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Nuking Ker'rat in a Good Way
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Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Just removing content is meh. We don't want that. Better a broken map then no map. That said - Ker'rat is deeply flawed, constantly abused by gold farmers, and overall a dissatisfying solution for Open PvP.
So, a short term Open PvP solution that can replace Ker'rat. Something that should be relatively easy to create and not require inventing a new territory control system or anything. Something "small".
In a decisive strike by Klingon and Federation forces, the Borg in Ker'rat have been destroyed. What remains is a large wasteland of wrecked borg vessels, as well as Klingon and Federation ships. Lots of ships have been lost (not merely to the Borg - Klingons and Federation ships often engaged each other, as this was not a joint mission - fire at will was the order of the day on both sides...)
Now, days after the massive assault, the debris and the wrecks are still there. There are still resources out there, survivors that might have been forgotten, borg secrets waiting to be found.
The new Ker'rat is free of Borg. Mostly.
There are several "points of interest" on the map, though.
Borg Repair Hub
The original place with the hulks and nodes where the Borg is in disarray and destroyed. Countless of Borg wreckage remains, but there are also several abandonded Federation and Klingon vessels. Starfleet and KDF sends out Engineers to gather technology and data from the Borg. Also, both sides attempt to locate wrecks suitable for repairs or study. There are also rumors of rescue craft that might have found refuge among some of the borg wrecks.
Wreck of Tactical Cube
The Borg managed to restore a Tactical Cube, and the cube and some escorts made a last stand above the broken planetoid. Many Starfleet and KDF ship wrecks can be found here. There were reports of the Borg attempting to beam aboard enemy ships and starting to assimilate them - several ships had to use the self-destruct to escape assimilation.
Ferengi Shop
A crafty Ferengi businessman has now set up shop in Ker'rat. He has setup an improvised base (maybe it's just a Ferengi Marauder that is roaming around the place, maybe it's the wreck of a Borg sphere) and is using a small group of shuttles and freighters to "mine" the area on his own. He offers crafting gear and trade goods for sale to anyone bringing him useful Borg wreck. THe Ferengi is basically an NPC trader that sells crafting base items and trade goods for EC and also has a Latinum store, and offers a special mission.
All Locations
KDF and Starfleet forces are constantly flying around in the space, and are authorized and even encouraged to engage each other.
Transwarp Gate Debris
The 3rd point of interest in the new Ker'rat are the remains of a transwarp gate the Borg attempted to build (part of the reason for the Klingon and Federation attack). The destruction of the transwarp gate displaced a region of space in the Delta Quadrant with a region of space in Ker'rat, leading to the formation of a Micro-Nebula with unusual biomechanical molecules that can create rare earths. Starfleet and KDF try to take samples of these particles to learn more about their secrets via modified bussard scoops.
Of course, this is not without perils - the micro-nebula wreaks havoc with sensors, shields and cloaking devices, leaving ships inside open to attack - but also providing challenges for would-be attackers.
---
There would be "Meta" Missions for these.
Competitive Research
Mission 1, 7 and 9 form one meta mission. They all about collecting research material.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
Cleaning Up
Mission 2, 3 and 6. They are about dealing with the immediate aftermath of the conflict.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
Sabotage the Enemy's Research
Mission 4, 5 and 8. They are all about interfering with the enemy activities.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
The Resource War
This is a daily mission that combines all the other 3 repeatables. If you complete them, you complete this mission.
Reward: EC, Honor/Merits, Skill Points
PvP Badges for your tier, Marks of Honor at Rear Admiral Levels, and 6 Emblems at Vice Admiral Level
Warzone Research Endeavor
Complete Competitive Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
Warzone Rescue Effort
Complete Competitive Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
Warzone Sabotage
Complete Sabotage the Enemy's Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
The missions are designed to make it easier to have "partial successes". This should reduce the frustration factor, because some goals should always be achievable, regardless of opposition.
If you're really fast and everything works out perfectly, you can finish all dailies within 90 minutes, earning you 12 Emblems.
The main farming options - the masses of NPCs and the abuse of the scoring system - would be gone. There is a reason to be in Ker'rat with the various goals - and there are explicit goals requiring you to hinder the enemy. There are no NPCs to "manipulate" - you have to deal with the hazards provided by other players.
