I've seen a few threads about the planetary wildlife recently, with several people of the opinion that it would be nothing but eye candy and is therefore a low priority addition. While I agree that there are certainly important things to work on, I don't believe that wildlife has to be a purely aesthetic change. I think it can be a big game changer not only in terms of benefits but as a new gameplay mode, something different that could still fall in the category of noncombat missions. Allow me to explain what I have in mind.
A Wildlife Encyclopedia
Think of the opening narration - to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations... Well, we're exploring, and there are several new civilizations, but so far, the new life part has been pretty lacking. The planets we land on feel empty and lifeless most of the time, in spite of the trees. The obvious suggestion so far has been to add wildlife to the planets, and as far as we know this is on the table and being worked on. But, if all it's going to do is stand around and look pretty, it's no better than the trees. So what can we do with these animals to really spice up the worlds we visit?
The answer is a wildlife Encyclopedia: A method of cataloging and collecting data on the animals we discover in our travels. The mechanism would be pretty simple. The wildlife would spawn as NPCs, wandering about the area and doing what they do. A player who wished to scan them would need to get close, without drawing too much attention to themselves, and then whip out the tricorder and make a scan. Alternatively, I think it should be possible to stun the creature and do this, or even kill the wildlife if you feel so inclined (probably not gonna be big for Starfleet but definitely for the Klingons). Having scanned it once would give some simple data about it its name, a scientific/latin name, some basic measurements, etc. Subsequent scans of other individuals of the same species would lead to more details, possibly including habitat (I don't know how realistic this is for exploration cluster worlds, but I would assume there would have to be some degree of spawn control we can't be seeing reptiles in snowy blizzard worlds for example), behavioral traits (Predatorial? Aggressively territorial? Timid? A pack animal or a solitary creature?), and most importantly, potential uses. Animals on Earth are frequently used in all sorts of medicines, manufacturing goods, and so on, so why wouldn't this be the case for alien creatures as well?
Let's imagine a mission that might use this. My ship receives a distress call from a colony undergoing a plague caused by local bacteria. While the medical team on site was able to get some research done, even they eventually succumbed to the disease. However, they've been able to make their research available to you aboard your ship in the hopes that you can complete it before the entire colony perishes. Looking through the research, you see that the medical team made some progress with a substance called Kusurium. Your science officer helpfully points out that Kusurium is a byproduct of the Rigelian Boar's immune system, which happens to have a native population on this planet. (S)he suggests capturing one and taking a sample for use in synthesizing antibiotics for the colonists. Your away team beams down to the surface and searches for a boar. Find one, chase it down, stun it, beam it up, repeat until you've obtained the required amount. Go back to the ship and work in your sickbay to create a cure (think back to that mission where your ship gets infected and you have to work in K-7's sickbay, for example). Once you've got a working medicine, contact the planet below and provide them with it!
This is just one possible scenario. It could just as easily be a creature that makes pearl-like objects which are of value to the Ferengi, or an animal with an unusual ability, like natural camouflage, that merits additional study. The possibilities for storylines in this manner are basically limitless, not to mention that a moving animal would be a lot more interesting than scanning 5 stationary cocoons. Additionally, to use the above example, the Rigelian Boar wouldn't be the only animal on the surface you could also collect data on other creatures native to the planet while searching for the Boar. There could be accolades for the amount of species registered, and for the amount completely scanned. Something that I think would be more in line with the Klingon side of things is actually hunting and killing the animals, and using them for food items, or leather, or mounting/stuffing as a trophy on the wall. Hell, if we really want to get into it, I don't see why it might not be possible to capture some and use them as pets in the same manner as the Sehlat and Targ. Obviously not all animals are set up for that but it's something worth looking into.
The benefits of wildlife don't even need to be that direct. With wildlife on the ground in combat missions, they could react to the presence of a character, be it player or enemy. If you need to get to a certain point, but there are lots of patrols walking around, what better way to get to the objective with minimal combat than by following the path of the animal herd? Or, if the animal's behavior is aggressively territorial, then perhaps you could draw it near to the enemy patrol and trick it into fighting for you. I can see all sorts of innovative ways to make use of a system like this.
For the record, I would include tribbles, the Sehlat and the Targ in the wildlife database also, probably as starter entries. I'd also include space-borne creatures, such as the Crystalline Entity and the Gekli from fluidic space. The easiest places to implement this kind of thing in the beginning are probably the social planets, like Andoria, Vulcan, and Risa. Once you've got the hang of it, you can move on to collecting data in your regular missions. I'd probably do a tutorial-type mission on at least one of those worlds just as a way to introduce players to the system and how it works.
