It's part of the reason I just skip through text these days, it makes zero sense for my Romulans so why bother reading it anyway. I get that it's far easier for Cryptic to write just one section of mission text than write one for 3-4 factions worth but it still irks me
Another point from the STO Foundry: it doesn't take much to be more inclusive. What Cryptic does now (primarily to include other faction perspectives) is use hidden branching paths when absolutely necessary (ie. when the plot references their faction role.) Ex. one button that leads to different dialog (ex. Neelix welcoming the player, Killy referencing history with a DSC player.) This involves more writing and the cost can be calculated not just by the extra dev time but the lines of extra VO. The natural pressure is to use this technique sparingly (thus leaving most of the mission to proceed through the eyes of an archetypal Trek captain, most embodying the FED ethos because...well, that's Star Trek. All roads eventually lead to Rome.)
But, they could do a lot by adding more visible dialog options (something occasionally tried but not all that frequently, or at least all that as a consistent strategy IMO) that don't branch the conversation but gives the player a considered way of moderating their reactions through a conversation (when there are points to react differently to.) These can include a faction specific "well I'll help you but for the following reasons" (see. KDF working with Killy, helping cover the rational for that entire scenario) but also faction agnostic options which the player can opt for to avoid a response that the player feels isn't natural to their captain (key point in writing RPG's and KDF/ROM/JEM personalities are known quantities in that effort.) Ex. options which express more or less suspicion/enthusiasm/outrage/anger/curiosity/humor/loss at moments when the story is pushing those buttons (let players consciously react, it helps reinforce those plot points.)
Basically it's a cheap way of empowering and placating the player. Including them at all times can be overwhelming but it's easy enough to recognize moments that benefit from accommodating for player personality and reactions (to a greater degree, versus hand-waving that your character is a plot-pursuing robot. Subvert the idea!) That still leaves the major plot to be basically inclusive but having more dialog options (IMO) would buffer the disconnect to a greater degree than at present when problems arise.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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!
That is a very erroneous statement, since I hope the fact that I opened with it indicates that there are, in fact, people who do care about ship interiors. As well, the effort the Devs put into the revamp of the DS9 interior, developing the Galaxy Interior, developing the Discovery interiors, and the recent comments by some of the Devs about having players want to spend time in their game all point to the fact that interiors and the environments within the game are quite important to both the Devs and the playerbase, though it seems the Devs don't understand how much people come into the game for the chance to experience Star Trek. The Star Trek experience happens largely on the ships of the series (which is why each series is named for the ship it is set upon), so not having ship interiors that provide that experience is working against keeping those players the Devs say are the core of their playerbase. To say no one cares seems pretty myopic.
I'm all for more diversity in Starship interiors Even the Klingon ships would have different corridors, corresponding to the design of the bridges.
Also, my favourite ship just has to be the legendary U.S.S. Star Trek, with the runner up being the the Galaxy-Class starship, U.S.S. Star Trek: The Next Generation
Just one additional Question. Is Gold Pressed Latinum EVER going to be relevant?
Every currency EXCEPT GPL can be used to enhance your gaming experience. Why is this the only exception and will that ever change?
GPL can be used at the Ferengi trader on DS9 to purchase commodities including contraband (which converts to dilithium that can be used or sold for zen) and jenovite which converts to hardpoints that can be sold for substantial EC. I find all of these substances "enhance my gaming experience".
There's discussions about improving the GPL experience.
On the other hand, I didn't know about the contraband on DS9.
Ok, let's pretend that is the answer for a moment. It's all good and well for anything Discovery-related. What about all the rest? Why all this "cross-faction" content is clearly made with only the Federation in mind?
Well
A. Cross faction content isn't made with only Federation in mind. Hell, the last several arcs in particular have been wanking of the Klingons heavily.
B. Even if they were, the Federation was the focus of every single Trek series thus far, and thus makes up 99% of the content the game is based off of, which in turn drives more people to go Federation in the first place. So the faction with more content in show will get more content, or content focus, in-game.
That's not what he means I gather, what he's referring to is that when you play cross faction missions and actually read the text it's always written from a Federation players experience.
