That doesn't even makes sense... any "early Missions" of that Faction can very well be in 2409 or even earlier...
Any New player of the "Old" factions has this unique "Problem".
Saving the Bolian istill happens in 2409 when the Federation is at War with the Klingons...
No matter if you created that Character 8 Years ago or yesterday.
All the Romulan Missions happen in an undisclosed timeframe before 2410.
All the initial Faction specific Missions of a new Faction can happen anywhere between the birth of the Universe and 2410 and then proceed to the factionless missions that still happen in 2409 before the New content that actually comes in 2410 (it was Step between Stars that told of the changing year wasn't it?).
I don't think the devs have ever ruled out the possibility of creating a new faction or mini-faction.
However, it definitely should not be taken as read that the upcoming expansion, likely focused on a new quadrant of the galaxy, will feature a new faction or mini-faction. See. Delta Rising.
Sure! They even released it with the launch of STO. It's called "the Bajoran species option." You can now team it with a ship too, and appropriate weapons and uniforms are available in the c-store.
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I don't think the devs have ever ruled out the possibility of creating a new faction or mini-faction.
However, it definitely should not be taken as read that the upcoming expansion, likely focused on a new quadrant of the galaxy, will feature a new faction or mini-faction. See. Delta Rising.
Cryptic has ruled out, several times, the possibility of them doing another Legacy of Romulus type faction, because it would be impossible to catch them up at this point.
I'd count that as only one type of faction (ie. something that Cryptic would have to build a 4th ship for their now customary parity between c-store releases.) That doesn't rule out other types of factions, which while not being the Romulans aren't quite like TOS FED's either. (See. Borg Co-op. There's more possible narrative and lasting gameplay differences.)
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The Dominion faction doesn't need unique missions. MAYBE, maybe a handful of starter missions when you make them at level 50, but then their story can merge with the rest after the current arc.
I think there will be a new mini-faction, at least new playable species.
Players have asked for playable Cardassians for years, I seriously doubt they're going to do a Cardassian/Dominion expansion without releasing any new playable species.
The missions will probably contain new maps as Odo seemed to ask for our help so it is very likely that we will visit some Dominion hub - we know we'll be going to the Gamma quadrant so they're going to have to design all those new maps.
Which increases the possibility that they'll also build a (mini-)faction around it, as many assets needed for it will already be there by that time.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
Dominion and Cardassian micro-factions will never happen, because literally ALL of their ships are already available in lockboxes and promo boxes. For example, I already have a Dominion character, my Delta recruit is a Vorta in command of a JHDC and a JH Strike Ship, with a crew of (admittedly poorly done) aliengen Jem'Hadar all wearing Jem'Hadar uniforms and equiped with Jem'Hadar weapons. The only thing a micro faction would have that I don't already have is a full crew of real Jem'Hadar boffs.
The fact that many ships are part of lock boxes represents a challenge indeed, but not necessarily one that cannot be overcome.
Look at how many non-canon Romulan ships we have, for instance. The ship devs have proven themselves quite capable of designing ships that clearly follow some of the original design principles that can be recognised as Romulan, while still coming up with something new every few months.
I haven't actually counted them, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more STO Romulan designs than there ever were on the shows. And from what I've seen, players' attitudes towards these designs being what they expected from Romulan designs were very positive overall.
So I'm pretty sure they can do the same thing with Cardassian ship designs.
Even if they only released T1 - T5 Cardassian ships with an unique storyline, I think it would still be appealing to the fans. The lock box ships would still be special because they're T6s with traits and such. The old T5 ones are so old that I doubt they're seriously taking those ships, the old lock boxes and the possibility of their owners getting upset over their purchases that happened years ago into consideration when it comes to the decision of whether they 'can' or rather should re-release those ships for free or through the C-store.
I don't think those old T5s pose any kind of limitation anymore.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
Dominion and Cardassian micro-factions will never happen, because literally ALL of their ships are already available in lockboxes and promo boxes. For example, I already have a Dominion character, my Delta recruit is a Vorta in command of a JHDC and a JH Strike Ship, with a crew of (admittedly poorly done) aliengen Jem'Hadar all wearing Jem'Hadar uniforms and equiped with Jem'Hadar weapons. The only thing a micro faction would have that I don't already have is a full crew of real Jem'Hadar boffs.