Challenges
One question might be - if there are ships to be saved or objects to be destroyed, how does the zone reset? Maybe an automatic map reset of the zone every 30 minutes might do the trick. None of the individual player objectives would need to be reset for it, though some "in-progress" activities might fail now (for example, if the mission resets in the middle of collecting resource material, or while your science team is gathering information.)
So, a short term Open PvP solution that can replace Ker'rat. Something that should be relatively easy to create and not require inventing a new territory control system or anything. Something "small".
In a decisive strike by Klingon and Federation forces, the Borg in Ker'rat have been destroyed. What remains is a large wasteland of wrecked borg vessels, as well as Klingon and Federation ships. Lots of ships have been lost (not merely to the Borg - Klingons and Federation ships often engaged each other, as this was not a joint mission - fire at will was the order of the day on both sides...)
Now, days after the massive assault, the debris and the wrecks are still there. There are still resources out there, survivors that might have been forgotten, borg secrets waiting to be found.
The new Ker'rat is free of Borg. Mostly.
There are several "points of interest" on the map, though.
Borg Repair Hub
The original place with the hulks and nodes where the Borg is in disarray and destroyed. Countless of Borg wreckage remains, but there are also several abandonded Federation and Klingon vessels. Starfleet and KDF sends out Engineers to gather technology and data from the Borg. Also, both sides attempt to locate wrecks suitable for repairs or study. There are also rumors of rescue craft that might have found refuge among some of the borg wrecks.
- Mission 1: Scan Borg Wrecks and Beam Science Team. Keep Science Team alive for 1 minute.
- Mission 2: Scan abandoned ships of your faction or the enemy faction and tractor them out of the area (or send an engineering team over and have them safely fly to an "extraction" point where they can warp out.)
- Mission 3: Scan for traces of possible survivors and extract them.
- Mission 4: Stop the enemy's researchers from analyzing Borg technology. Find their Engineering Teams and beam over tactical teams to engage them. (Potential for a PvP or PvE ground mission zone?)
- Mission 5: Stop the enemies from escaping with formerly abandoned ships!
Wreck of Tactical Cube
The Borg managed to restore a Tactical Cube, and the cube and some escorts made a last stand above the broken planetoid. Many Starfleet and KDF ship wrecks can be found here. There were reports of the Borg attempting to beam aboard enemy ships and starting to assimilate them - several ships had to use the self-destruct to escape assimilation.
Ferengi Shop
A crafty Ferengi businessman has now set up shop in Ker'rat. He has setup an improvised base (maybe it's just a Ferengi Marauder that is roaming around the place, maybe it's the wreck of a Borg sphere) and is using a small group of shuttles and freighters to "mine" the area on his own. He offers crafting gear and trade goods for sale to anyone bringing him useful Borg wreck. THe Ferengi is basically an NPC trader that sells crafting base items and trade goods for EC and also has a Latinum store, and offers a special mission.
- Mission 7: Scan parts of the wreckage or the planetoid to find enough "harmless" stuff to acquire a random set of (rare?) anomalies from the Ferengi.
All Locations
KDF and Starfleet forces are constantly flying around in the space, and are authorized and even encouraged to engage each other.
- Mission 8: Destroy 8 enemy player vessels.
Transwarp Gate Debris
The 3rd point of interest in the new Ker'rat are the remains of a transwarp gate the Borg attempted to build (part of the reason for the Klingon and Federation attack). The destruction of the transwarp gate displaced a region of space in the Delta Quadrant with a region of space in Ker'rat, leading to the formation of a Micro-Nebula with unusual biomechanical molecules that can create rare earths. Starfleet and KDF try to take samples of these particles to learn more about their secrets via modified bussard scoops.
Of course, this is not without perils - the micro-nebula wreaks havoc with sensors, shields and cloaking devices, leaving ships inside open to attack - but also providing challenges for would-be attackers.
- Mission 9: Spend at least 2 minutes inside the Micronebula to collect biomechanical particles.
---
There would be "Meta" Missions for these.
