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  • starswordcstarswordc Member Posts: 10,963 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    > @somtaawkhar said:
    > vetteguy904 wrote: »
    >
    > maybe they remans under Obisek finish off the Emire, or at least stops the RSE from destroying the Vault and New Romulus.
    >
    >
    >
    > The RSE was finished off some time ago, and all of its former worlds joined the Republic.

    Killing off leaders ≠ eliminating the country or ideology. You should look up how well that worked with al-Qa'ida sometime.

    And if anything I'd expect absorbing Imperial worlds to MAGNIFY the Republic's problems, because now they have to deal with both the aftereffects of Imperial and Tal Shiar mismanagement of the population (plagues, famines, refugee crises) on top of the former regime personnel they're going to inevitably have to take on to actually run the place. Somehow I doubt somebody who stuck with the Empire for years for whatever motivation (love of country, dislike of the Federation, the great dental plan) is going to automagically turn into a card-carrying Unificationist. Problems for the Republic = story hooks.

    > @somtaawkhar
    > vetteguy904 wrote: »
    >
    > then another season for the Remans. what HAVE they been doing since Obisek went back to the vault?
    >
    >
    >
    > He didn't go back to the vault, he was just there to manage the defense during the Tholian attack.
    >
    > Besides that, hes served as a diplomat, and his people's representative in the Romulan Republic. He is seen in the meetings in both "The Temporal Front" during the Future Proof arc, and in "Storm Clouds Gather" in the Gamma Quadrant arc, representing the Reman people.

    How about exploring the city under New Romulus? How about looking into what the Tholians' obsession with the Vault and the Dewan ruins is? There's a dozen or more story hooks with the Remans that can be explored.
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  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    I don't know if the game had been completely different if they had 1 extra year to develop equal amount of content before release.

    But there are some pointers that it might not be that different:

    1) World of Warcraft has a lot of faction-agnostic content these days, too. And the factions started at the same level of "fleshed-out-ness", as far as I know. I think they still do some faction-specific content, but WoW is also the biggest MMO on the market.
    2) Star Wars: The Old Republic Online started with two fully fleshed out story arcs for each faction, and each class also had a fleshed out class specific story content. Nowadays, most of the content is faction-agnostic, and you fight a foe that both the Sith Empire and the (Old) Republic fight against. (Think about ,two factions that look like complete arch enemies work together. This isn't even the level of Star Trek, where the Klingons were both enemies and valued allies at different points in time!)
    3) Every Star Trek show or TV movie focuses on the Federation/Starfleet protagonists, and most of them human or indistinguishable from human. There is so much more inspirational material both for the STO writers and artists and the STO players.

    In the end, we only get to live in the one timeline where Cryptic had a release date they couldn't delay further, and they made the decisions they made. There are no takebacks.

    It is not that Star Trek Online never did anything nice for the Klingon or Romulan fans. It might have been late, but they created a fully fledged Klingon Story Line that is no shorter than the original Federation arc, and they did the same for the Romulans. And in many parts, it is often also on a better technical level, benefitting from being "late" without the pressures of launch and with more experience and better tech available.
    So, if you say: "Just build, and the players will come" - the first thing happened. But it seems the second thing did not, not to the extent you would hope at least.

    Generally, the economy of this is - making a mission always costs similar amount of manpower and resources. And if you have the choice to make it for most of the players, it is a better return on investment. If they make faction-agnostic content, it will be available to everyone. No one can complain there is nothing to do for his characters. But if you make faction-specific content, some characters and possibly players will be left out. Is that worth doing? And is it really worth doing for the smaller part of the audience?
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  • talonxvtalonxv Member Posts: 4,257 Arc User
    > @somtaawkhar said:
    > starswordc wrote: »
    >
    > How about exploring the city under New Romulus? How about looking into what the Tholians' obsession with the Vault and the Dewan ruins is? There's a dozen or more story hooks with the Remans that can be explored.
    >
    >
    >
    > They explained both of these during the New Romulus arc. The Tholian's attacks on the Romulans in the Azure Nebula, and the attacks on the Remans at the Vault, were just a distraction so they could find and examine the Iconian gateway on New Romulus. They didn't give a flying **** about the Vault or the Dewans themselves. The Tholians were just counting their examination into the Temporal Cold war like they were on Nukara.
    >
    > As for the city, explore what? Its a small settlement. All there would be to do is walk around and say hi to a bunch of static NPCs like on ESD.
    > starswordc wrote: »
    >
    > Killing off leaders ≠ eliminating the country or ideology. You should look up how well that worked with al-Qa'ida sometime.
    >
    > And if anything I'd expect absorbing Imperial worlds to MAGNIFY the Republic's problems, because now they have to deal with both the aftereffects of Imperial and Tal Shiar mismanagement of the population (plagues, famines, refugee crises) on top of the former regime personnel they're going to inevitably have to take on to actually run the place. Somehow I doubt somebody who stuck with the Empire for years for whatever motivation (love of country, dislike of the Federation, the great dental plan) is going to automagically turn into a card-carrying Unificationist. Problems for the Republic = story hooks.
    >
    >
    >
    > A. Most Romulans didn't believe in the ideology of the RSE, they just put up with it because they feared the Tal Shiar coming and taking them away.
    > B. Sela herself admits you killed the last of her followers in missions like "Uneasy Allies" and "Survivor", bringing those who did believe in said ideology to an end.
    > C. Any problems the Republic will have from the mismanagement of the RSE are economic ones that will be rather easily solved now that everyone is part of one big old happy Alliance, and both the Federation, who has had decades of experience rebuilding civilizations(Cardassia), and the Klingon Empire, are helping with that. Besides, they were never going to have us do 20 missions of ferrying food stocks between planets.

