Yes. I was a member of PeregrineFalcon's fleet. We played regularly running Featured Episodes together. It was fun. After he... left... everyone but me left the fleet. I am currently its sole member and leader. But I don't play regularly enough to bother trying to grind the fleet holdings by myself.
If you are the leader of the fleet now... then the solution is simple.
Recruit new members.
I've been a member of the Tal Shiar's Most Wanted since before Legacy of Romulus. In fact we actually changed our fleet name to "reserve" the name for a Romulan fleet before we learned that Romulans ally with either Fed or KDF. Anyways... I have been with these guys for years, we get along GREAT, and even when things get kinda dead in activity, I'm sticking around because I like the guys. I fit in. Eventually I earned my officer status after documenting bank theft for a week and giving a spreadsheet to the fleet leader of everything I was able to track getting pulled as evidence, including rarity of items withdrawn and watching the guy go from the bank to the Exchange. And I did that on my own, listening to the theme to NCIS.
While it is true that there are hardcore fleets with rules, regulations, mandatory fleet meetings and stuff like that, not every fleet is like that. Mine's casual. Get on, play, be social... generally just hang out. Maybe get together for an STF for the fun of it. We even help some people improve their builds.
As a fleet leader yourself, you can actually decide how your fleet will be. You want to be causal, say that your fleet's casual. Put the word out that you're looking for casual players who want to join an easygoing fleet! You don't have to go it alone.
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,672Community Moderator
I already gave my answer regarding your idea way earlier in the thread.
As for your activity level... That's up to you. I just provided a solution. Being in a solo fleet and not wanting to work on holdings alone is not a valid reason for gutting the fleet system and making it obsolete.
I also pointed out that I didn't join my fleet for the shiny. I joined it because I got to know some of the members and I fit in with them.
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite colored text = mod mode
See, I think that Cryptic got the whole idea of fleets wrong.
I was wondering, have you actually been a member of a fleet in STO?
Yes. I was a member of PeregrineFalcon's fleet. We played regularly running Featured Episodes together. It was fun. After he... left... everyone but me left the fleet. I am currently its sole member and leader. But I don't play regularly enough to bother trying to grind the fleet holdings by myself.
See I joined his fleet because we were a group that played regularly together. We weren't in a fleet for gear.
Locking gameplay and stuff behind a fleet membership was Cryptic's way to entice players to join fleets, as if joining one for what should be easy teaming options with regular like minded players isn't motivation enough. See the core game's content has always been so slow in coming, with new missions to do only coming after MONTHS of delay. Fleet holdings and the fleet stores were an incentive to keep people playing in between, but the grind associated with it, unless you were part of a large fleet, or at least a medium fleet in which everyone was dedicated to grinding the holdings, it was painful as hell.
There were entire threads that went pages and pages in which elitists in big fleets bashed those in smaller fleets for asking for a means of advancing at a reasonable pace, scaled to their fleet size. Not everyone wanted to be a part of a big fleet.
Back then I had proposed the idea of smaller holdings for smaller fleets. Oh... how the big fleeters screamed at me on that. As if what I was proposing would somehow take away from their efforts. "Just join a big fleet" they said. The problem was not that Cryptic hadn't provided something to reward big fleets for enduring a massive grind. The problem was that Cryptic had ignored the needs of smaller fleets who neither needed nor wanted to inflate their numbers. So again, I maintain that they never handled the whole fleet aspect of the game correctly.
There is absolutely ZERO game play, locked behind Fleet membership. I have no idea where you got that idea. There are channels and ways to find teams to play with and then there's your friends list,... the only part of STO "locked" behind fleet membership, is fleet gear. That's it, that's all. There is no big secret part of the game that you cannot access unless you join a fleet.
"Go play with your DPS in the corner, I don't care how big it is." ~ Me "There... are... four... lights!" ~Jean Luc Picard
to me it sounds like because your old fleet is dead and its never going to level up anywhere near where you want it to be you want the easier option of having social fleet holdings so you don't have to level yours it took me 3 and half years to full level my fleet with a lot of grinding to boot your idea would mean all the time effort and money put in to my fleet and other peoples fleets would be for nothing one the main reasons i play this game is for my fleet and the benefits i get from it just because you dont get enjoyment from fleets does not mean others don't
See, I think that Cryptic got the whole idea of fleets wrong.
