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Please revamp the rank structures

shanis281shanis281 Member Posts: 9 Arc User
I've been playing since beta, have been a life subscriber for several years, and have sunk more cash into the zen store than I care to admit. I love this game, I keep coming back to it even with all the other games out there I could be playing, and even with all the flaws and glitches - the writing has only improved and the featured episodes have become masterworks. Keep it up and I'll keep playing and spending!

But, something has bugged me for years, ever since players were allowed to ascend the admiralty ranks. It's jarring to be, and see, all of these Fleet Admirals and Generals running around. This is a game where we are the captains of our ships and the heroes of our story. Let's put the leveling rank structure back where it belongs - with the highest rank being captain or perhaps commodore (brigadier for Klingons). Nothing would change except titles, but it would help with the immersion and role playing.

Those that want to role play flag rank will still be commodores/brigadiers/commanders (romulans have a bit of a flat structure...), but stretch out the titles over the leveling experience and cap us as a rank that still holds starship command (Star Trek III and IV are my references in canon), and the cmdre/brig/cmdr top level can still use the admiralty system. It works, without being so top heavy.

Let the NPCs who sit at Starbases and feed us missions be the flag officers and senior ranks.

Consider it! It's a small change, and if done right it will break nothing.
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • snowwolf#0563 snowwolf Member Posts: 1,018 Arc User
    edited February 2021
    So just because you spent a ton of cash in the ZEN store? We gotta change the ranks and titles in the game to suit your roleplaying experience? Not going to happen..

    What if I like roleplaying as a Fleet Admiral then? I have also spent a ton of cash in the ZEN store!

    However, what I would be open for is the game having NPC's refer to you as the title you have selected instead of rank.

    So if you have the title set to Chief Engineer.. They will refer to you as Chief Engineer Nibbles.

    If you have the title set to Commander.. They will refer to you as Commander Nibbles.

    Or if you use the title Torpedo Target.. They will refer to you as Torpedo Target Nibbles.

    And so on.. You get the idea.

    That would be a way better solution, though it sounds a bit stupid with some of the titles. But then again, it would be up to the player entirely.
  • shanis281shanis281 Member Posts: 9 Arc User
    So just because you spent a ton of cash in the ZEN store? We gotta change the ranks and titles in the game to suit your roleplaying experience? Not going to happen..

    What if I like roleplaying as a Fleet Admiral then? I have also spent a ton of cash in the ZEN store!

    However, what I would be open for is the game having NPC's refer to you as the title you have selected instead of rank.

    So if you have the title set to Chief Engineer.. They will refer to you as Chief Engineer Nibbles.

    If you have the title set to Commander.. They will refer to you as Commander Nibbles.

    Or if you use the title Torpedo Target.. They will refer to you as Torpedo Target Nibbles.

    And so on.. You get the idea.

    That would be a way better solution, though it sounds a bit stupid with some of the titles. But then again, it would be up to the player entirely.


    I didn't intend to sound entitled based on how much I spent, only that I've been a loyal player. :smile:

    I would certainly be good with your proposed change - makes sense and perhaps easier to implement.
  • snowwolf#0563 snowwolf Member Posts: 1,018 Arc User
    shanis281 wrote: »
    I didn't intend to sound entitled based on how much I spent, only that I've been a loyal player. :smile:

    I would certainly be good with your proposed change - makes sense and perhaps easier to implement.

    No worries! ^^

    But I get what you mean, as someone who is fond of roleplaying themselves and creating characters. I can understand why the forced rank is a bit tiresome. That's why the title system would work better, because it would not limit you to Captain.

    But you could be called Doctor.. Ambassador.. Chief Engineer.. Spy.. There's a lot of title options in this game! So having NPC's refer to you as the title instead of rank would be superb.

    You can see all the titles here:
    https://sto.gamepedia.com/Player_title

  • shanis281shanis281 Member Posts: 9 Arc User
    shanis281 wrote: »
    I didn't intend to sound entitled based on how much I spent, only that I've been a loyal player. :smile:

    I would certainly be good with your proposed change - makes sense and perhaps easier to implement.

    No worries! ^^

    But I get what you mean, as someone who is fond of roleplaying themselves and creating characters. I can understand why the forced rank is a bit tiresome. That's why the title system would work better, because it would not limit you to Captain.

