Ok, I understand since you have a working arrangement with CBS, that you need to promote Discovery. Still, I'm sorry to see that you're promoting t to this degree.
Discovery is a very divisive show. You either like it or you hate it. There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground when it comes to how people react. I've not heard too many people say, "Discovery? Meh, it was ok. Whatever."
So to spend a significant portion of development work on it, be it a new expansion, or a new tutorial and supporting episodes, or whatever, is going to be a divisive move. People will cheer, while others will jeer. Again, I understand the necessity that may be placed upon you by CBS to promote their show, but last time you were able to get away with a lockbox. Couldn't you have just done a single featured episode or something? Personally, I would have liked to see more content for Victory is Life. That was a fantastic expansion! Dare I say, it was your best yet, though all too brief! VIL is my favorite just barely supplanting Legacy of Romulus. But I digress.
Currently we have 12 reputations. They take 20 days to complete with a sponsorship if you can supply the 30 marks every day (and 40 days if you don't have a sponsorship). I have mixed feeling about going to T6 reps and adding additional reputations, because its already super grindy as it is. I was running 6 or 7 red alerts, an Infected (Space) Advanced, a Romulan Patrol and a Delta patrol just to keep myself in marks for all the factions on my new Jem'Hadar. Many of the STFs you could run are so under populated that its very difficult to get a group if you need to level a reputation by running the appropriate STF for that Rep. Whet ever happened to the "Technology" that has been talked about being under development to encourage more diverse STF play? All I can say is thank goodness for Red Alert queues, or it'd be nearly impossible to level reputations these days. As things currently stand, the only way to get the ViL marks is a single STF. This has its ups and downs. Down side is, no variety of content, so I tend to only run it when I need marks. Upside is the STF is staying populated (for now, at least). And we're talking about adding a new Rep now, and/or having T6 reputation(s)? I hope you've got something in the pipeline to ease this process.
Many here are arguing about if TRIBBLE is Trek or not, Prime or not, Canon or not, I'm not going to say one way or another. If its a new way to bring more fans to Trek, then it can't be all bad. That said, if they think other Trek will be like Discovery, they'll be sorely disapointed. What I will say is many of the people I listen to who do movie and TV reviews, such as Screen Junkies, The Dave Cullen Show, Generation Tech, and Midnight's Edge, just to name a few, really didn't like TRIBBLE. Additionally, DVD Overloard did an excelent piece on what canon is, and the responsibilities those who own the IP have to abide by it and why he feels TRIBBLE is not canon. Also, just FYI, some (not all) of the videos I've referenced above have some NSFW language. Trek Yards has a whole playlist on Discovery reviews, and they try to remain positive, but typically didn't seem to care for it much either. Even some of the hosts on Priority One, while diplomatic about it, didn't seem to enjoy Discovery, and they try to remain super positive about everything Trek related. Anyone can go out and find videos on youtube that support their point of view, but many of these are a lot of sources from the the Trek Comunity, and beyond, who have been out there and vocal about promoting Trek long before Discovery ever came out, and they didn't like it.
Does that mean that you shouldn't like TRIBBLE? Not at all, and if you do, thats fantastic. The reason I bring it up is simply to show that Disco is devisive. Its not a great choice for making a large ammount of content arround, because there's a significan't part of the Trek community that doesn't like it.
iamynaught had a great list of pros and cons, and a very well reasoned post that is deffinately worth a read. It mirrors my overall feelings on this announcement:
I'm not sure how to feel about this. There are pros and cons with this, so I suppose I'll list mine.
Pro
On one hand, I'm happy we're going to be getting new content, and apparently not just a one-off-throw-away mission like Terminal Expanse was for introducing the Kelvin Timeline into STO.
Con
It sounds like another Fed tutorial set in the ST:D era. We already have 2 Fed Tutorials, I guess someone thought a 3rd was needed. To me, it's not.
Pro
A new voice actor reprising their current role, I support this.
Con
Having to put up with the ST:D Klingons that absolutely break established canon. Call them whatever you want, they are not MY Klingons. Enterprise established the Klingons as looking like TNG era Klingons but then came up with an idea that allowed for the look of the TOS era Klingons. It was ham-fisted but it works. Now ST:D goes and breaks that and creates an entirely new look that doesn't look good, to me.