    No-one ever said one thing about my suggestion. IE we have 1 episode that has 3 parts.

    Take Sunrise for example. Starfleet does the first meet as we see. KDF part is next asked by Starfleet to bring Materials needed to get the Lukari up in running to make their first ship. Romulans help Kal Dano track down the Tox Uthat.

    Make it so if you want all parts to the story, it benefits to have all 3 factions at the same point in the story.

    Granted some episodes you can't do that, others easily can.
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  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    talonxv wrote: »
    No-one ever said one thing about my suggestion. IE we have 1 episode that has 3 parts.

    Take Sunrise for example. Starfleet does the first meet as we see. KDF part is next asked by Starfleet to bring Materials needed to get the Lukari up in running to make their first ship. Romulans help Kal Dano track down the Tox Uthat.

    Make it so if you want all parts to the story, it benefits to have all 3 factions at the same point in the story.

    Granted some episodes you can't do that, others easily can.
    You can call it "1 episode that has 3 parts" all you want, but in practice that's 3 missions and requires all the work to create 3 separate missions. I would rather have 3 missions that everyone can do. And so would Cryptic, as they have made it abundantly clear many times that they don't want to make faction-specific content.

    BTW, "all 3 factions?" Have you not noticed we in fact have 7 (seven) "factions" in the game now? ;)

    Or rather, origin stories. I really wish Cryptic would just call them that.
  • talonxvtalonxv Member Posts: 4,257 Arc User
    > @warpangel said:
    > talonxv wrote: »
    >
    > No-one ever said one thing about my suggestion. IE we have 1 episode that has 3 parts.
    >
    > Take Sunrise for example. Starfleet does the first meet as we see. KDF part is next asked by Starfleet to bring Materials needed to get the Lukari up in running to make their first ship. Romulans help Kal Dano track down the Tox Uthat.
    >
    > Make it so if you want all parts to the story, it benefits to have all 3 factions at the same point in the story.
    >
    > Granted some episodes you can't do that, others easily can.
    >
    >
    >
    > You can call it "1 episode that has 3 parts" all you want, but in practice that's 3 missions and requires all the work to create 3 separate missions. I would rather have 3 missions that everyone can do. And so would Cryptic, as they have made it abundantly clear many times that they don't want to make faction-specific content.
    >
    > BTW, "all 3 factions?" Have you not noticed we in fact have 7 (seven) "factions" in the game now? ;)
    >
    > Or rather, origin stories. I really wish Cryptic would just call them that.

    Which I feel is a crying shame and a lot of wasted potential. I would love to have a 3 part mission where to get the whole story you need 1 fed toon, 1 KDF and 1 Romulan.

    And no we have at best 4. 2 of them do the same thing after a short point as normal Federation so I don't even count them.
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  • talonxvtalonxv Member Posts: 4,257 Arc User
    > @somtaawkhar said:
    > talonxv wrote: »
    >
    > No-one ever said one thing about my suggestion. IE we have 1 episode that has 3 parts.
    >
    > Take Sunrise for example. Starfleet does the first meet as we see. KDF part is next asked by Starfleet to bring Materials needed to get the Lukari up in running to make their first ship. Romulans help Kal Dano track down the Tox Uthat.
    >
    > Make it so if you want all parts to the story, it benefits to have all 3 factions at the same point in the story.
    >
    > Granted some episodes you can't do that, others easily can.
    >
    >
    >
    > The problem I have with this, beyond what @warpangel brought up, is that this typecasts the factions into idiotic stereotypes.
    > >ALL KLINGONS ARE MUH WARRIORS!
    > >ALL FEDERATION ARE MUH DIPLOMATS
    > >ALL ROMULANS ARE MUH SNEAKY INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES!
    > And that simply isn't the case.
    >
    > Federation species, Klingon Empire species, and Romulan Star Empire species, can all be diplomatic, sneaky, and warrior-like, and we have seen instances of them doing so throughout Trek canon. Trying to split up what they do based on these stereotypes is literally the exact same thing people complain about with Discovery Klingons supposedly being mindless murder machines.