The way everyone interacts with the player is from a "he's a federation captain" stand point. NPCs are always relieved to see you when if the player was Klingon or Romulan they really wouldn't be. For instance lets look at just the Mirror Disc Ark. The ISS Discovery is being pounded by Klingons.. but they're joyed some OTHER Klingons are there? What about Romulans or Jem'hadar? They've never seen EITHER of these races but it's the same as a Federation ship coming to their aid. And of course our Klingons are to eager to help vs.. storming the bridge and capturing the ship, or our Romulans wanting to gather intel, interrogate and all that because we're all federation now
It's part of the reason I just skip through text these days, it makes zero sense for my Romulans so why bother reading it anyway. I get that it's far easier for Cryptic to write just one section of mission text than write one for 3-4 factions worth but it still irks me
Thank you. Couldn't have say it better myself!
Not even gonna take his "B" point into account, seeing as they made it pretty much useless going with anything else but Fed or Fed-aligned character.
Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
Age was setup as a simulation of past events, so far we've not met julie in the games present despite apparently tearing the klinks a new one or something. Otherwise why did we have to do the simulations to find out that centuries old ships are weak vs modern ones.
Mirror was left hanging with the contrived excuse of "oops it appeared she escaped in the chaos maybe we should have kept her locked up like anyone with half a brain would have done" thus allowing tilly/killy to potentially become the new sela turning up whenever they want a known voice to do an episode.
The next episode or two being a new "season" either means they're going to try and make julie actually relevant in the timeline with an AoD2.0 or ignore that entirely and do something different which will leave another thread hanging once they don't give it a decent conclusion.
Age was setup as a simulation of past events, so far we've not met julie in the games present despite apparently tearing the klinks a new one or something. Otherwise why did we have to do the simulations to find out that centuries old ships are weak vs modern ones.
With the B'vat connection to J'ula's arc I think it's likely that the revamped KDF war missions will cover the exploits of J'ula, at least in part. For example: instead of B'vat traveling back in time to give himself a leg up have it be J'ula, trying to kill B'vat and pre-emptively stop the fall of her assumed house. Player foils plan, but ends up in a situation where J'ula is back in generally the right time period (post-war, TOS. Cryptic wants that Nemoy VO.) Daniels does some hand waving and she's released (sans any memories of the future) or she finds a point of reconciliation and is let go with a pinky promise that she won't cause trouble.
Ergo, STO's "new" episodes focus on the MU arc (it's separate and can tide us over with a 1-2 episode release schedule that can play very directly off of DSC season 1 content) while Cryptic simultaneously works on the FED's mission revamp for later release, which can also make use of KDF details from DSC season 2.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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!
If its a klink based story then it should be written from their pov rather than every npc assuming we're feds or totally ignoring our race like the way that kethi talked about romulans to a romulan as if they were a mere human.
To expect KDF players to be coming to the aid of the feds in order to sort out internal struggles wouldn't go down well with either players or trek in general.
If its a klink based story then it should be written from their pov rather than every npc assuming we're feds or totally ignoring our race like the way that kethi talked about romulans to a romulan as if they were a mere human.
To expect KDF players to be coming to the aid of the feds in order to sort out internal struggles wouldn't go down well with either players or trek in general.
Like I posted above there's ways of helping with that RE. more dialog choices which let players react in ways which aren't entirely archetypal to the neutral Trek captain (ex. in ways that would fit ROM/DOM/KDF and non-standard FED.) You don't have to go so far as to write the story entirely from the perspective of the other faction to be inclusive to them, so long as you provide options for players to effectively RP their character and rational they can appreciate for continuing the plot. Ie. fight the disconnect at key moments which might otherwise bounce a player out their character or role in a mission, it's a very economical compromise (helps a lot with the feel of a mission) which you can find working demonstrations for in the Foundry. This also extends to FED characters who might be approaching a situation with more suspicion, hostility, personality, or knowledge (see. player criticism of the Mirror of Discovery missions and initially taking Killy at her word.)
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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!
'But to be logical is not to be right', and 'nothing' on God's earth could ever 'make it' right!'
Judge Dan Haywood
'As l speak now, the words are forming in my head.
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
If its a klink based story then it should be written from their pov rather than every npc assuming we're feds or totally ignoring our race like the way that kethi talked about romulans to a romulan as if they were a mere human.
So... like how every KDF NPC screams "Qa'pla, Warrior! Fight for the Glory of the Empire! Bring Honor to your House!" when I'm playing an Orion or a Lethean or a Ferasan, etc? You know, how every KDF mission talks to our characters as if they were a mere Klingon?
Also, if that does not happen, can I use that for a future comic?
Have at it.
Or alternately, Mirror Tilly rounds up and unleashes a horde of tribbles on J'ula. Exposure to her (faulty) mycelial tech causes them to mutate, gaining advanced intelligence and retractable hands. Their explosive breeding gives them an amazing boost in manpower, allowing them to build entire fleets in a matter of weeks (they just use the existing infrastructure of whatever place they've overrun), and before we know it, we have a NEW galactic power. Just think of the possibilities: fearsome Tribble Death Squads. Tribble Space Marines. Tribble Bombardiers which launch Tribble Bombs (which are actually baby tribbles).
They're not bad; they're just doing what tribbles do.
Age was setup as a simulation of past events, so far we've not met julie in the games present despite apparently tearing the klinks a new one or something. Otherwise why did we have to do the simulations to find out that centuries old ships are weak vs modern ones.
To be fair, the AoD simulations were specifically set up for us to study J'Ula's tactics ("how she thinks and fights"), not to prove that our ships are better than hers. Tactics are generally derived from a combination of cultural influence, personal experience, and available materiel, and the one dev fiction blog we've gotten about J'Ula set in the game's present ends with the implication that hidden members of her not-so-extinct House are going to aid her and bring her up to speed on the 25th century. New tech would alter her tactics, but not invalidate our prior "experience" with her.
Either that or she's being lied to and led into a trap and will be taken down off-screen . . .
It would be great to get another rerun event! I havn't played long and would like to get access to many of those special rewards and experiences!. Temporal, TOS, VIL or even Delta! All of them would be super or letting us pick and choose.
You would get the log ins you want and we'd spend more, a win win!.
Just one additional Question. Is Gold Pressed Latinum EVER going to be relevant?
Every currency EXCEPT GPL can be used to enhance your gaming experience. Why is this the only exception and will that ever change?
GPL can be used at the Ferengi trader on DS9 to purchase commodities including contraband (which converts to dilithium that can be used or sold for zen) and jenovite which converts to hardpoints that can be sold for substantial EC. I find all of these substances "enhance my gaming experience".
I found the Ferengi you speak of but, you just proved my point. GPL must be changed into something else BEFORE it can be used in game. You must change it into a different currency, going through several steps to do so, to make GPL of any use in game. No other currency requires you to change it into something else before it can be used to enhance your gaming experience.
One other question. With regards to Tier 6 ships becoming leveling ships, will the consoles still work at Level 4? Because I had a dream (possibly an hallucination) about using the Pilot Escorts at level 4 with the 3 console set bonuses going gangbusters and it was Nucking Futs!
One other question. With regards to Tier 6 ships becoming leveling ships, will the consoles still work at Level 4? Because I had a dream (possibly an hallucination) about using the Pilot Escorts at level 4 with the 3 console set bonuses going gangbusters and it was Nucking Futs!
Yeah I think so. I didn't pay much attention to them when using the DSC BoP or Gagarin for leveling but I think you can use the consoles right out of the gate.
Bipedal mammal and senior Foundry author.
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!
One other question. With regards to Tier 6 ships becoming leveling ships, will the consoles still work at Level 4? Because I had a dream (possibly an hallucination) about using the Pilot Escorts at level 4 with the 3 console set bonuses going gangbusters and it was Nucking Futs!
The consoles should still work as far as the ship being low level. Remember though, because it's going to be scaling, this means that they will lock off console slots to be used at higher levels, as well as lower hull. Let's use the shran as a base for this, since it's a DSC ship with pilot maneuvers, while using the Mercury as an example:
April: First Contact Day... cool, I get another engineer the little rocket.
May: Huh...
June: Huh.
July: Sweet, I can get the Risian Corvette!!
Yeah - this would be my response:
April: First Contact day - okay, a little harmless fun. And oh look, another new DSC ship that I don't care about.
May: Yay. Levelling Starships. Except that the Starship I love the most is excluded. In that case, meh.
June: Meh.
July: Summer event - okay, don't particuarly care about the Corvette but at least enjoy the summer event.
I dunno. For those that don't want to spend zen on ships. June seems like a rather interesting event. Operation: Riposte would at least be hopefully something new.