The fact that many ships are part of lock boxes represents a challenge indeed, but not necessarily one that cannot be overcome.
Look at how many non-canon Romulan ships we have, for instance. The ship devs have proven themselves quite capable of designing ships that clearly follow some of the original design principles that can be recognised as Romulan, while still coming up with something new every few months.
I haven't actually counted them, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more STO Romulan designs than there ever were on the shows. And from what I've seen, players' attitudes towards these designs being what they expected from Romulan designs were very positive overall.
So I'm pretty sure they can do the same thing with Cardassian ship designs.
Even if they only released T1 - T5 Cardassian ships with an unique storyline, I think it would still be appealing to the fans. The lock box ships would still be special because they're T6s with traits and such. The old T5 ones are so old that I doubt they're seriously taking those ships, the old lock boxes and the possibility of their owners getting upset over their purchases that happened years ago into consideration when it comes to the decision of whether they 'can' or rather should re-release those ships for free or through the C-store.
I don't think those old T5s pose any kind of limitation anymore.
Except they released T6 Keldon AND T6 Jem'Hadar versions already.
They are not going to create a new faction, mini or otherwise and they have already said so in live-streams.
"You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
Dominion and Cardassian micro-factions will never happen, because literally ALL of their ships are already available in lockboxes and promo boxes. For example, I already have a Dominion character, my Delta recruit is a Vorta in command of a JHDC and a JH Strike Ship, with a crew of (admittedly poorly done) aliengen Jem'Hadar all wearing Jem'Hadar uniforms and equiped with Jem'Hadar weapons. The only thing a micro faction would have that I don't already have is a full crew of real Jem'Hadar boffs.
The fact that many ships are part of lock boxes represents a challenge indeed, but not necessarily one that cannot be overcome.
Look at how many non-canon Romulan ships we have, for instance. The ship devs have proven themselves quite capable of designing ships that clearly follow some of the original design principles that can be recognised as Romulan, while still coming up with something new every few months.
I haven't actually counted them, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more STO Romulan designs than there ever were on the shows. And from what I've seen, players' attitudes towards these designs being what they expected from Romulan designs were very positive overall.
So I'm pretty sure they can do the same thing with Cardassian ship designs.
Even if they only released T1 - T5 Cardassian ships with an unique storyline, I think it would still be appealing to the fans. The lock box ships would still be special because they're T6s with traits and such. The old T5 ones are so old that I doubt they're seriously taking those ships, the old lock boxes and the possibility of their owners getting upset over their purchases that happened years ago into consideration when it comes to the decision of whether they 'can' or rather should re-release those ships for free or through the C-store.
I don't think those old T5s pose any kind of limitation anymore.
Except they released T6 Keldon AND T6 Jem'Hadar versions already.
They are not going to create a new faction, mini or otherwise and they have already said so in live-streams.
Yes but a T5 Galor class released as part of the new expansion, wouldn't necessarily automatically get the Keldon skin. (Which I assume to be different, I never owned one.)
Which is why I said that they could re-release old T5 ones without upsetting current T6 ship owners. Those current T6 owners would still have their unique ship. The fact that they might upset old T5 owners, is arguably not relevant anymore. That's what I was saying, I wasn't denying that new T6s already exist.
[4:46] [Combat {self}] Your Haymaker deals 23337 (9049) Physical Damage(Critical) to Spawnmother
Who knows, the unexpected could happen and any new faction might wind up being Ferengi based since we already have a Ferengi admiralty campaign.
I personally expect the next micro-faction to be the Cooperative. Such a faction could easily be allowed to use all future and currently available faction ships with mandatory assimilated style skins, and to avoid conflicts with the lifer perk they could be locked to Borg uniforms only, with lifers able to use faction uniforms and non-assimilated hull materials if they want. Lifers would also get any new Borg customization options unlocked for their existing liberated borg captains.