    Well doesn't have to be exactly that way, but would like it where certain factions have episodes where some content you only get with that faction and if you want the whole story of an episode, have to play all 3 major factions to get it.
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    Star Trek Battles member. Want to roll with a good group of people regardless of fleets and not have to worry about DPS while doing STFs? Come join the channel and join in the fun!

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  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    talonxv wrote: »
    Well doesn't have to be exactly that way, but would like it where certain factions have episodes where some content you only get with that faction and if you want the whole story of an episode, have to play all 3 major factions to get it.

    Hmmm...that would make things different.

    I am not sure that would work for everyone. Not sure everyone has characters up to snuff to "unlock" all the story arcs on all the factions....me included in that pile.

    Although, the Devs may be able to get away with: stories based on Engineering, Science and Tactical characters that interconnect in the end. Though, I am not sure how one could stop an Engineer career character from doing a Science story...etc.

    I wonder if something like that would work on a Foundry mission....I think the authors can write the stories as stand alone....then write a separate conclusion story.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • scortch0scortch0 Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    xyquarze wrote: »
    scortch0 wrote: »
    typical fed lover answer

    While probably true (many here are Fed lovers. And also KDF and Rom lovers), this wasn't even a relevant point the first time you used it in this thread.

    its my thread, if you want to play grammar police, and not add anything actually useful shut your mouth plz and go bother someone else's discussion
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    I don't know.

    Branching stories can get pretty convoluted going in too many directions and getting way too much involvement across so many characters could make it difficult. Anyone can split off a story and give it a different direction. But to pull it back together????

    I am not sure Cryptic has the talent who can bring it all back together in the end. No matter which way it got split, by Faction or Career or whatever. I really think the Foundry authors have better story tellers.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • scortch0scortch0 Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    Since starting this thread, i have seen reasons and excuses for why they stick to the old system, but the fact remains that its the old system for doing things. Games grow when things change, not putting out expansions that are basically just tutorials. 1st to the person who stated about not being a paying player......I am a paying player, have my 1000 day vet status and rewards. Its not my fault people are cheap and dont want to pay for their entertainment. the point of this thread was to see how many people out there would like to see an expansion that was NOT fed only, and most of what is here is the defense of FED ONLY expansions. wouldn't it have been nice to do an expansion from maybe t'kuvma's view, to go along with the discovery side?
  • scortch0scortch0 Member Posts: 13 Arc User
    th
    scortch0 wrote: »
    wouldn't it have been nice to do an expansion from maybe t'kuvma's view, to go along with the discovery side?
    Given how many people utterly refuse to replay "Renegade's Regret" because they can't stomach committing genocide, even in a video game, I doubt the playerbase would take kindly to playing on a side of a guy whose whole mission was to killing a ton of innocent people in the name of Empire reunification.

    That's sort of the problem with non Federation factions pre-TNG/DS9/VOY era
    A. There is barely if any lore to work with, even for the Klingons.
    B. What little there is has them all being just space viking with no real goals beyond murder.

    this game is all made up story BS. only the history is lore. the voth and undine story lines are all made up terran empire story line all made up, so why not just continue the trend? None of the 25th century TRIBBLE is cannon so what is the problem? it takes place long after all the series and so what to stop them from continuing
  • avoozuulavoozuul Member Posts: 3,196 Arc User
    I've played all sorts of games during my life time including very violent games and yet I don't in any way condone anything I've done in these games in real life.
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    Seriously, Patrickngo? Read what you just typed: "have HR go through the Foundry". The Foundry is actually a huge mess of missions. It would have to take less man hours than that for it to be feasible for Cryptic.

    Will have to go another route.

    Besides....Cryptic never comes across to me as being very organized.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • brian334brian334 Member Posts: 2,214 Arc User
    Som, pick any GrandNegus story on Foundry and play it.

    I too have suggested that Cryptic use volunteer Foundry authors, but I can see that it might cause problems, not the least of which is professional vs. amateur friction. As in, "You are jeopardizing my paying job by accepting free stuff?"

    Whatever their reasons, Cryptic does what it does. They answer to a board of directors, not to us. There is only on language the board understands, and that is the language of cold hard cash.

    If you want to see change, first you have to accept that change is risk, and risk is something businesses want to avoid. Cryptic was burned early and often by the "Gimme" crowd, and they learned their lesson. So, show them where the money lies, not in a dream, as it might be this way when the stars align one day, but where the money is now.