Pro
A new queue, sounds interesting enough but no idea how it'll turn out. I'll err on the side of it being decent enough for the time being.
Con
Another Rep to complete. *sigh* Oh, and we're going to have T6 in reps now? *sigh* More grind is not a fun thing in my eyes, but I suppose I should wait and see how it turns out. Just difficult to see another rep AND another level added to Reps and see anything positive.
Pro
Apparently we'll be getting a new recruitment event to go along with this. As an altaholic I approve.
Con
Apparently we'll be getting a new recruitment event to go along with this. As an altaholic who has made 3 alts for the Delta Recruit rerun and 1 Jem for the Gamma Recruit (and I'm willing to bet we'll see a rerun of the Temporal Recruit before this hits, for which I will likely make another alt), I disapprove. While I love making alts and enjoy actually leveling thru the low level content, enough is enough. Spread the events out a bit, please.
I don't mind the obvious changes to the look of the "Trek tech" between a show made 50+ years ago but set 10-ish years AFTER a show made today. Budgets increase, props and sets start looking better along with the ability to make visuall FX look 'real'. If TOS had double the budget they had, I bet things would have looked a lot different that what we actually got back then.
Some of the uniforms irk me, but the uni that Captain Pike is wearing in the recent ST:D Season 2 trailer looks nice. Will they have the shirts that are seen in TOS, or will they end up more in the style of the Kelvin Timeline uni's? I can deal with the small differences between the Kelvin and Pike ST:D uni's compared to TOS. But the main uni worn in ST:D, while it does look nice, it does not fit in with the aesthetic of the era.
Over all, I have to say I'm already not looking forward to this. However, this is day one of the announcement and very few details are known. Things could come to light and change my mind about it.
I understand the move from a business perspective...
But what a waste of development time on content that is based on a series that should have been cancelled before it even aired. It's a complete subversion of Gene Roddenbury's vision of the future and the spirit of Trek.
I have to say I'm a little disappointed in Cryptic with this decision.
Ok, closing thoughts, and to those who made it this far, Kudos and thank you! Personally, I don't like Discovery. The idea of a whole expansion really doesn't appeal to me. If its a featured episode or a new tutorial, then that's not a big deal and seems perfectly reasonable. But again, if it is a full expansion, then Cryptic, as someone who has purchased every large expansion ship pack, from Legacy of Romulus to Victory is Life, you should know I am highly unlikely to buy a Disco themed ship pack. Everyone is free to like or dislike Discovery, but I fear that TRIBBLE is far more divisive than any other Trek series out there, that that injecting a large amount of Disco themed content may turn people off. While I don't want STO to have TRIBBLE, I do understand that having a little bit of it is necessary. I will play it regardless, because there are many wonderful people worked hard on it, but this is content that I'm unlikely to support financially.
*Edit: Edited to fix URL BBCode
Discovery isn't that divisive imo. I didn't like it at first, but the series has grown on me. Sure, there are still some things that are dumb if you ask me, like the fact that we're looking backwards rather than forwards, the language use (f-word) and the spore drive - but overall the series has remained close to the core ideas of the franchise. Especially during the last episode.
The fact that the series may seem divisive, is as much a characteristic of the fanbase as it has anything to do with the series itself.
I agree with the reputation issue though. It already takes 40 days at minimum to work through a new one without sponsorship. I certainly hope this T6 change won't mean that we have to collect like 150k points or something like that, adding another 20 days. That would mean we'd have to spend a full two months at least on each new rep.
Then again, we don't know what the rewards will be and whether it will be 'necessary' to complete the sixth tier. And it may also well be that it will take longer before a new reputation is released, so in that case things may not change all that much in the end.
After reading the announcement a few times it seems like discovery content will be added while new post victory is life is added on some sort of alternating schedule because they can only put out what discover had shown so they’d have to wait for season 2 to put newish stuff based on show storylines. So in the mean time they’d have to alternate back and forth to fill the gaps. It also sounds like discovery toon will be isolated from main game and vice versa
1. I was raised on TOS.
2. TOS/TOSM and DS9 are my favorite two series.
3. I hated the look of the Enterprise-D but gave the new (in 1987) series a chance. It sits cozy as my #2 series.
4. Enterprise/ENT actually beats out Voyager/VOY for my 3rd & 4th series.
5. I actually like the Kelvin Timeline/JJT. My biggest gripe with it was the corporate wrangling interfering with creative freedom. and instead of fixing a mistake, they made things worse by throwing more mistakes on top of it. So while there are things I would like to fix, I enjoy what they've done and want to explore that universe more.
6. Discovery. TRIBBLE? Really? Here I thought the greater community of fandom and Trek had settled in DIS or Disco...
7. I agree Discovery has been a bitter pill, for myriad reasons. That said, and despite misgivings, I like the characters & cast. I like the ship; not so much the Klingon ships and species redesign. Corporate wrangling again. I like a number of stories and plots. But 'that' Klingon war' IS NOT the Four Years War. Something must be done to correct/reconcile that, or Discovery will never be accepted as part of the PRIME universe timeline.
8. do I have mixed feelings about this new content come fall? Hell yeah! I hope it will be good. Will there be a new Faction for 2256 Starfleet? It seems as though this may be the case, possibly a CBS stipulation. If it is, I hope it is as well-done as AoY was for TOS. And that a character slot is added to all accounts. From the sound of it, there will be Discovery content for all captains, not just new recruits.
More seriously, I think it'll fit very well with STO's style and they've already shown they can fill out background events in Trek quite inventively. Plus those of us with DSC styled crews will hopefully get pistols and away uniforms etc.
Even those "less enthusiastic" types should get something out of it if it's as well done as VIL was.
It appears to be no different than AOY... that was an expansion so THIS is also an expansion. well maybe we can call it a Pre-pansion. Another new Fed start this time based on TRIBBLE.
Oh no, it's time to ruin Star Trek some more. Or are you doing this to do some damage control on the nonsensical changes that Discovery made? For example, explaining what the hell those things pretending to be Klingons are and how they got like that.
Also, I was kinda hoping we would be doing more things in the Gamma quadrant. I thought we were having a Deep Space 9 expansion, and what about the Sword of Kales stuff you set up?
I hope this new recruitment drive will have a perk that upgrades all mission rewards to Ultra Rare. That would make me replay tons of old missions to get UR versions of weapons & ship mission rewards.
"For the very first time in STO’s history, we’ll be updating the game in line with a currently airing Star Trek series."
What exactly does that mean? It almost sounds like they will be updating everything in the game (like ships, uniforms, races) to match with what is on Discovery. In other words, we will not see the classic TOS stuff, but rather re-imagined based on Disc. Klingons will be changed to look like the ones from Disc. I'm not sure how you'll explain this. If it was an alternate timeline, then that's okay. But we know that CBS pushes that it's the Prime Timeline, so what does that mean for the Prime Timeline in STO?
Discovery was okay, but I sure hope that show isn't going to influence the future of STO. If it's just a few missions, then that's fine. If all of STO is changed to make it "in-line" with Disc., then there will be a mass exodus like the one that happened with Star Wars Galaxies with the combat update. I'm okay with new content, but don't go changing all of the existing stuff in STO. They've already changed a lot from the game since launch. The original tutorial is gone. Several stories were scrapped or merged together. Voices have been replaced that really didn't need to be. We've lost the Red Alert for the Na'kuhl, and I'm not sure what else has been removed.
"For the very first time in STO’s history, we’ll be updating the game in line with a currently airing Star Trek series."
What exactly does that mean? It almost sounds like they will be updating everything in the game (like ships, uniforms, races) to match with what is on Discovery. In other words, we will not see the classic TOS stuff, but rather re-imagined based on Disc. Klingons will be changed to look like the ones from Disc. I'm not sure how you'll explain this. If it was an alternate timeline, then that's okay. But we know that CBS pushes that it's the Prime Timeline, so what does that mean for the Prime Timeline in STO?
Discovery was okay, but I sure hope that show isn't going to influence the future of STO. If it's just a few missions, then that's fine. If all of STO is changed to make it "in-line" with Disc., then there will be a mass exodus like the one that happened with Star Wars Galaxies with the combat update. I'm okay with new content, but don't go changing all of the existing stuff in STO. They've already changed a lot from the game since launch. The original tutorial is gone. Several stories were scrapped or merged together. Voices have been replaced that really didn't need to be. We've lost the Red Alert for the Na'kuhl, and I'm not sure what else has been removed.
They probably mean that they will be working on the game while a show is running. With 'working on' thus meaning that stuff from that show will be added.