I was wondering, have you actually been a member of a fleet in STO?
Yes. I was a member of PeregrineFalcon's fleet. We played regularly running Featured Episodes together. It was fun. After he... left... everyone but me left the fleet. I am currently its sole member and leader. But I don't play regularly enough to bother trying to grind the fleet holdings by myself.
See I joined his fleet because we were a group that played regularly together. We weren't in a fleet for gear.
Locking gameplay and stuff behind a fleet membership was Cryptic's way to entice players to join fleets, as if joining one for what should be easy teaming options with regular like minded players isn't motivation enough. See the core game's content has always been so slow in coming, with new missions to do only coming after MONTHS of delay. Fleet holdings and the fleet stores were an incentive to keep people playing in between, but the grind associated with it, unless you were part of a large fleet, or at least a medium fleet in which everyone was dedicated to grinding the holdings, it was painful as hell.
There were entire threads that went pages and pages in which elitists in big fleets bashed those in smaller fleets for asking for a means of advancing at a reasonable pace, scaled to their fleet size. Not everyone wanted to be a part of a big fleet.
Back then I had proposed the idea of smaller holdings for smaller fleets. Oh... how the big fleeters screamed at me on that. As if what I was proposing would somehow take away from their efforts. "Just join a big fleet" they said. The problem was not that Cryptic hadn't provided something to reward big fleets for enduring a massive grind. The problem was that Cryptic had ignored the needs of smaller fleets who neither needed nor wanted to inflate their numbers. So again, I maintain that they never handled the whole fleet aspect of the game correctly.
Thank you for answering my question.
You had originally asked for our thoughts on your proposal. Well to me it looks like for whatever reason you are the last man standing of a once great fleet. Not sure how cryptic can justify a one man fleet, aside from the fact we all have a fleet of ships. The problem with that is you can only fly one at a time so doing group stuff is gonna be hard. Anyway, it looks as if you still want your fleet and it's perks, but do not have the time or inclination to do the work required to maintain and grow a fleet. So as a workaround, you propose the public assist with your fleet, with rewards of course...yeah I don't see that happening.
And a good reason why I don't see it ever happening.
Fleet holdings start at nothing, a large and active fleet can take that nothing and push it to max everything in a quite short period of time, and that's just a few hundred people, add a few hundred more for contributions from the Armada system, heck let's say the entire Armada is full fleets with all members active, so now you have a few thousand people. The main thing is that once it's built, it's built, over, done, nothing left but occasional provisioning.
So, we do a public "Fleet" holding, several thousands of people contributing, every project fills seconds after being opened, the entire holding is built to max in the minimum possible time and ....... it's built, it's done, over, nothing left but occasional provisioning (which fills seconds after opening).
A public "fleet" holding would (for a very short time frame) be something for the few lucky enough to be there as a project is slotted to help build, and would quickly be just another place no one ever goes to hang out, and almost no one can use as only the few lucky enough to be there at the moment a project gets slotted will ever gain any "fleet" creds to be able to use it.
And a good reason why I don't see it ever happening.
Fleet holdings start at nothing, a large and active fleet can take that nothing and push it to max everything in a quite short period of time, and that's just a few hundred people, add a few hundred more for contributions from the Armada system, heck let's say the entire Armada is full fleets with all members active, so now you have a few thousand people. The main thing is that once it's built, it's built, over, done, nothing left but occasional provisioning.
So, we do a public "Fleet" holding, several thousands of people contributing, every project fills seconds after being opened, the entire holding is built to max in the minimum possible time and ....... it's built, it's done, over, nothing left but occasional provisioning (which fills seconds after opening).
A public "fleet" holding would (for a very short time frame) be something for the few lucky enough to be there as a project is slotted to help build, and would quickly be just another place no one ever goes to hang out, and almost no one can use as only the few lucky enough to be there at the moment a project gets slotted will ever gain any "fleet" creds to be able to use it.
Actually this guy brings up a VERY VALID point. How would anyone be able to get the credits if they get filled up INSTANTLY by the community?
I can't take it anymore! Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something CRAZY happens again?!
The nut who actually ground out many packs. The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
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What I want is public hubs that WORK like fleet holdings, in that players can work together to contribute to their progression from nothing to a fully functional hub of activity. Something NOT locked behind fleet membership. Something that ANYONE can participate in regardless of fleet membership status.
Why is that so hard to understand? I don't want an easy path to fleet progression. I don't give a damn about fleet stores. I just want to see something that works like fleet holdings brought into the game that EVERYONE can do.
There. I said it twice in a row in as simple language as I can. A gerbil should be able to comprehend it. Stop trying to make this about fleet garbage. It isn't. It is not about fleet garbage.
do you freaking get it yet?
What I'm seeing is another rant. What I'm not seeing, is what you really want out of a public Fleet, if you're not interested in the Fleet perks. Something 'that EVERYONE can do' is fly around, for instance. So, be specific as to what you want out of this public holding.
I think I understand what you're looking for, OP. There's a problem with implementing it, though. Not insurmountable.
Presumably, you want everyone to have this opportunity to build something from nothing. The problem with it being a public hub, though, is what about those people who come in late? New players next year? It would already be built. They wouldn't have had a chance to participate.
This public holding would then have to be set up with different maps with varying levels of progress. Progress would then have to be tracked on the individual, not on the map itself. How much you've contributed would dictate which map you go to to see the fruits of your labor. Stores would unlock based only on your contributions. Collaboration would be an illusion.
There is a mechanic in-game that can track global participation and activity. We get it during every Recruiting Event so far. It tracks activity that progresses towards a global reward. But to use something like that, again, what about the late comers? How do they participate if it's already done? This global hub would have to be something that never gets finished to accommodate those future players.
I think the perfect hub for this would be the New Khitomer site in the Gamma Quadrant. We've already visited it in the future. And even there it isn't complete. It's faction neutral. We could see the Alliance start building it now in the 25th century.
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I think I understand what you're looking for, OP. There's a problem with implementing it, though. Not insurmountable.
Presumably, you want everyone to have this opportunity to build something from nothing. The problem with it being a public hub, though, is what about those people who come in late? New players next year? It would already be built. They wouldn't have had a chance to participate.
This public holding would then have to be set up with different maps with varying levels of progress. Progress would then have to be tracked on the individual, not on the map itself. How much you've contributed would dictate which map you go to to see the fruits of your labor. Stores would unlock based only on your contributions. Collaboration would be an illusion.
There is a mechanic in-game that can track global participation and activity. We get it during every Recruiting Event so far. It tracks activity that progresses towards a global reward. But to use something like that, again, what about the late comers? How do they participate if it's already done? This global hub would have to be something that never gets finished to accommodate those future players.
I think the perfect hub for this would be the New Khitomer site in the Gamma Quadrant. We've already visited it in the future. And even there it isn't complete. It's faction neutral. We could see the Alliance start building it now in the 25th century.
I'm glad you understood it. Me, I'm still struggling what it is the OP wants to build on then, if not Fleet perks.
I think I understand what you're looking for, OP. There's a problem with implementing it, though. Not insurmountable.
Presumably, you want everyone to have this opportunity to build something from nothing. The problem with it being a public hub, though, is what about those people who come in late? New players next year? It would already be built. They wouldn't have had a chance to participate.
I could actually see this happen, publically, if everyone were allowed to contribute to build towards something huge, like a massive space dock (in space) where you can service your ship. Or huge jump gates. But eventually, like you say, those things will have been built, and new players are left holding the bag.
What I want is public hubs that WORK like fleet holdings, in that players can work together to contribute to their progression from nothing to a fully functional hub of activity. Something NOT locked behind fleet membership. Something that ANYONE can participate in regardless of fleet membership status.
Why is that so hard to understand? I don't want an easy path to fleet progression. I don't give a damn about fleet stores. I just want to see something that works like fleet holdings brought into the game that EVERYONE can do.
There. I said it twice in a row in as simple language as I can. A gerbil should be able to comprehend it. Stop trying to make this about fleet garbage. It isn't. It is not about fleet garbage.
do you freaking get it yet?
What I'm seeing is another rant. What I'm not seeing, is what you really want out of a public Fleet, if you're not interested in the Fleet perks. Something 'that EVERYONE can do' is fly around, for instance. So, be specific as to what you want out of this public holding.
Ideally, there would always be a new hub of some sort to follow a completed one. Just like there have been new fleet holdings to come out over time. So yes, while newcomers may have missed being a part of some of the hubs, there would be others they could participate in as well. If it were just a one-off thing, the problem you illustrate would indeed manifest itself.