There also aren't any Borg ships or uniforms currently available through lockboxes or the lobi store, so that wouldn't be a concern when putting the inevitable mega-bundle together.
I personally expect the next micro-faction to be the Cooperative. Such a faction could easily be allowed to use all future and currently available faction ships with mandatory assimilated style skins, and to avoid conflicts with the lifer perk they could be locked to Borg uniforms only, with lifers able to use faction uniforms and non-assimilated hull materials if they want. Lifers would also get any new Borg customization options unlocked for their existing liberated borg captains.
There also aren't any Borg ships or uniforms currently available through lockboxes or the lobi store, so that wouldn't be a concern when putting the inevitable mega-bundle together.
The Dominion can easily reach the Federation/Klingon Empire any time they want, since the wormhole is right there, usable at any time, and we know from lore that the various races have been going through the wormhole to the Gamma quadrant, and making contact with the races there, since the end of the Dominion war.
The Borg Cooperative on the other hand is trapped in the Delta Quadrant, with no means to reach local space until the Delta Rising arc begins, since they lack the transwarp network of the Collective, and the Iconian Gateways weren't active yet.
Cooperative tech is Borg tech, and Borg ships never had a problem getting to the Alpha Quadrent without the Transwarp Hub before.
Cooperative tech is Borg tech, and Borg ships never had a problem getting to the Alpha Quadrent without the Transwarp Hub before.
All Borg ships that we know of having come to the Alpha/Beta Quadrant did so via transwarp.
Even the J-25 system, where Q took the Enterprise to first meet the Borg, is listed as being just outside a major Borg Transwarp hub in material like the Star Trek Star Charts.
The Hub was never even a thing in canon until the very end of Voyager, which also earlier showed that Borg ships have Transwarp Drive built in. TNG Borg Cubes were also shown quite happy to cruise along to Federation space under their own power in both series and movie.
The Hub was never even a thing in canon until the very end of Voyager, which also earlier showed that Borg ships have Transwarp Drive built in. TNG Borg Cubes were also shown quite happy to cruise along to Federation space under their own power in both series and movie.
Doesn't matter, Voyager showed that the Borg get around via the transwarp network, a network that literally extends to Earth, and the area around it, and that fits perfectly in line with the seemingly random, and sudden, appearances of the Borg in TNG, despite the fact that, if a Borg ship had torn up a bunch of colonies near the neutral zone, someone should have picked up on it long before it got as far as it did... unless it could just transwarp to and fro.
Borg ships don't need the Hub for Transwarp flight as they are repeatedly shown to be Transwarp-capable without it. They were never shown using the Hub except to chase Voyager and it only ever appeared once.
The Hub was aimed at Earth, yet they never went there with it. They always appeared from outside Federation space and flew to Earth the slow way, though always seemed to use regular Warp when there.
The Hub is likely just a more efficient way to send an entire fleet.
Except they released T6 Keldon AND T6 Jem'Hadar versions already.
They are not going to create a new faction, mini or otherwise and they have already said so in live-streams.
If you watched the interviews, you wouldn't claim that they said the complete opposite of what they actually said. Which is, a Cardasian playable faction is inevitable and will operate like the Romulan faction, and the characters from factions like the Dominion or Cooperative will unlock at level 50 and start out at level 50, making them endgane factions.
I still don't call Romulans or TOS era toons 'factions'. They have to join one of the 2 main factions, so maybe Sub-factions. And Delta recruits just have a sub-plot to their story, still follow the main line of the factions. Anyway... KDF gets little play compared to Fed, so Cryptic isn't going to divide the player-base again and make another true faction that will get even less love than the KDF.
All a Dominion and/or Cardassian or a Borg Cooperative faction would need is 5 to 10 story missions, a few new costumes, a new style, 1 free ship, a bunch of C-Store ships, and a new social area that would likely be unavailable after deciding the faction. The Borg Cooperative faction could start at level 40 so it joins up with the Delta Quadrant arc.