I highly doubt they will be changing the entire game based on what is happening in Discovery. That would indeed be too disruptive, and it would probably require much more work than they can manage for one or even a handful of expansions.
AoY alone with its special effects required an entire expansion. Adding effects, maps, species, stories and such AND changing everything we have, won't happen.
People seem to forget ...
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Best thing about this game is people can choose to play in whatever part of the Sandbox of Star Trek they enjoy most.
I wasnt a fan of Discovery, but after how good ViL was, I'm going to give Cryptic the benefit of the doubt and see what they do with this. At the very least I hope they have a good explanation for our characters being there, actually I think having Daniels come back for this would be interesting.
Also would be nice if they come up with a good explanation for Discovery seemingly breaking established lore.
_____________________________________________________
Anyone want to give me a Temporal Heavy Dreadnought pack? I'll be your friend
UHHHHHH..No please..TRIBBLE basically slapped the Prime timeline i the face with the nonsense they did..I hated the concept because they drove it to far towards the Kelvin Timeline theme..Look at the feel of TOS, TRIBBLE and Kelvin timeline..TRIBBLE leans too far towards Kelvin overall..So its a NO from me..There are so many other things that could be done like expanding the delta quad from being just a line of few sectors..You could do alot more with the Borg being back with a vegeance aand the lethality they are reputed for..And yes I miss the exploration part that the game had..With ViL a prequel t how the whole mess with the Hur"Q started could be done..But no we are getting content on the lines of a series so badly confused its not funny..
Here's an idea, why not put the TRIBBLE stuff behind a paywall like CBS all access? In here it could be behind a Zen wall where to access the recruits and missions you have to pay Zen? To log in to that character you pay Zen? Lets keep this as accurate as possible if TRIBBLE is coming in. You could let the first mission be a free one though like CBS did with the episodes.
I noticed there were no KDF or Romulan TRIBBLE options in the announcement. Missed chance to encourage more competitive stuff/PvP if you keep this Fed only.
Here's an idea, why not put the TRIBBLE stuff behind a paywall like CBS all access? In here it could be behind a Zen wall where to access the recruits and missions you have to pay Zen? To log in to that character you pay Zen? Lets keep this as accurate as possible if TRIBBLE is coming in. You could let the first mission be a free one though like CBS did with the episodes.
Provided that we can also set every other piece of content to be available during select "airings" unless you've ponied up for the "boxed set" content backs. If we're to take whining to the next level let's at least be impartial about it.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
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There are no Rom options because during that era, there was no contact between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire per the terms of the treaty ending the Earth-Romulus war in 2160. The next contact wouldn't be until 2266, in TOS:"Balance of Terror" (also the first time Fed forces got to see what Romulans looked like).
Comments
Discovery isn't that divisive imo. I didn't like it at first, but the series has grown on me. Sure, there are still some things that are dumb if you ask me, like the fact that we're looking backwards rather than forwards, the language use (f-word) and the spore drive - but overall the series has remained close to the core ideas of the franchise. Especially during the last episode.
The fact that the series may seem divisive, is as much a characteristic of the fanbase as it has anything to do with the series itself.
I agree with the reputation issue though. It already takes 40 days at minimum to work through a new one without sponsorship. I certainly hope this T6 change won't mean that we have to collect like 150k points or something like that, adding another 20 days. That would mean we'd have to spend a full two months at least on each new rep.
Then again, we don't know what the rewards will be and whether it will be 'necessary' to complete the sixth tier. And it may also well be that it will take longer before a new reputation is released, so in that case things may not change all that much in the end.
I don't wanna make ANOTHER new character.
Maybe a story where existing characters go back to that time period.
...and as long as we get missions with Philippa Georgiou later on.
2. TOS/TOSM and DS9 are my favorite two series.
3. I hated the look of the Enterprise-D but gave the new (in 1987) series a chance. It sits cozy as my #2 series.
4. Enterprise/ENT actually beats out Voyager/VOY for my 3rd & 4th series.
5. I actually like the Kelvin Timeline/JJT. My biggest gripe with it was the corporate wrangling interfering with creative freedom. and instead of fixing a mistake, they made things worse by throwing more mistakes on top of it. So while there are things I would like to fix, I enjoy what they've done and want to explore that universe more.
6. Discovery. TRIBBLE? Really? Here I thought the greater community of fandom and Trek had settled in DIS or Disco...
7. I agree Discovery has been a bitter pill, for myriad reasons. That said, and despite misgivings, I like the characters & cast. I like the ship; not so much the Klingon ships and species redesign. Corporate wrangling again. I like a number of stories and plots. But 'that' Klingon war' IS NOT the Four Years War. Something must be done to correct/reconcile that, or Discovery will never be accepted as part of the PRIME universe timeline.
8. do I have mixed feelings about this new content come fall? Hell yeah! I hope it will be good. Will there be a new Faction for 2256 Starfleet? It seems as though this may be the case, possibly a CBS stipulation. If it is, I hope it is as well-done as AoY was for TOS. And that a character slot is added to all accounts. From the sound of it, there will be Discovery content for all captains, not just new recruits.
More seriously, I think it'll fit very well with STO's style and they've already shown they can fill out background events in Trek quite inventively. Plus those of us with DSC styled crews will hopefully get pistols and away uniforms etc.
Even those "less enthusiastic" types should get something out of it if it's as well done as VIL was.
That could be anything at this point. More Hur'Q stuff? Maybe some timey wimey stuff into the Discovery era?
Well... Discovery is going into season 2, and from the looks of it we're drawing from season 1 for the most part.
It appears to be no different than AOY... that was an expansion so THIS is also an expansion. well maybe we can call it a Pre-pansion. Another new Fed start this time based on TRIBBLE.
Also, I was kinda hoping we would be doing more things in the Gamma quadrant. I thought we were having a Deep Space 9 expansion, and what about the Sword of Kales stuff you set up?
What exactly does that mean? It almost sounds like they will be updating everything in the game (like ships, uniforms, races) to match with what is on Discovery. In other words, we will not see the classic TOS stuff, but rather re-imagined based on Disc. Klingons will be changed to look like the ones from Disc. I'm not sure how you'll explain this. If it was an alternate timeline, then that's okay. But we know that CBS pushes that it's the Prime Timeline, so what does that mean for the Prime Timeline in STO?
Discovery was okay, but I sure hope that show isn't going to influence the future of STO. If it's just a few missions, then that's fine. If all of STO is changed to make it "in-line" with Disc., then there will be a mass exodus like the one that happened with Star Wars Galaxies with the combat update. I'm okay with new content, but don't go changing all of the existing stuff in STO. They've already changed a lot from the game since launch. The original tutorial is gone. Several stories were scrapped or merged together. Voices have been replaced that really didn't need to be. We've lost the Red Alert for the Na'kuhl, and I'm not sure what else has been removed.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
They probably mean that they will be working on the game while a show is running. With 'working on' thus meaning that stuff from that show will be added.
I highly doubt they will be changing the entire game based on what is happening in Discovery. That would indeed be too disruptive, and it would probably require much more work than they can manage for one or even a handful of expansions.
AoY alone with its special effects required an entire expansion. Adding effects, maps, species, stories and such AND changing everything we have, won't happen.
Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations
Best thing about this game is people can choose to play in whatever part of the Sandbox of Star Trek they enjoy most.
looks klingon to me.
Also would be nice if they come up with a good explanation for Discovery seemingly breaking established lore.
Anyone want to give me a Temporal Heavy Dreadnought pack? I'll be your friend
I wonder if KDF will also get a unique tutorial, otherwise I don't see how discovery klingons could be playable
Adu-Uss Firefox NCC-93425-F (LVL 65 FED AoY ENG) UR/VR MKXV Fleet Intel Assault Cruiser (July 2016)
Jean-Uss Seratoga Ravenna (LVL 60 FED Delta ENG) UC/R MKVI Bajoran Escort (April 2018)
Dubsa-RRW Mnaudh (LVL 50 FED allied ROM Delta ENG) Warbird (May 2018)
Marop-IKS Orunthi (LVL 50 KNG Delta ENG) BoP (May 2018)
Kanak'lan-TRIBBLE (LVL 65 DOM Gamma ENG) TRIBBLE (June 2018)
I noticed there were no KDF or Romulan TRIBBLE options in the announcement. Missed chance to encourage more competitive stuff/PvP if you keep this Fed only.
Provided that we can also set every other piece of content to be available during select "airings" unless you've ponied up for the "boxed set" content backs. If we're to take whining to the next level let's at least be impartial about it.
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!