I have also considered the idea of regression. Over time, things could start failing if they are not maintained. this would allow the hub to always have active participants. Obviously regression should never be so heavy that in a single cycle the whole thing falls apart. But at the same time, there should always be noticeable signs of regression.
Also, to address questions about all of the projects being completed super-fast because everyone could contribute... Logic suggests that the contribution requirements must be scaled up to coincide with the active player population size.
Okay, I see where you're going with this now.
The idea of 'regression' could work. Like the weekly Combat Boost Project, that simply expires after 5 days. But if it's really huge, then. I dunno, ppl may not like it see go waste (thru no fault of their own) when others are slacking off. So the boons of such projects would have to be pretty huge too.
Thing just is, who gets to benefit? Just those who ever contributed? And for how much? Yes, questions.
Well, with the potential for regression always there, then the hub would become something a bit organic. Also, in fleet holdings there are some things that can potentially occupy the same area and are subject to the choice of the fleet leader who assigns the projects. In a public hub like what I propose, the players would not choose the projects that are available. Instead, different NPCs would offer to accept the contributions to the the project they are heading up. If you have two projects that could potentially occupy the same "slot" in the hub, the one that is completed first would take precedence. If that regresses, it would be possible for the one that came in second to replace it. All contributions would sort of go into an escrow, so they are never lost, and if regression causes a project to fail, It could be reattempted. again competing with another project that might win this time. So some parts of a hub may change over time.
Did that make sense?
So, you want a public holding that does not require membership, that offers projects, assignments, and/or contribution opportunities for the public to participate in, right?
What is the purpose of these contributions or projects, and why would anyone want to participate?
I wouldn't mind seeing a system similar to LOTRO's player owned housing.
It was set up so you had a list of instances/neighborhoods you could visit at any time, and depending on the settings of the owners you could enter the Player and Guild Owned Houses.
Of course for that to truly be meaningful in STO I think Fleet Holdings would need a major overhaul to actually allow for proper placable customizations rather than just unlocking more decorations.
"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid." - Q
OP is in an abandoned fleet.
OP doesn't play much, so progress is slow.
OP wants everyone else to progress some big open public resource drain, so that OP can hop on when he feels like it and reap the rewards of everyone else's work.
Nothing is hidden behind a "fleet wall". You are in a fleet, as long as you have provisions you can get invited to another fleet map to buy things you haven't unlocked on your own.
Or if that's "too hard" for you, there are some very generous people on the "NoP Public Service" channel that will invite you to a finished fleet and let you buy whatever you want for no charge.
The only thing preventing your progress is you, OP.
The fleet holding instance would function as it currently does. The non-fleet version woould be a progression through the fleet holding advancement that is open to everyone regardless of fleet affiliation and would be a permanant social hub that everyone would get to be a part of building.
Not everyone is part of a large fleet or part of a fleet at all. and yet with holdings being locked behind fleet membership, many players are barred frome experiencing an element of gameplay that when taken at face value is really pretty awesome.
In my history with MMOs, specifically those with an open world / sandbox element to them, the ability to work through something where the end result is a permanant addition to the game world, I can say that being able to look at the end result of a combined effort and say "I had a hand in making that" brings with it a reward that transcends any sort of loot. Because any time the public holding is visited once completed, Anyone who contributed to it can honestly say that they were part of making it happen. No matter how small that part actually was...
Obviouslu a public instance of a holding would have contribution costs much higher than a fleet instance. Something representative of potentially the entire active player population at the time the instance is deployed. But since the entire player population is free to take part, this is not really a big deal.
A leaderboard of individual contributions would ideally be a part of this, which would track contributions from both individuals and fleets.
Fleet contributions would ideally go to both the fleet instance and the public instance.
Obviously there would need to be a differentiation between the fleet and public instaces. Namely fleet stors should not be available in the public instance, so there is reason for fleets to get involved.
We all play this game. So it stands to reason that we all should be free to be a part of all aspects of the game, regardless of whether we are not affiliated with a fleet, members of a small fleet, or members of a large fleet.
Thoughs?
Do you know how many fleets are in STO? probably upwards of 1000? Why in the world would I want to see other people's fleet anyways? I could care less for it and tbh there are other things badly needed with fleet development such as more rank slots, armada mail, member cap increase, plus other stuff much more valuable than just showing off your name to others...
Also, have you been in zone chat? Do you know the harrasment or constant insult of fleets in there for no reason at all? Imagine that troll that would happen if anyone wants to get back to a fleet they might have issues with?
Sounds a bit like a Star Trek Themed Simcity. I have reconsidered your proposal and think a civilian approach may actually work, and could be implemented slowly by devs, and NOT take anything away from any other aspect of the game as it is now...
So. What if, when you create a new character, instead of selecting Fed, Klingon... etc. you select "Civilian" and then continue with race etc. Just no military stuff. You would have to choose a home planet or station to start your journey, probably based on t he race you choose. You would start of with limited resources much like we do now and you would have to earn your way around the game. Then, like you said, you would have to either rent, or buy a house/condo/starbase quarters whatever. You'd have to get a job or do something to earn credits, and yeah maybe even fleets could end up with jobs/assignments for "real" civilians to do for credits or maybe tokens for trips around the galaxy, I hear they are hiring waiters on Risa, until you can afford your own civilian ship, with civilian type weapons ie none, and clothing, and storage slots, all costing either EC, Dil or Lobi ALL could bring in some extra revenue to the game and maybe bring in new people?
Comments
If you are the leader of the fleet now... then the solution is simple.
Recruit new members.
I've been a member of the Tal Shiar's Most Wanted since before Legacy of Romulus. In fact we actually changed our fleet name to "reserve" the name for a Romulan fleet before we learned that Romulans ally with either Fed or KDF. Anyways... I have been with these guys for years, we get along GREAT, and even when things get kinda dead in activity, I'm sticking around because I like the guys. I fit in. Eventually I earned my officer status after documenting bank theft for a week and giving a spreadsheet to the fleet leader of everything I was able to track getting pulled as evidence, including rarity of items withdrawn and watching the guy go from the bank to the Exchange. And I did that on my own, listening to the theme to NCIS.
While it is true that there are hardcore fleets with rules, regulations, mandatory fleet meetings and stuff like that, not every fleet is like that. Mine's casual. Get on, play, be social... generally just hang out. Maybe get together for an STF for the fun of it. We even help some people improve their builds.
As a fleet leader yourself, you can actually decide how your fleet will be. You want to be causal, say that your fleet's casual. Put the word out that you're looking for casual players who want to join an easygoing fleet! You don't have to go it alone.
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As for your activity level... That's up to you. I just provided a solution. Being in a solo fleet and not wanting to work on holdings alone is not a valid reason for gutting the fleet system and making it obsolete.
I also pointed out that I didn't join my fleet for the shiny. I joined it because I got to know some of the members and I fit in with them.
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There is absolutely ZERO game play, locked behind Fleet membership. I have no idea where you got that idea. There are channels and ways to find teams to play with and then there's your friends list,... the only part of STO "locked" behind fleet membership, is fleet gear. That's it, that's all. There is no big secret part of the game that you cannot access unless you join a fleet.
"There... are... four... lights!" ~Jean Luc Picard
Thank you for answering my question.
You had originally asked for our thoughts on your proposal. Well to me it looks like for whatever reason you are the last man standing of a once great fleet. Not sure how cryptic can justify a one man fleet, aside from the fact we all have a fleet of ships. The problem with that is you can only fly one at a time so doing group stuff is gonna be hard. Anyway, it looks as if you still want your fleet and it's perks, but do not have the time or inclination to do the work required to maintain and grow a fleet. So as a workaround, you propose the public assist with your fleet, with rewards of course...yeah I don't see that happening.
Fleet holdings start at nothing, a large and active fleet can take that nothing and push it to max everything in a quite short period of time, and that's just a few hundred people, add a few hundred more for contributions from the Armada system, heck let's say the entire Armada is full fleets with all members active, so now you have a few thousand people. The main thing is that once it's built, it's built, over, done, nothing left but occasional provisioning.
So, we do a public "Fleet" holding, several thousands of people contributing, every project fills seconds after being opened, the entire holding is built to max in the minimum possible time and ....... it's built, it's done, over, nothing left but occasional provisioning (which fills seconds after opening).