    But you could be called Doctor.. Ambassador.. Chief Engineer.. Spy.. There's a lot of title options in this game! So having NPC's refer to you as the title instead of rank would be superb.

    You can see all the titles here:
    https://sto.gamepedia.com/Player_title

    I don't think I've ever read through ALL the titles in the game, that's an impressive list. I hope Cryptic can find some time in the dev cycle to implement this change, it would be a welcome one, and make earning titles much more impactful.
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    It has always been this way. This was a complaint at launch and they have never done anything but made it worse by giving us more admiral ranks.

    Of course we now have an admiralty system so we do get to do plenty of paperwork as an admiral should.
  • fallenkezef#4581 fallenkezef Member Posts: 644 Arc User
    Just play KDF.

    Dahar Master is a title not a rank to denote all that you have achieved as a noble, glorious warrior. You can be a mere ship's captain or a fleet admiral.
  • fallenkezef#4581 fallenkezef Member Posts: 644 Arc User
    shanis281 wrote: »
    I didn't intend to sound entitled based on how much I spent, only that I've been a loyal player. :smile:

    I would certainly be good with your proposed change - makes sense and perhaps easier to implement.

    No worries! ^^

    But I get what you mean, as someone who is fond of roleplaying themselves and creating characters. I can understand why the forced rank is a bit tiresome. That's why the title system would work better, because it would not limit you to Captain.

    But you could be called Doctor.. Ambassador.. Chief Engineer.. Spy.. There's a lot of title options in this game! So having NPC's refer to you as the title instead of rank would be superb.

    You can see all the titles here:
    https://sto.gamepedia.com/Player_title

    Well that's new. Only just noticed they changed the cross faction symbol to that of the Alliance.
  • nikephorusnikephorus Member Posts: 2,744 Arc User
    shanis281 wrote: »
    I've been playing since beta, have been a life subscriber for several years, and have sunk more cash into the zen store than I care to admit. I love this game, I keep coming back to it even with all the other games out there I could be playing, and even with all the flaws and glitches - the writing has only improved and the featured episodes have become masterworks. Keep it up and I'll keep playing and spending!

    But, something has bugged me for years, ever since players were allowed to ascend the admiralty ranks. It's jarring to be, and see, all of these Fleet Admirals and Generals running around. This is a game where we are the captains of our ships and the heroes of our story. Let's put the leveling rank structure back where it belongs - with the highest rank being captain or perhaps commodore (brigadier for Klingons). Nothing would change except titles, but it would help with the immersion and role playing.

    Those that want to role play flag rank will still be commodores/brigadiers/commanders (romulans have a bit of a flat structure...), but stretch out the titles over the leveling experience and cap us as a rank that still holds starship command (Star Trek III and IV are my references in canon), and the cmdre/brig/cmdr top level can still use the admiralty system. It works, without being so top heavy.

    Let the NPCs who sit at Starbases and feed us missions be the flag officers and senior ranks.

    Consider it! It's a small change, and if done right it will break nothing.

    When I was doing the Delta arc storyline with my new recruit I remember doing the Reunion mission. I think I was a Brigadier General or maybe Major General at the time. I remember Neelix telling me to talk to a foreman and figure out why some dude on his little space station didn't come to his scheduled shift or something like that. I looked up at my characters rank and thought to myself; "Yeah a General is gonna be running around asking questions about why some low level maintenance dude didn't show up to work...that makes sense." I think it's probably too late to adjust the rank structure now, but they should have stopped at Captain.
    Tza0PEl.png
  • sheldonlcoopersheldonlcooper Member Posts: 4,042 Arc User
    I'm also a proponent of Captain being the top rank. I find the decision to go beyond that simply bizarre. You can be captain level 50 or captain level 65 or 100. Still captain. But they're not going to do anything to change it, so just play pretend.
    Captain Jean-Luc Picard: "We think we've come so far. Torture of heretics, burning of witches, it's all ancient history. Then - before you can blink an eye - suddenly it threatens to start all over again."

    "With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censured, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably."

  • psychickittypsychickitty Member Posts: 165 Arc User
    You know i think originally the rank was for your account and not your character. But as things changed, such as no longer having everyone's stats easily looked up on the website, that was no longer how things worked.