Comments
I don't think the devs have ever ruled out the possibility of creating a new faction or mini-faction.
However, it definitely should not be taken as read that the upcoming expansion, likely focused on a new quadrant of the galaxy, will feature a new faction or mini-faction. See. Delta Rising.
Sure! They even released it with the launch of STO. It's called "the Bajoran species option." You can now team it with a ship too, and appropriate weapons and uniforms are available in the c-store.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
I'd count that as only one type of faction (ie. something that Cryptic would have to build a 4th ship for their now customary parity between c-store releases.) That doesn't rule out other types of factions, which while not being the Romulans aren't quite like TOS FED's either. (See. Borg Co-op. There's more possible narrative and lasting gameplay differences.)
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
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Players have asked for playable Cardassians for years, I seriously doubt they're going to do a Cardassian/Dominion expansion without releasing any new playable species.
The missions will probably contain new maps as Odo seemed to ask for our help so it is very likely that we will visit some Dominion hub - we know we'll be going to the Gamma quadrant so they're going to have to design all those new maps.
Which increases the possibility that they'll also build a (mini-)faction around it, as many assets needed for it will already be there by that time.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
The fact that many ships are part of lock boxes represents a challenge indeed, but not necessarily one that cannot be overcome.
Look at how many non-canon Romulan ships we have, for instance. The ship devs have proven themselves quite capable of designing ships that clearly follow some of the original design principles that can be recognised as Romulan, while still coming up with something new every few months.
I haven't actually counted them, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more STO Romulan designs than there ever were on the shows. And from what I've seen, players' attitudes towards these designs being what they expected from Romulan designs were very positive overall.
So I'm pretty sure they can do the same thing with Cardassian ship designs.
Even if they only released T1 - T5 Cardassian ships with an unique storyline, I think it would still be appealing to the fans. The lock box ships would still be special because they're T6s with traits and such. The old T5 ones are so old that I doubt they're seriously taking those ships, the old lock boxes and the possibility of their owners getting upset over their purchases that happened years ago into consideration when it comes to the decision of whether they 'can' or rather should re-release those ships for free or through the C-store.
I don't think those old T5s pose any kind of limitation anymore.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Except they released T6 Keldon AND T6 Jem'Hadar versions already.
They are not going to create a new faction, mini or otherwise and they have already said so in live-streams.
Yes but a T5 Galor class released as part of the new expansion, wouldn't necessarily automatically get the Keldon skin. (Which I assume to be different, I never owned one.)
Which is why I said that they could re-release old T5 ones without upsetting current T6 ship owners. Those current T6 owners would still have their unique ship. The fact that they might upset old T5 owners, is arguably not relevant anymore. That's what I was saying, I wasn't denying that new T6s already exist.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
I personally expect the next micro-faction to be the Cooperative. Such a faction could easily be allowed to use all future and currently available faction ships with mandatory assimilated style skins, and to avoid conflicts with the lifer perk they could be locked to Borg uniforms only, with lifers able to use faction uniforms and non-assimilated hull materials if they want. Lifers would also get any new Borg customization options unlocked for their existing liberated borg captains.
There also aren't any Borg ships or uniforms currently available through lockboxes or the lobi store, so that wouldn't be a concern when putting the inevitable mega-bundle together.
The Hub was never even a thing in canon until the very end of Voyager, which also earlier showed that Borg ships have Transwarp Drive built in. TNG Borg Cubes were also shown quite happy to cruise along to Federation space under their own power in both series and movie.
Borg ships don't need the Hub for Transwarp flight as they are repeatedly shown to be Transwarp-capable without it. They were never shown using the Hub except to chase Voyager and it only ever appeared once.
The Hub was aimed at Earth, yet they never went there with it. They always appeared from outside Federation space and flew to Earth the slow way, though always seemed to use regular Warp when there.
The Hub is likely just a more efficient way to send an entire fleet.
Helpful Tools: Dictionary.com - Logical fallacies - Random generator - Word generator - Color tool - Extra Credits - List of common English language errors - New T6 Big booty tutorial