    Buy their crappy Klingon ship
    Buy their crappy Klingon wardrobe
    Buy their whatever Klingon offering.

    Only with a pattern of successful sales will Cryptic be able to discern a pattern of return on investment, which might make them more willing to take the risk.

    If you aren't willing to do this, all the Gimme threads on the internet won't matter.
  • mustrumridcully0mustrumridcully0 Member Posts: 12,963 Arc User
    patrickngo wrote: »
    With an aggregate of around 20% combined between all non-federation-centric factions, they can lose the audience and it wouldn't even flicker their bottom line. The bulk of teh KDF audience left a long time ago, be grateful we who remain get as much as we do, because we're a miniscule minority and cryptic studios only has resources to support the quarterly majority.
    That however isn't neccessarily true. If they, say, operate with a 20 % profit margin, losing 20 % of their income source could hurt, because a lot of the operating and development cost of STO are not proportional to the number of players. As was said before, a mission costs the same to make regardless of whether it's faction-agnostic or KDF only or Fed only. It also costs the same regardless whether only one player plays it, or 50,000.

    Obviously for similar reasons, they also create new starter factions like the Discovery Era Feds - that isn't primarily aimed at the existing players, it's aimed to grow the player base with players that got excited about Star Trek again or for the first time with Discovery.
    Star Trek Online Advancement: You start with lowbie gear, you end with Lobi gear.
  • where2r1where2r1 Member Posts: 6,054 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    brian334 wrote: »
    Only with a pattern of successful sales will Cryptic be able to discern a pattern of return on investment, which might make them more willing to take the risk.

    I think for most people in this game "buying" has become buy Zen with Dil.
    And the Zen for sale in the Zen Exchange comes from stipend or reinvesting previous buys.

    There is just too many economy savvy players these days. Only way to do it is drain all resources from them...which may be neigh near impossible by relying on sale of items or slow trickle of "drains".

    They would have to get drastic: impede players ability to build back up. I mean, to the point of cut dilithium rewards, no resale of in game currencies (which they already kinda do), no resale of keys. They may even have to let the Zen exchange max out to stop the cycle of revolving Zen.

    PLUS still give players power creep of the month ships and gear to continue buying.

    Dropping prices doesn't necessarily attract the type of customers you want, either.

    They need to find a way to get players to open their wallets and break out the credit card for something other than two-three (?) times of year when Lifetime Subscription go on sale.


    +++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Could content for sale be the key?
    And sell for direct credit card purchases...like the Lifetime Subscriptions on PC is done?

    If they go that route, they can't be using amateurs for content. And those professionals don't want their stories on feeble systems. Cryptic can't have the rate of bugs they have, now, either. Which means, QA staffed fully, not volunteer players acting as bug hunters....no matter how devoted they are.

    Foundry for free may have to go completely bye bye, because they would have to use that system to isolate for pay content from other players.

    They could rent out the Foundry to authors, but would it attract better story telling?
    Also, professionals don't want to compete with amateurs for the spotlight. So, if they have to use the Foundry for the pros and the renters....

    That is a lot of investment having to go into an old, twisted program that blinks unpredictably every time new content gets added. Discovery warp outs and two voice Vortas, anyone?

    So....this is an idea in the realm of "the direction Cryptic should have taken" a long time ago. Probably should have gone that course, instead of Free to Play, the route in the woods they decided to wander down. Reality smacking them in their faces today....seeing most players come back for new content only.
    "Spend your life doing strange things with weird people." -- UNK

    “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” -- Benjamin Franklin
  • warpangelwarpangel Member Posts: 9,427 Arc User
    brian334 wrote: »
    Buy their crappy Klingon ship
    Buy their crappy Klingon wardrobe
    Buy their whatever Klingon offering.

    Only with a pattern of successful sales will Cryptic be able to discern a pattern of return on investment, which might make them more willing to take the risk.
    I would actually buy their "crappy" klingon ships and clothes, if they would sell them to my fed-rom main.

    Since they won't, I can't.
  • korithian1korithian1 Member Posts: 82 Arc User
    It does feel hard to be excited about the story of the game unless you want to play the typical Federation Character. Even if you wanted to play a different style of federation character you can't.

    Perhaps though it is worse for the KDF, if you don't want to play an honor bound Klingon you are out of luck if your KDF. Hell even the tutorial has you acting as if your a Klingon second officer regardless of what species you elected to be.

    I really wish they would offer more variety, its not like the dialogue the player speaks is voiced so all it would have taken is a few lines of text to give more of a feel. Likewise it would be nice if there was a little more option for background. With the TOS and Discovery fed options it can feel like the standard Fed or KDF or Romulan captain is very boring in comparison.
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