    I think that could be looked at and even re-introduced. But that purely is up to the people who run this game and work on it and how much time they have and whether its worth the time to work on.

    Its a very quality of life request, so might not get worked on super fast, but still a good thing to bring up.

    Power without Perception is Spiritually useless and therefore of no true value.

    =^_^=


  • evilspokevilspok Member Posts: 51 Arc User
    Couldn't agree more.
    Fortunately you can use the "Captain" title and captain's pips and uniform which helps.
  • cbrjwrrcbrjwrr Member Posts: 2,782 Arc User

    They will refer to you as Torpedo Target Nibbles.

    This genuinely made me laugh.

    In all seriousness though, being able to set the title of address at the character choice level (defaulting to rank when no title is set) would be a really nice quality of life thing.
  • strathkinstrathkin Member Posts: 2,666 Bug Hunter
    edited February 2021
    I'm also a proponent of Captain being the top rank. I find the decision to go beyond that simply bizarre. You can be captain level 50 or captain level 65 or 100. Still captain. But they're not going to do anything to change it, so just play pretend.

    Yea I admit I was shocked when it happened, yet understood why the vast majority of players, wanted to aspire into Admiralty Ranks... ...in fact most still do.

    In fact I wouldn't want to see that taken away either, since in effect technically we are Fleet Admiral's, given the Fleets we command within our Admiralty.
    0zxlclk.png
  • angrytargangrytarg Member Posts: 11,001 Arc User
    NPC adress you with title instead of rank would be the easiest solution, but that won't happen as someone had to manually change every dialogue box in the game - I think that was the dev response to that many years ago.

    The rank structure itself is also supposed to be fix. They could at least throw out RALH/RAUH and replace it with Commodore/Rear Admiral (which would be canon, and not US Navy). But oh well. This ship has sailed (ha!)​​
    lFC4bt2.gif
    ^ Memory Alpha.org is not canon. It's a open wiki with arbitrary rules. Only what can be cited from an episode is. ^
    "No. Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects... and claw at you." -Worf, son of Mogh
    "A filthy, mangy beast, but in its bony breast beat the heart of a warrior" - "faithful" (...) "but ever-ready to follow the call of the wild." - Martok, about a Targ
    "That pig smelled horrid. A sweet-sour, extremely pungent odor. I showered and showered, and it took me a week to get rid of it!" - Robert Justman, appreciating Emmy-Lou
  • tmassxtmassx Member Posts: 826 Arc User
    It used to bother me, but now I don't care. My character is a captain and done.
  • leemwatsonleemwatson Member Posts: 5,331 Arc User
    shanis281 wrote: »
    I've been playing since beta, have been a life subscriber for several years, and have sunk more cash into the zen store than I care to admit. I love this game, I keep coming back to it even with all the other games out there I could be playing, and even with all the flaws and glitches - the writing has only improved and the featured episodes have become masterworks. Keep it up and I'll keep playing and spending!

    But, something has bugged me for years, ever since players were allowed to ascend the admiralty ranks. It's jarring to be, and see, all of these Fleet Admirals and Generals running around. This is a game where we are the captains of our ships and the heroes of our story. Let's put the leveling rank structure back where it belongs - with the highest rank being captain or perhaps commodore (brigadier for Klingons). Nothing would change except titles, but it would help with the immersion and role playing.

    Those that want to role play flag rank will still be commodores/brigadiers/commanders (romulans have a bit of a flat structure...), but stretch out the titles over the leveling experience and cap us as a rank that still holds starship command (Star Trek III and IV are my references in canon), and the cmdre/brig/cmdr top level can still use the admiralty system. It works, without being so top heavy.

    Let the NPCs who sit at Starbases and feed us missions be the flag officers and senior ranks.

    Consider it! It's a small change, and if done right it will break nothing.

    Sorry, but nah. You are in fact an Admiral, and you do send out other ships to do your bidding. That's what Admirals are for, and yes, even Admirals do go out into the field in their own ships. With regard to all other players being Admirals.....it matters not to the storyline.
    "You don't want to patrol!? You don't want to escort!? You don't want to defend the Federation's Starbases!? Then why are you flying my Starships!? If you were a Klingon you'd be killed on the spot, but lucky for you.....you WERE in Starfleet. Let's see how New Zealand Penal Colony suits you." Adm A. Necheyev.
This discussion has been closed.