As our fine friends at Reddit saw
https://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/j2y3li/new_loading_screen/
The loadscreen for the upcoming content release briefly flashed during today's livestream
Star Trek Online: House Shattered
-Includes a new mission "Partisans". We are apparently heading back to Nimbus III, planet of Galactic Peace
-New TFO "Synth Wave" defend Mars from attacks by synths
-Updated Warzone arc for the Klingon faction
-OFC the new item set mentioned in previous blogs
-The Infinity Lockbox is being updated to now include a Mirror T6 ship of unknown name/type
Comments
Also, thanks Som as usual for the info. Lots of interesting stuff there. Be nice to head back to Nimbus...
I'm not too enthusiastic about Nimbus. Just don't really care for that specific planet to be fair.
As fun as the new content might be, it'd be better if we could just move on instead of fighting battles of the past. Ancient time travelling Klingons or attacks on Mars that happened decades ago from an in-game perspective, are just not interesting enough.
We need to be able to look forward and continue STO's own timeline.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Yes, but it's heavily influenced by events from the past.
Besides, the attack on Mars did take place in the past, and now it seems we're going to have another holo-simulation. Which isn't bad per se, but I found Battle of the Binary Stars a bit... stupid. Running a historical simulation and then being surprised at what happens there (like Burgess is) as if you see it for the first time, didn't make an awful lot of sense.
One might also wonder what the point is of doing such things. I mean, it would be useful if another Synth attack - of the exact same kind - were expected, but the very reason it has already happened and you are aware of the risk, means the scenario is already outdated. And of course unlikely to repeat itself in the 'real' world.
Entertainment-wise, I prefer the missions that are created by the Devs. There's no need to recreate old battles when they have a creative team that can come up with its own unique content.
And if there were such a need, I can think of far more interesting battles to recreate. The Battle of Chin'toka, Wolf 359, the defense of Earth against a Xindi weapon...
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
They're doing this to show off some things that they'll likely be putting into the game at some point. They had to have worked on the models for the ships in order to put them into the game later as playable ships.
Sure, it's 'old' content. But it makes little sense that the Alliance would hardly use such a basically limitedless resource.
[3/25 10:41][Combat (Self)]Your Haymaker deals 26187 (10692) Physical Damage(Critical) to Orinoco.
Not to harp on this topic, but this really has been Cryptic's only 'real' choice hasn't it? They're keeping their story in step with CBS which is a good thing, but the current show (Discovery) has, up until season 3, taken place in the past. The most successful path for the game from a development perspective is to keep the game based on the current show. I actually think they have done a remarkably good job of integrating the past while keeping us in the 'present' to this point.
The good news is, if you are tired of this scenario.. with season 3 no longer being in the past this should all change very soon. With Discovery moving to the future, it opens up the story line going forward for STO. All they have to do is make sure they don't directly contradict what will happen in Season 3 and they're good. Having to go back and 'retcon' your story to adapt to changes in cannon is tough to do, and they have done an admirable job so far. Going forward though, that restriction should be going away with the possible exceptions of the Section 31 show and the Pike story.
The Dyson Spheres are not a viable option. The Gateway needed to access either one is Alliance Controlled, and most likely guarded. Not only that... its pretty much a bottleneck. There's no way a wanted ship is going to be able to enter either Sphere without attracting attention.
Alliance forces probably fortified any entry point with Tachyon Detection Grids and standing defense forces.
Nimbus is really one of the only viable locations to go to because its in the armpit of the galaxy and no major power has an actual presence there. The only other place I can think of is Drozana Station since its run by the Ferengi, and they probably wouldn't mind the extra weapons... for a price. However Drozana is also a LOT closer to Klingon territory. And I think right now the goal is to get as far away from J'mpok as possible while planning the next move.