Still curious about the major update. I would think there would be more to it than just leveling ships.
It's part of the reason I just skip through text these days, it makes zero sense for my Romulans so why bother reading it anyway. I get that it's far easier for Cryptic to write just one section of mission text than write one for 3-4 factions worth but it still irks me
Another point from the STO Foundry: it doesn't take much to be more inclusive. What Cryptic does now (primarily to include other faction perspectives) is use hidden branching paths when absolutely necessary (ie. when the plot references their faction role.) Ex. one button that leads to different dialog (ex. Neelix welcoming the player, Killy referencing history with a DSC player.) This involves more writing and the cost can be calculated not just by the extra dev time but the lines of extra VO. The natural pressure is to use this technique sparingly (thus leaving most of the mission to proceed through the eyes of an archetypal Trek captain, most embodying the FED ethos because...well, that's Star Trek. All roads eventually lead to Rome.)
But that's assuming players want more "inclusive" (=faction stereotype). In the missions that do it, I don't find it particularly appealing to show up with my custom alien main, flying a purple Annorax, wearing bright yellow talaxian clothes, armed with an iconian magic staff and leading an away team made up of races from all over the galaxy dressed and equipped similarly diversely, only to have some wiseguy ask what's a romulan doing here.
Being written as an Alliance officer is more actually inclusive.
But that's assuming players want more "inclusive" (=faction stereotype). In the missions that do it, I don't find it particularly appealing to show up with my custom alien main, flying a purple Annorax, wearing bright yellow talaxian clothes, armed with an iconian magic staff and leading an away team made up of races from all over the galaxy dressed and equipped similarly diversely, only to have some wiseguy ask what's a romulan doing here.
Being written as an Alliance officer is more actually inclusive.
Agreed.
I wish I could've quoted you directly, @warpangel, but alas... I can't seem to find your post.
While I can agree with you on some level, because creating an alien character in the Romulan Republic faction is not something I can see myself doing, there's something else that can be done - and has in fact been done, though only once as far as my memory serve - and it's to keep the dialogue as generic as possible until (or unless) the player choose a specific answer.
The episode I'm referring to is Surface Tension, when you get to the point where you need to beam down to Earth Spacedock to help repel the Undine that have invaded the station. Playing as a Romulan - and I imagine is the same for a Klingon character, though I haven't played it in so long as a KFD toon that I can't say for sure - you get an option of asking something like "you want me there even if I'm a Romulan?", receiving an answer that goes on the lines of "you're a member of the alliance and we welcome your help", (I'm paraphrasing because I do not remember the exact dialogue lines).
This is all optional, and you can chose to completely ignore that particular line, but the fact that it's there can make all the difference.
So yeah, if we're talking about things being actually inclusive, then I'm afraid until every mission in every arch is made like that, nothing will ever be actually inclusive.
Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
But that's assuming players want more "inclusive" (=faction stereotype). In the missions that do it, I don't find it particularly appealing to show up with my custom alien main, flying a purple Annorax, wearing bright yellow talaxian clothes, armed with an iconian magic staff and leading an away team made up of races from all over the galaxy dressed and equipped similarly diversely, only to have some wiseguy ask what's a romulan doing here.
Being written as an Alliance officer is more actually inclusive.
Agreed.
I wish I could've quoted you directly, @warpangel, but alas... I can't seem to find your post.
While I can agree with you on some level, because creating an alien character in the Romulan Republic faction is not something I can see myself doing, there's something else that can be done - and has in fact been done, though only once as far as my memory serve - and it's to keep the dialogue as generic as possible until (or unless) the player choose a specific answer.
The episode I'm referring to is Surface Tension, when you get to the point where you need to beam down to Earth Spacedock to help repel the Undine that have invaded the station. Playing as a Romulan - and I imagine is the same for a Klingon character, though I haven't played it in so long as a KFD toon that I can't say for sure - you get an option of asking something like "you want me there even if I'm a Romulan?", receiving an answer that goes on the lines of "you're a member of the alliance and we welcome your help", (I'm paraphrasing because I do not remember the exact dialogue lines).
This is all optional, and you can chose to completely ignore that particular line, but the fact that it's there can make all the difference.
So yeah, if we're talking about things being actually inclusive, then I'm afraid until every mission in every arch is made like that, nothing will ever be actually inclusive.
The "alien" option is probably the best part about STO character generation since it allows such a wide array of characters to be made. I play Romulan faction mostly and so far have two made with 'alien' out of the bunch of Romulans, one is a Romulan/Orion hybrid I used to play in the old FASA Star Trek game back in the days of paper-and-dice rpgs, and the other is a custom "client race" of the RSE. I have more 'alien' characters in Starfleet than human ones (I think I only have one human in fact, the rest are obscure Trek races like a Vaalian, an Elasian, and a few others along with a custom race or two ), and made a TOS style 'augment virus' Klingon along with another custom race in my otherwise strictly Orion KDF characters.
The only reason I do not play Dominion faction (I have a Gamma recruit that I just cannot stand to use in any ground scenario though the ship makes a fun R&D package farmer) is that they only have Jem'Hadar and I just cannot get any roleplay connection with them at all (and the game is a pointless grind without that connection). They seriously need an 'alien' racial type there but I can see why they did not include one, few (if any) would play the horneytoads if they did, and the dialog problems would be a lot worse than it is for the other factions if the Dom tutorial, with its assumption that the character is one of the warty Ketracel slurping bioconstructs, is anything to go by.
The only reason I do not play Dominion faction (I have a Gamma recruit that I just cannot stand to use in any ground scenario though the ship makes a fun R&D package farmer) is that they only have Jem'Hadar and I just cannot get any roleplay connection with them at all (and the game is a pointless grind without that connection).
And I can't get any connection with playing an alien Rom, but even if I was I would play it as part of the Republic, so having at least a dialogue option like the one I described - like the the one that's already in game - would work really well. Mostly because it would give you the option withouth being intrusive. Basically, because it gives you the choice of going down that road or not.
They seriously need an 'alien' racial type there but I can see why they did not include one, few (if any) would play the horneytoads if they did, and the dialog problems would be a lot worse than it is for the other factions if the Dom tutorial, with its assumption that the character is one of the warty Ketracel slurping bioconstructs, is anything to go by.
We'll just have to agree to disagree. I do not particularly enjoy my Jem'Hadar, either, but it's got way more to do with "why should a Jem'Hadar choose to allie himself with the UFP/KDF?" - though story-wise they didn't play it too bad, at least - than with the race of the character itself.
I will agree on the fact the tutorial would play awefully for any non Jem'Hadar character, if they ever decided to introduce another race in the faction, unless properly changed to account for it.
Not agreeing with someone doesn't give you the right to be an TRIBBLE.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
0
rattler2Member, Star Trek Online ModeratorPosts: 58,543Community Moderator
The issue with the Dominion is that it is well documented that the ONLY species that actually does the fighting is the Jem'Hadar. There is no other Dominion soldier. Vorta are supervisor/strategist personnel, and Changelings are at the top. The story just wouldn't make sense.
The issue with the Dominion is that it is well documented that the ONLY species that actually does the fighting is the Jem'Hadar. There is no other Dominion soldier. Vorta are supervisor/strategist personnel, and Changelings are at the top. The story just wouldn't make sense.
Except that DS9 makes it crystal clear that the Dominion does not operate at all like Starfleet or a regular military does (though they try to give that appearance to throw everyone else off). They mainly work by subterfuge and misdirection via agents, and those agents are almost always Vorta, though a few are Changelings in situations where a Vorta could not infiltrate).
The Jem'Hadar are clearly nothing but meat droids, the only way Paramount could have made that more blatant would have been by having them answer "Roger Roger!" when given orders. They are the Dominion equivalent of low-level redshirts at best, not captain material at all (the Vorta fill that role even though they pretend not to). In fact, one Dominion official said something like "go ahead and kill them, we will just make more" or words to that effect in a totally unfazed way, which shows the utter lack of regard the Dominion had for the Jem'Hadar.
The only time the Dominion has the upper hand is when they have some critical technical advantage arraigned by those agents (like getting the information to allow their weapons go right though Federation and Klingon shields) or cause confusion in their enemy's command structure so they make blunders and waste effort, or when they have a considerable advantage in numbers and throw an avalanche of Jem'Hadar at them the exact same way the CIS used battle droids in Star Wars.