That's about all I have for now. Suggestions? Thoughts? Opinions? One last thing I'd like to say is that for most of the MMOs I've played I would never have bothered with something like this, but I really think the STO devs are open to good ideas so I'm willing to give it a shot. Hope someone gets to see it.
Comments
totally agreeing with your idea, that would feel much more like exploration and seeking new life. Additionally you could even take this "longer" inspections / missions for collecting more players at the same point.
For example, for persistent planets / systems a number in the tooltip of the system in sectorspace could indicate how many people are on the planet searching / analyzing / maybe doing some research. As you are near, you could join your fellow pals.
I would also like to see that certain races, animals with certain abilities / traits are "bound" to certain location and not randomly spread across any star cluster or other planets (as long as it is reasonable)
But ...
I fear good ideas like yours will take too long to implement or lack of the mass of players that want this feature and Cryptic will priorize any other more "moneymakers" / "big community requests" than this.
The only way to get this work will be getting more people to read and support this and maybe we get it "soon"
Regards, Stargazer
But to have the extra wildlife there for a reason is even better.
Agreed. In fact, you could have a tutorial on each of those planets, with each planet containing a different animal. The three worlds are very different, and would be home to different animals which would make them perfect for teaching the player how to stun/kill/scan animals. Vulcan could be home to a flying bird that you need to stun with a phaser; Andoria could be home to a larger carnivore that you need to kill; while Risa could be home to a small, shy creature that runs away from people, and you'd have to learn to position your Boffs to surround the animal to stop it getting away while you scan it.
This would open up a lot of avenues for tactics. You could use the disturbance of birds to gauge where enemy patrols are coming from, or you could run into a heard of scaredy-cats to cause a stampede, killing your enemies.
Another good idea. The number of plants and animals that you scanned could directly affect the medicine-relates skills of your science officers, so that their healing abilities get better as they scan (and understand) more and more lifeforms.
All in all I think it's a great idea.
Now, there certainly needs to be some form of tutorial mission and the question there would be would you give it out from say Memory Alpha itself or someplace else. I tend to think someplace else and one of the obvious candidates would be in my eyes Vulcan. Firstly because we know that there are creatures native to there that can be used as a good tutorial. Additionally this would give a reason to create something like the Vulcan Science Academy as a location.
Just my random thoughts
That's mostly just wishful thinking on my part though. But it would be cool to be able to access a library of info (such as The Path to 2409 etc) through a computer in your Ready Room or Bridge.
The post as written contained thought-out content, structure, and formatting--complete with appropriate paragraphing. This is what we call a standard, traditional "text," not a "wall of text." Again, it's not a wall of text simply because you don't want to read it all.
my only worry is it becoming a "STO-k
Dstahl said a few were completed as well (i.e. more than targs, sehlats, and saurs) - the hold-up is how to use them.
Furthering that, the way he's suggested it be implemented is just so exciting to me. The possibilities for incorporation during missions are nearly as limitless as the depths of space itself. I've watched this forum for a while and have noticed some emphasis on realism, and this just takes that up a notch.
A well done compendium can add layers of depth to a game. I feel like it's very clear that the OPs idea is to gather information in order to make exploration far more fulfilling, and I couldn't agree more. Knowledge is power! Haha.
One thought: your initial example seems like a very Star Trek version of "kill 5 rats." Not that that's a bad thing, and I think the story lines used can hide the MMO-trope mechanic, I just wanted to point that out.
I had another thought, but I forgot it. I guess it wasn't important. I still like the idea though!
It would add a whole new exploration dynamic to the often "lifeless" environments.
To be able to scan and catalog these babies into some sort of a database is a great idea. Heck, I would enjoy doing this a lot more than the memory alpha crafting in it's current state. This would actually give memory alpha even more importance and interest if it could be integrated into that facility (contacts, database, turning in scans etc).
I'm all for this.
I'm not really familiar with this feature (I've really only been observing to date), would you mind elaborating? It sounds like a good idea if done properly.
Just thinking on that, though, would it be possible that a defeated animal could drop an item, which would then be scanned like the anomalies are? I don't know how feasible that is, but if it is reasonable then that could be a good way to have another scanning minigame in conjunction with the Wildlife encyclopedia. IMO it'd need to be pretty different though, no point in recycling it.
and you should get accolades for cataloging all animals! Maybe Klingons can have various hunts...
:cool: