Machinations against the Federation were pretty much what defined the original Romulan Star Empire. They also took heavily from the Dark Elves of D&D, being an "evil" offshoot of the normal "Elven" (or Vulcan, in this case) race that was very much there opposite.

artan42 · December 2015

bernatk wrote: »

Yep, this is one of the thing that the new series can correct. I hope we will see 3 ships and its captains. 1 fed, 1 rom, 1kdf. All alien captains (eg. no hu-mans or pinkskins). And I hope certainly no JJ style, like the rom is a maniac serial killer or the klingon one is just a space orc.
Star Trek as IP can now actually learn from Blizzard. Bizarro...

All post TUC Klingons are space-orcs.

mustrumridcully0 · December 2015

flash525 wrote: »

mustrumridcully0 wrote: »

Because Science Ships are what keeps people playing a faction?

I don't think so.

I never claimed them to be though, did I? You've quoted one of three paragraphs.

Regardless of that, there are people asking for Science Ships. Maybe, just maybe, if Cryptic gave a damn about the Science aspect of the game apart from DPS overload, there would be more interest in Science. Most people no doubt play as Tactical or Engineer, because they get the weapon slots and the ability to maximize their DPS better than any Science Ship would.

Science Ships need a purpose more than a mere secondary deflector. They also need more than three fore weapon slots.

Your science rant however has nothing to do with the popularity of the Romulan faction. I understand the want for more science buffs and all, because I love Science Vessels and Science Captains, but this is just a thinly veiled attempt to co-opt the topic.

The other problem with the Republic is their shortcomings. I did make a topic about them myself not that long ago, but they're limited to a mere two species when they could have a couple more (Suliban and Acamarian), they're lacking their unique weapons they used to have, in addition to their own version of an Omega Set, they've no contraband officer anywhere in their fleet.

Suliban or Acamarians are obscure races the majority of players do not really care about.

The truth is probably that the single race that would help - if any race at all - the factions would be giving every faction the human race. But event hat is doubtful, you can fake pretty much anything with Alien.

And then you come up with something even less relevant for the lack of popularity of faction, like contraband officers at their home world. That's like saying people don't play all Fed and still play Rom because their Duty Officer recruitments is not in their primary home world map with the bridge officer trainer, skill trainer, ship selector, ship requisitions and ship costume designer.
Omega Reputation set? By the time you get to reputations sets, you already bought into the Romulan faction.

I think the real problems of the Romulan (and) Klingon faction is that the entire franchise has been build around humans in space - with the odd alien in the mix. Klingon and Romulans only retain some popularity because at least they were antagonists. It's almost amazing the Romulans are as popular as they are (as little as it may seem), because the TV and movie material does almost nothing to go into their culture and create something to identify with. Thankfully, Cryptic at least gave them slightly more powerful ships so that at least the min/max crowd has something to go for. (Though arguably, Star Trek novels might also have contributed to create at least some interest in the Romulans - but how many people have read those, compared to how many people have seen Kirk explaining the American Constitution or Picard explaining humanism?)

kyrrok · December 2015

artan42 wrote: »

bernatk wrote: »

Yep, this is one of the thing that the new series can correct. I hope we will see 3 ships and its captains. 1 fed, 1 rom, 1kdf. All alien captains (eg. no hu-mans or pinkskins). And I hope certainly no JJ style, like the rom is a maniac serial killer or the klingon one is just a space orc.
Star Trek as IP can now actually learn from Blizzard. Bizarro...

All post TUC Klingons are space-orcs.

It's always nice to know that bigotry and malice has survived the golden age of the Federation after all.

artan42 · December 2015

kyrrok wrote: »

artan42 wrote: »

bernatk wrote: »

Yep, this is one of the thing that the new series can correct. I hope we will see 3 ships and its captains. 1 fed, 1 rom, 1kdf. All alien captains (eg. no hu-mans or pinkskins). And I hope certainly no JJ style, like the rom is a maniac serial killer or the klingon one is just a space orc.
Star Trek as IP can now actually learn from Blizzard. Bizarro...

All post TUC Klingons are space-orcs.

It's always nice to know that bigotry and malice has survived the golden age of the Federation after all.

You telling me you haven't noticed the massive flanderisation and decline in intelligence in the post-TUC Klingons? Sure Martok, Worf, and Gawron stand apart but the entire race has declined from the interesting equals of TOS to leatherbound space-Samurai-Vikings-Orcs.

aurigas7 · December 2015

whistlerdavid wrote: »

shouldn't there be a lot more romulan players?the reason i ask is because there is a big chunk of story that you even play has a fed but makes a lot more since if you play has a romulan. you bump into npc that you have known from start of game.then there are npc that you have been looking for in one of the major story arks that has a fed you just pass by. i must say i haven't enjoyed this game this much since game lunched

There are a lot of Romulans around. You just don't see them. They've got cloaks !

And obviously it's not for the lack of incentives to create a Rom char. Scimitard, superior space traits and so on.

I don't know why other players prefer other factions, but here are mine:

First: TRIBBLE JJ Trek story involving a certain Tovan Khev.

Second: No full faction, just this lame apendix to Fed/KDF.

thraexis · December 2015

To me i think more players play romulan then fed or kdf.
but it is only what i observed in game. And romulan and kdf
lack content compared to federation is because the devs
want people to play on the Federation.

artan42 · December 2015

aurigas7 wrote: »

First: TRIBBLE JJ Trek story involving a certain Tovan Khev.

You seem to be confused. JJ Abrams is the director of Star trek 09 and Into Darkness, he is not involved in any way with STO or Tovan Khev.

warmaker001b · December 2015

flash525 wrote: »

warpangel wrote: »

They should join the factions so everyone gets all the stuff and only the storyline is different based on where you start.

Things would be much more even, then.

That's pretty much how it is already. Once the initial story is out of the way, everything new is generic, and I hate the fact that Cryptic did that.

Yeah, faction specific story lines died with LOR in 2013. The only truly Romulan specific missions came with the original batch from LOR and they were also the last ones. For the KDF, the last KDF missions were to flesh out the tutorial. It was quite well done and fits the theme of the KDF, but again, 2013 marked the last time there were faction unique missions. Everything has been generic written, typically in a Fed POV. The only one that really differed was the Iconian FE with House Pegh.

The Iconian War could have been an interesting way to show different faction POVs since it was massive. But that ship has sailed already.

where are all of the romulans?

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