What does not make sense is those totally expendable grunts who only live for a few years (there was a humorous scene where the "old veteran" Jem'Hadar of the unit assigned to a mission with some of the DS9 people bragged about making it to five years old, then asked Dax how old she was and gaped when she said she stopped counting when she hit 200) and only get a basic skill set programmed into them in leu of experience suddenly being promoted to officers and not making ignorant mistakes because of that total lack of real life experience. It is like a cyberpunk plugging in a skill chip, they might know how to do something from virtual rote, but they often have no idea how to put it to use in a more generalized way.
The issue with the Dominion is that it is well documented that the ONLY species that actually does the fighting is the Jem'Hadar. There is no other Dominion soldier. Vorta are supervisor/strategist personnel, and Changelings are at the top. The story just wouldn't make sense.
Absolutely, the Vorta and the Changelings are basically the Fleet Admirals of the Dominion
Comments
Another point from the STO Foundry: it doesn't take much to be more inclusive. What Cryptic does now (primarily to include other faction perspectives) is use hidden branching paths when absolutely necessary (ie. when the plot references their faction role.) Ex. one button that leads to different dialog (ex. Neelix welcoming the player, Killy referencing history with a DSC player.) This involves more writing and the cost can be calculated not just by the extra dev time but the lines of extra VO. The natural pressure is to use this technique sparingly (thus leaving most of the mission to proceed through the eyes of an archetypal Trek captain, most embodying the FED ethos because...well, that's Star Trek. All roads eventually lead to Rome.)
But, they could do a lot by adding more visible dialog options (something occasionally tried but not all that frequently, or at least all that as a consistent strategy IMO) that don't branch the conversation but gives the player a considered way of moderating their reactions through a conversation (when there are points to react differently to.) These can include a faction specific "well I'll help you but for the following reasons" (see. KDF working with Killy, helping cover the rational for that entire scenario) but also faction agnostic options which the player can opt for to avoid a response that the player feels isn't natural to their captain (key point in writing RPG's and KDF/ROM/JEM personalities are known quantities in that effort.) Ex. options which express more or less suspicion/enthusiasm/outrage/anger/curiosity/humor/loss at moments when the story is pushing those buttons (let players consciously react, it helps reinforce those plot points.)
Basically it's a cheap way of empowering and placating the player. Including them at all times can be overwhelming but it's easy enough to recognize moments that benefit from accommodating for player personality and reactions (to a greater degree, versus hand-waving that your character is a plot-pursuing robot. Subvert the idea!) That still leaves the major plot to be basically inclusive but having more dialog options (IMO) would buffer the disconnect to a greater degree than at present when problems arise.
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'm all for more diversity in Starship interiors
Also, my favourite ship just has to be the legendary U.S.S. Star Trek, with the runner up being the the Galaxy-Class starship, U.S.S. Star Trek: The Next Generation
There's discussions about improving the GPL experience.
On the other hand, I didn't know about the contraband on DS9.
Thank you. Couldn't have say it better myself!
Not even gonna take his "B" point into account, seeing as they made it pretty much useless going with anything else but Fed or Fed-aligned character.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
Mirror was left hanging with the contrived excuse of "oops it appeared she escaped in the chaos maybe we should have kept her locked up like anyone with half a brain would have done" thus allowing tilly/killy to potentially become the new sela turning up whenever they want a known voice to do an episode.
The next episode or two being a new "season" either means they're going to try and make julie actually relevant in the timeline with an AoD2.0 or ignore that entirely and do something different which will leave another thread hanging once they don't give it a decent conclusion.
With the B'vat connection to J'ula's arc I think it's likely that the revamped KDF war missions will cover the exploits of J'ula, at least in part. For example: instead of B'vat traveling back in time to give himself a leg up have it be J'ula, trying to kill B'vat and pre-emptively stop the fall of her assumed house. Player foils plan, but ends up in a situation where J'ula is back in generally the right time period (post-war, TOS. Cryptic wants that Nemoy VO.) Daniels does some hand waving and she's released (sans any memories of the future) or she finds a point of reconciliation and is let go with a pinky promise that she won't cause trouble.
Ergo, STO's "new" episodes focus on the MU arc (it's separate and can tide us over with a 1-2 episode release schedule that can play very directly off of DSC season 1 content) while Cryptic simultaneously works on the FED's mission revamp for later release, which can also make use of KDF details from DSC season 2.