Competitive Research
Mission 1, 7 and 9 form one meta mission. They all about collecting research material.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
Cleaning Up
Mission 2, 3 and 6. They are about dealing with the immediate aftermath of the conflict.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
Sabotage the Enemy's Research
Mission 4, 5 and 8. They are all about interfering with the enemy activities.
These missions are 30 minute repeatables.
Rewards: EC, Skill Points, Honor/Merits
The Resource War
This is a daily mission that combines all the other 3 repeatables. If you complete them, you complete this mission.
Reward: EC, Honor/Merits, Skill Points
PvP Badges for your tier, Marks of Honor at Rear Admiral Levels, and 6 Emblems at Vice Admiral Level
Warzone Research Endeavor
Complete Competitive Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
Warzone Rescue Effort
Complete Competitive Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
Warzone Sabotage
Complete Sabotage the Enemy's Research 3 times to earn PvP Badges, Marks of Honor or Emblems (2 Emblems).
This is a daily repeatable mission.
The missions are designed to make it easier to have "partial successes". This should reduce the frustration factor, because some goals should always be achievable, regardless of opposition.
If you're really fast and everything works out perfectly, you can finish all dailies within 90 minutes, earning you 12 Emblems.
The main farming options - the masses of NPCs and the abuse of the scoring system - would be gone. There is a reason to be in Ker'rat with the various goals - and there are explicit goals requiring you to hinder the enemy. There are no NPCs to "manipulate" - you have to deal with the hazards provided by other players.
Challenges
One question might be - if there are ships to be saved or objects to be destroyed, how does the zone reset? Maybe an automatic map reset of the zone every 30 minutes might do the trick. None of the individual player objectives would need to be reset for it, though some "in-progress" activities might fail now (for example, if the mission resets in the middle of collecting resource material, or while your science team is gathering information.)
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
And for heavens sake, please no forced "missions", that are done in 2 mins.
You usually impress me with yer presentation and information butter cutter ya got there....dear god man your a genius.....I love the idea, it adds flare to the already overshadowed mundane.
Honestly, I think as long as they keep something there to make the map (not just the PvP aspect) more engaging......this would do that.
Cool premise....good idea.....
Thankfully, i don't have to implement my ideas.
THE OMEGA DIRECTIVE is in affect. you have 2 days to reach karrat and stop this threat. the borg there have discovered omega.
obviously the end result is the karrets system destruction hehehe but how it gets obliterated is cryptics fun.
I agree. really I do.
damned 10char limit
So, my shields wont work, I won't see TRIBBLE thru screen garbage, my cloak won't work, my weapons won't be accurate and my already weak hull unprotected.
Why the hell would I fly in at all?
hence why we dont see any more borg?...they ran down to Drozna for some Ferengi Pepto/Mylanta cocktails...then they got lost on the way back becuase a solar flare fried their on board naigational Tom Tom?
Sounds plausible.......
Because you've taken a beating in a fight and need somewhere to heal up, somewhere that you can't be targeted unless your opponent follows you in? Maybe you dump a load of mines just inside the nebula to catch them out... Perhaps you've even got an ambush set up with a couple of allies... The possibilities are endless.
You forget the KDF "bottle of burning rectums" fire sauce.:D
Exactly, a deterant to straight line travel also its an increase the illusion of greater arena size.
A nebula should work both ways though in that a vessel on the outside should ahve no way of knowing whom or what is inside it.
Oh....yea....that was from the cargo hold of the IKS Ker'Plop if Im not mistaken.....its a shame what happened to them boys...
They warped in.....fired a disrupter....ingniting the gas.....sending them all to lil Klingon Hell barge of exploding mess halls....
They will be remember'd with honor.......
I like it.......its unique....and has so many possibities......
Not to mention a better background with which to finally use the KHANNNNNN emote.
I agree it should make things interesting. Having used terrain before to good effect in PvP - I look forward to Nebula's.
And will live forever in KDF "safety while cooking" training films. (shudder)
I'll never look at Gagh the same way again.
I flex my cheeks in excitement and great anticipation............
Mr. Snulu (dont wanna get sued) all stop, t-minus 10,000 Kilometers.....
I understand Cryptic can be low on resources, so maybe it would be too much to add all those missions you list (as great as they are). At least at first. Start off along the lines of FarsightFrostwhisper or Phoenix316... Just a simple open PvP zone with maybe one or two simple missions (Kill 8 player ships, etc.). But then I think layering in more missions as time passes would keep the zone fresh!