A public "fleet" holding would (for a very short time frame) be something for the few lucky enough to be there as a project is slotted to help build, and would quickly be just another place no one ever goes to hang out, and almost no one can use as only the few lucky enough to be there at the moment a project gets slotted will ever gain any "fleet" creds to be able to use it.
Actually this guy brings up a VERY VALID point. How would anyone be able to get the credits if they get filled up INSTANTLY by the community?
normal text = me speaking as fellow formite
colored text = mod mode
What I'm seeing is another rant. What I'm not seeing, is what you really want out of a public Fleet, if you're not interested in the Fleet perks. Something 'that EVERYONE can do' is fly around, for instance. So, be specific as to what you want out of this public holding.
Presumably, you want everyone to have this opportunity to build something from nothing. The problem with it being a public hub, though, is what about those people who come in late? New players next year? It would already be built. They wouldn't have had a chance to participate.
This public holding would then have to be set up with different maps with varying levels of progress. Progress would then have to be tracked on the individual, not on the map itself. How much you've contributed would dictate which map you go to to see the fruits of your labor. Stores would unlock based only on your contributions. Collaboration would be an illusion.
There is a mechanic in-game that can track global participation and activity. We get it during every Recruiting Event so far. It tracks activity that progresses towards a global reward. But to use something like that, again, what about the late comers? How do they participate if it's already done? This global hub would have to be something that never gets finished to accommodate those future players.
I think the perfect hub for this would be the New Khitomer site in the Gamma Quadrant. We've already visited it in the future. And even there it isn't complete. It's faction neutral. We could see the Alliance start building it now in the 25th century.
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I'm glad you understood it.
I could actually see this happen, publically, if everyone were allowed to contribute to build towards something huge, like a massive space dock (in space) where you can service your ship. Or huge jump gates. But eventually, like you say, those things will have been built, and new players are left holding the bag.
Okay, I see where you're going with this now.
The idea of 'regression' could work. Like the weekly Combat Boost Project, that simply expires after 5 days. But if it's really huge, then. I dunno, ppl may not like it see go waste (thru no fault of their own) when others are slacking off. So the boons of such projects would have to be pretty huge too.
Thing just is, who gets to benefit? Just those who ever contributed? And for how much? Yes, questions.
It was set up so you had a list of instances/neighborhoods you could visit at any time, and depending on the settings of the owners you could enter the Player and Guild Owned Houses.
Of course for that to truly be meaningful in STO I think Fleet Holdings would need a major overhaul to actually allow for proper placable customizations rather than just unlocking more decorations.
OP is in an abandoned fleet.
OP doesn't play much, so progress is slow.
OP wants everyone else to progress some big open public resource drain, so that OP can hop on when he feels like it and reap the rewards of everyone else's work.
Nothing is hidden behind a "fleet wall". You are in a fleet, as long as you have provisions you can get invited to another fleet map to buy things you haven't unlocked on your own.
Or if that's "too hard" for you, there are some very generous people on the "NoP Public Service" channel that will invite you to a finished fleet and let you buy whatever you want for no charge.
The only thing preventing your progress is you, OP.
Do you know how many fleets are in STO? probably upwards of 1000? Why in the world would I want to see other people's fleet anyways? I could care less for it and tbh there are other things badly needed with fleet development such as more rank slots, armada mail, member cap increase, plus other stuff much more valuable than just showing off your name to others...
Also, have you been in zone chat? Do you know the harrasment or constant insult of fleets in there for no reason at all? Imagine that troll that would happen if anyone wants to get back to a fleet they might have issues with?
Oh ok, you're just trollin'. Carry on then. I thought you were just an entitled idiot :-)
So. What if, when you create a new character, instead of selecting Fed, Klingon... etc. you select "Civilian" and then continue with race etc. Just no military stuff. You would have to choose a home planet or station to start your journey, probably based on t he race you choose. You would start of with limited resources much like we do now and you would have to earn your way around the game. Then, like you said, you would have to either rent, or buy a house/condo/starbase quarters whatever. You'd have to get a job or do something to earn credits, and yeah maybe even fleets could end up with jobs/assignments for "real" civilians to do for credits or maybe tokens for trips around the galaxy, I hear they are hiring waiters on Risa, until you can afford your own civilian ship, with civilian type weapons ie none, and clothing, and storage slots, all costing either EC, Dil or Lobi ALL could bring in some extra revenue to the game and maybe bring in new people?
Might actually be doable..