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!
To expect KDF players to be coming to the aid of the feds in order to sort out internal struggles wouldn't go down well with either players or trek in general.
Like I posted above there's ways of helping with that RE. more dialog choices which let players react in ways which aren't entirely archetypal to the neutral Trek captain (ex. in ways that would fit ROM/DOM/KDF and non-standard FED.) You don't have to go so far as to write the story entirely from the perspective of the other faction to be inclusive to them, so long as you provide options for players to effectively RP their character and rational they can appreciate for continuing the plot. Ie. fight the disconnect at key moments which might otherwise bounce a player out their character or role in a mission, it's a very economical compromise (helps a lot with the feel of a mission) which you can find working demonstrations for in the Foundry. This also extends to FED characters who might be approaching a situation with more suspicion, hostility, personality, or knowledge (see. player criticism of the Mirror of Discovery missions and initially taking Killy at her word.)
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!
l don't know.
l really don't know what l'm about to say, except l have a feeling about it.
That l must repeat the words that come without my knowledge.'
YOU
ARE
SO
COOL. o.o
To be fair, the AoD simulations were specifically set up for us to study J'Ula's tactics ("how she thinks and fights"), not to prove that our ships are better than hers. Tactics are generally derived from a combination of cultural influence, personal experience, and available materiel, and the one dev fiction blog we've gotten about J'Ula set in the game's present ends with the implication that hidden members of her not-so-extinct House are going to aid her and bring her up to speed on the 25th century. New tech would alter her tactics, but not invalidate our prior "experience" with her.
Either that or she's being lied to and led into a trap and will be taken down off-screen . . .
You would get the log ins you want and we'd spend more, a win win!.
I found the Ferengi you speak of but, you just proved my point. GPL must be changed into something else BEFORE it can be used in game. You must change it into a different currency, going through several steps to do so, to make GPL of any use in game. No other currency requires you to change it into something else before it can be used to enhance your gaming experience.
April: First Contact Day... cool, I get another engineer the little rocket.
May: Huh...
June: Huh.
July: Sweet, I can get the Risian Corvette!!
Somebody got a Risa out of that Corvette.
Yeah I think so. I didn't pay much attention to them when using the DSC BoP or Gagarin for leveling but I think you can use the consoles right out of the gate.
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!
The consoles should still work as far as the ship being low level. Remember though, because it's going to be scaling, this means that they will lock off console slots to be used at higher levels, as well as lower hull. Let's use the shran as a base for this, since it's a DSC ship with pilot maneuvers, while using the Mercury as an example:
- Level 1: 9,700 Hull, 2 Forward, 1 Aft, 3 tactical, 1 engineering, 1 science
- Level 10: 14,550 Hull, 3 Forward, 1 Aft, 3 tactical, 2 engineering, 2 science
So at the lowest levels, you will need to keep the limited console slots in mind when slotting the 3 piece.
I dunno. For those that don't want to spend zen on ships. June seems like a rather interesting event. Operation: Riposte would at least be hopefully something new.
Still curious about the major update. I would think there would be more to it than just leveling ships.
Kinda neutral on T6 corvette though.
Being written as an Alliance officer is more actually inclusive.
I wish I could've quoted you directly, @warpangel, but alas... I can't seem to find your post.
While I can agree with you on some level, because creating an alien character in the Romulan Republic faction is not something I can see myself doing, there's something else that can be done - and has in fact been done, though only once as far as my memory serve - and it's to keep the dialogue as generic as possible until (or unless) the player choose a specific answer.
The episode I'm referring to is Surface Tension, when you get to the point where you need to beam down to Earth Spacedock to help repel the Undine that have invaded the station. Playing as a Romulan - and I imagine is the same for a Klingon character, though I haven't played it in so long as a KFD toon that I can't say for sure - you get an option of asking something like "you want me there even if I'm a Romulan?", receiving an answer that goes on the lines of "you're a member of the alliance and we welcome your help", (I'm paraphrasing because I do not remember the exact dialogue lines).
This is all optional, and you can chose to completely ignore that particular line, but the fact that it's there can make all the difference.
So yeah, if we're talking about things being actually inclusive, then I'm afraid until every mission in every arch is made like that, nothing will ever be actually inclusive.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
The "alien" option is probably the best part about STO character generation since it allows such a wide array of characters to be made. I play Romulan faction mostly and so far have two made with 'alien' out of the bunch of Romulans, one is a Romulan/Orion hybrid I used to play in the old FASA Star Trek game back in the days of paper-and-dice rpgs, and the other is a custom "client race" of the RSE. I have more 'alien' characters in Starfleet than human ones (I think I only have one human in fact, the rest are obscure Trek races like a Vaalian, an Elasian, and a few others along with a custom race or two ), and made a TOS style 'augment virus' Klingon along with another custom race in my otherwise strictly Orion KDF characters.
The only reason I do not play Dominion faction (I have a Gamma recruit that I just cannot stand to use in any ground scenario though the ship makes a fun R&D package farmer) is that they only have Jem'Hadar and I just cannot get any roleplay connection with them at all (and the game is a pointless grind without that connection). They seriously need an 'alien' racial type there but I can see why they did not include one, few (if any) would play the horneytoads if they did, and the dialog problems would be a lot worse than it is for the other factions if the Dom tutorial, with its assumption that the character is one of the warty Ketracel slurping bioconstructs, is anything to go by.
And I can't get any connection with playing an alien Rom, but even if I was I would play it as part of the Republic, so having at least a dialogue option like the one I described - like the the one that's already in game - would work really well. Mostly because it would give you the option withouth being intrusive. Basically, because it gives you the choice of going down that road or not.
We'll just have to agree to disagree. I do not particularly enjoy my Jem'Hadar, either, but it's got way more to do with "why should a Jem'Hadar choose to allie himself with the UFP/KDF?" - though story-wise they didn't play it too bad, at least - than with the race of the character itself.
I will agree on the fact the tutorial would play awefully for any non Jem'Hadar character, if they ever decided to introduce another race in the faction, unless properly changed to account for it.
Ci sono tre tipi di giocatori:
- quelli a cui non va mai bene niente... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che sono talmente imbesuiti da credere a qualunque cosa i dev dicano, perfino che la luna è fatta di formaggio... e vanno sul forum a trollare;
- quelli che credono a quello a cui è giusto credere, sono d'accordo con quello con cui è giusto essere d'accordo e sono critici con quello che non va;
Ai giocatori dei primi due tipi, gratis in omaggio un bello specchio lucente su cui arrampicarsi. E una mazzata in testa per la loro poca intelligenza e compassione verso gli altri giocatori che non la pensano come loro.
Agli appartenenti al terzo tipo, invece, dico grazie. Anche se non sempre si riesce a mantenere la calma, siete quelli per cui vale la pena incazzarsi.
Except that DS9 makes it crystal clear that the Dominion does not operate at all like Starfleet or a regular military does (though they try to give that appearance to throw everyone else off). They mainly work by subterfuge and misdirection via agents, and those agents are almost always Vorta, though a few are Changelings in situations where a Vorta could not infiltrate).
The Jem'Hadar are clearly nothing but meat droids, the only way Paramount could have made that more blatant would have been by having them answer "Roger Roger!" when given orders. They are the Dominion equivalent of low-level redshirts at best, not captain material at all (the Vorta fill that role even though they pretend not to). In fact, one Dominion official said something like "go ahead and kill them, we will just make more" or words to that effect in a totally unfazed way, which shows the utter lack of regard the Dominion had for the Jem'Hadar.
The only time the Dominion has the upper hand is when they have some critical technical advantage arraigned by those agents (like getting the information to allow their weapons go right though Federation and Klingon shields) or cause confusion in their enemy's command structure so they make blunders and waste effort, or when they have a considerable advantage in numbers and throw an avalanche of Jem'Hadar at them the exact same way the CIS used battle droids in Star Wars.
What does not make sense is those totally expendable grunts who only live for a few years (there was a humorous scene where the "old veteran" Jem'Hadar of the unit assigned to a mission with some of the DS9 people bragged about making it to five years old, then asked Dax how old she was and gaped when she said she stopped counting when she hit 200) and only get a basic skill set programmed into them in leu of experience suddenly being promoted to officers and not making ignorant mistakes because of that total lack of real life experience. It is like a cyberpunk plugging in a skill chip, they might know how to do something from virtual rote, but they often have no idea how to put it to use in a more generalized way.