However, I honestly think the best course of action is to just wait until a long term plan for PvP is solidified. Small fixes are fine but id rather they come up with a complete overhaul of the system, like they are going to do with exploration, in order to make it better (another analogy can be how they have slowed down the release of ''weekly'' series in order to focus on their quality, instead of releasing something faster but off less quality). Let them revamp Kerrat, but only after whatever plans they have for it fall in line with other, future plans for PVP (like the future Territory Control). We've already waited a while for a change... we can wait a bit longer for a well thought out and designed overhaul.
"fire the spatial charges- We'll drive the Targs from their lair!"
In this case I'm getting rid of the silly viewer in my ship and installing a screen like Star Trek had. . .be nice to be able to just. . .see out. :P I never got the whole screen static anyways, I mean was the nebula fritzing out the camera's on the ship exterior? what about the rest of the ship?
~D
Mustrum....that's a great idea!:)
I do like to see 2 versions of the 'new Ker'rat' though,one that is level bound the 'traditional way' (like it is now) and one that is open to all ranks.
For the 'open to all ranks' version there are some tweaks needed to level the playing field a bit.My suggestion would be to match all the players to the same rank,weapons scaled to do the same base damage and have shields scaled in the same way.So a MK II Phaser array has the same base dps as a MK X Phaser array,and MK II shields have the same base hitpoints as a MK X.
Players will still have the benefit of their skill point investment,a VA will still have better shields and weapons than a Lt.
To make up for the difference in BO stations and weapon slots,each player will get an NPC group to aid the player in combat.The type of support a player gets depends on the tier ship they fly,for example: if you fly a Tier 1 ship you will lead a group of 3 Tier 1 and/or Tier 2 ships,if you fly a Tier 4 ship you will get a Runabout,at Tier 5 you are on your own.....get in a Delta Flyer and you get a dozen Runabouts/Delta Flyers/Peregrin fighters to help you.
To make this work the NPC ships should fire on your target,and be 'BO smart' enough to heal you when needed.To avoid players sending in their support and staying out of harm's way themselves,the NPC ships should stay within 4 or 5 km from the player,and not respawn when killed untill the player is defeated and respawns.
......just the thought of 2 Tier 1 BoP groups tearing into a Galaxy hull.....yes,life can be good.:D
What do you think?
The two reasons for Klingons and Starfleet indepedently to decide the full assault on Ker'rat was that the Borg were - despite all efforts to stop them - manage to fully repair a tactical cube, and to produce a Transwarp Gate. (I've got the precursor story to that already as Foundry missions on Tribble...! Well, of course I created it without knowing that I could need it for this...)
The Transwarp Gate was the 3rd major location in the war. The gates purpose was to warp in a large Borg fleet waiting somewhere in a nebula inside the Delta Quadrant. When the Transwarp Gate was destroyed, it shifted part of the space in Ker'rat with part of the space on the other side of the gate, leading to the formation of a micro-nebula.
The Federation soon found out why the Borg placed the gate inside the nebula - the nebula had quite unusual properties, a apparently self-regenerating, biomechanical type of particles that can be mined to gain several hard to replicate materials.
Starfleet and KDF have given Captains order to find the possibility to collect samples inside the nebula. Vessels of both factions have received special modifications to their bussard collectors to scoop up these biomechanical particles. All that a ship Captain needs to do is spend some time in the Micro-Nebula.
Of course, this is not without perils - the micro-nebula wreaks havoc with sensors, shields and cloaking devices.
I haven't played Vault yet, so I don't know the micro-nebula's appearance or effects. I wouldn't want it to become a perfectly safe haven, so either there needs to be a random dangerous effect in the nebula (a variable pulsar that flares up from time to time and makes the nebula very unwelcoming for ships still in it) or the ability for enemy ships outside to apply science skills or weapons fire that eventually forces occupants back out, much like BestOfBothWorlds.
Hmm Well I read it sort of like the Pi Cannis sorties, but each mission was "separate", so you'd get some reward for those, but you'd get a greater rewards for doing them all.