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Dominion Science Vessel
haamre00
Member Posts: 17 Arc User
Dear Cryptic,
it's been 3 years already since the debut of the Gamma expansion. While there were many cross-faction ship packs added in the meantime, the science-oriented Jem'hadar couldn't really embrace their space-wizardry unless moving their command over to any of the allied ship designs.
I'm curious, if there are currently any designs in development, that would bring into the world of STO a Jem'hadar/Dominion-flavoured, pure scientific ship? If not, would there be any chance of redefining any of the existing designs, as to receive the benefits of a secondary deflector and not to overextend the dev team's limited resources...?
Is there any hope for us, the loyal servants of the Founders, in that regard - or should we give up on hope, because - to put it blunt - "Jem'hadars simply don't sell"?
it's been 3 years already since the debut of the Gamma expansion. While there were many cross-faction ship packs added in the meantime, the science-oriented Jem'hadar couldn't really embrace their space-wizardry unless moving their command over to any of the allied ship designs.
I'm curious, if there are currently any designs in development, that would bring into the world of STO a Jem'hadar/Dominion-flavoured, pure scientific ship? If not, would there be any chance of redefining any of the existing designs, as to receive the benefits of a secondary deflector and not to overextend the dev team's limited resources...?
Is there any hope for us, the loyal servants of the Founders, in that regard - or should we give up on hope, because - to put it blunt - "Jem'hadars simply don't sell"?
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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This discussion has been closed.
Comments
> i am not a sci kind of player but there is a good jem'hadar sci ship. it is the jem'hadar vangaurd carrier and there is the vangaurd support carrier. the fist is a good sci ship
Not really a sci ship. Sure it had a commander sci seat, but no secondary deflector, and its mastery package is that of a carrier, not a sci ship.
This was the case for Romulan science captains when Tier 6 was introduced and they only had access to T5 Ha'nom and eventually the T5 Dyson warbirds as actual Romulan science vessels. KDF were in a similar position with the T5 Varanus and Dyson counterparts.
The J'H science officers are an artifact of the way the game is set up, going by DS9 canon they would only be able to do tactical roles because that is what they are programmed for when they are made. In DS9 it was brought out that they don't learn skills normally before being sent out (though in theory they probably could with years of school after they were decanted from the cloning chambers), it is all pre-programmed into them.
They only take three days before hitting the 'go' button on the clone factory to a fully combat ready J'H combatant.
As for scouts, in DS9 Dominion scout ships were the same bugs they used for a lot of other roles but with a recon mission profile (and presumably loadout). If the game did have Dominion science ships it would make a lot more sense to have them captained and crewed by Vorta rather than J'H (though the game does ignore the fact that there were no J'H officers at all, and that every single dominion ship captain ever shown was a Vorta).
Spoiler warnings ahead: I recall (IIRC) 2 very specific instances applying to both Jem'hadar and Klingons which would completely validate those species having Science careers: J'H researching on ways to produce ketracel to become independent, something that indirectly took place in STO's storyline, making J'H valid independent captains forced to affiliate with either major empire (KDF/Fed). The other was a scene of a Klingon elder who said Klingons used to pursue all sorts of interests until the majority started chasing glory by being a warrior at the expense of anything else.
Science is therefore not only valid in canon, but already a part of the STO's trinity career roles. The unlocking of nearly every ship to any faction makes this more important in order to fit all types of ships, as a Tac can best use weapon damage, a Sci can best amplify Epg/ctrlx/drain/shield, an Engi best tank the most damage. The game already offers career-locked premium stuff, and force-cutting any faction out "just because" makes no sense to neither profits or the player's enjoyment.
So are the 'holy trinity' of ship types. There's no such thing as Science, Engineering or Tactical vessels in actual Starfleet really. Nebula classes can do everything. Galaxy class can do everything. Akira class is not an Escort. I understand (and agree with) why they did it the way they did, but it isn't exactly reflective of Trek.
So I don't see any problem with a concept of a Jem'Hadar science vessel.
That said, the J'H who were looking into breaking their dependence on ketracel-white in STO were probably mostly elders who had the time (and opportunity) outside of the Dominion itself to actually learn skills instead of just depending on their programed ones.
In DS9 it is obvious that the Founders considered the J'H as nothing more than disposable intelligent biotech weapon systems and not people, and most of the Vorta shown had the same opinion. There is no indication that they would have allowed the J'H to learn science since it was not what they were made for (Vorta filled all of the officer positions like science, command, and (presumably) engineering).
Rocks and Shoals is the best example of that dismissive "kill all you want, we will just make more" living weapon system view of them by Vorta, Keevan treated them exactly like rogue munitions when the ketracel ran out, though that can be contrasted with the way Eris treated her troops a lot better and probably saw some of the person under the weapons platform they were designed as.
It seems likely that the Dominion would have a few science ships of some sort, but if they were ever in DS9 (which they were not) they would have undoubtedly been crewed by Vorta (and possibly include a security section of J'H to repel boarders or act as cannon fodder on away missions). The thing is, no Dominion dedicated science ships were ever shown in the source material for STO to base them on, and the devs seem to prefer having a canon example to work from when possible.
I would even like a Dominion science ship for my faux-Vorta if they ever do decide to make one, even though they seem to be a bit out of Dominion SOP. On the other hand, a mode-switching science/destroyer like the Luna class would seem reasonable for the Dominion.