Game Ideas: Starfleet/Homeworld Orders

[Kenshiki]

An idea I had (while taking a shower) was that Starfleet or The Klingon Homeworld could order captains to patrol or defend the neutral zone. There would have to be a balance between orders and freeplay, of course, but it would be a way to unify both sides against the other.

Just an idea… and maybe the people who are paid think of this stuff had this idea and already implemented or rejected it. I just want to get the thoughts of the online community.

I would also like to hear other ideas about what Starflee/Homeworld orders could be for captians.

[mendal]

The border is manly for PVP. So I would think that we would not be ordered to go there cause some people really don't like forced PVP.

P.S. I thought I was the only one who thought of STO in shower :D

[Anichent]

That's a pretty cool idea. Picard's Enterprise had a lot of room to do what it wanted, but sometimes it was ordered to specific planets, missions, or just general sectors. :)

[Vorador]

The border is manly for PVP. So I would think that we would not be ordered to go there cause some people really don't like forced PVP.

P.S. I thought I was the only one who thought of STO in shower :D
This can easily be solved by having a flag of some sort you can set on your character if you want to receive pvp missions or not.

[USS_Enduring_Vengence]

The border is manly for PVP. So I would think that we would not be ordered to go there cause some people really don't like forced PVP.

P.S. I thought I was the only one who thought of STO in shower :D

there goes my mind into The Gutter....

[Flatfingers]

I would also like to hear other ideas about what Starflee/Homeworld orders could be for captians.

For a number of years I've been a fan of allowing players in MMORPGs to create missions for each other. In Star Trek Online terms, that kind of content -- appropriately controlled and with very specific gameplay-based rules for mission creation -- would be a great tool for the higher ranks: Captains (to a limited extent), Fleet Captains, Commodores, and (especially) Admirals.

Having this vision in my head for so long makes me a little sad that Craig Z. appears to have recently said that the Admiral rank will be a reward available only to people who join fleets.

Being part of a long-term group of players always confers significant benefits in achievement-oriented gameplay just as a function of group membership. I think that's exactly as it should be; social play certainly shouldn't be penalized in a "massively multiplayer" game.

But for Cryptic to spend time creating additional benefits solely for the subset of social gamers by allowing only fleets to build starbases, and allowing only fleets to build the largest ships in the game, and, it seems, allowing only the few people who control large fleets to obtain the rank of Admiral as a collectible badge... sigh.

I think it could have been more fun and interesting to allow players with an interest in and enjoyment of strategic play -- regardless of whether they are highly social or not -- to become Admirals, and as a result of rising to that rank allowing them to create strategic-value missions that fleet leaders and Captains can optionally take. (Though being able to order other players to fly into a no-holds-barred PvP zone is probably not something that any player should be able to do!)

But I guess in the related matters of player-generated content and the Admiral rank (as in other areas of this game, or so I perceive it), the folks designing Star Trek Online are choosing to follow the paths laid down by past MMORPGs. If so, maybe they feel that's the only possible decision for business/marketing reasons, or perhaps there's just not enough time to innovate. It just feels a bit disappointing to me that the distinctive Star Trek IP isn't being used as a stable launching point for trying more ideas in the design of massively multiplayer persistent-world RPGs that could open up gameplay to more/different types of players.

Meh. I'm probably just feeling a little "glass-half-empty" today. :p

Still....

--Flatfingers

[Kenshiki]

It has been interesting to see some of your thoughts on this. I agree that ordering PvP may not be a swell though... Maybe the orders to explore and patrol areas could be simi-optional. If you do them, you get respect/money/whatever... but If you do not/can not follow the orders, you lose only a slight amount. In other words, make the rewards high, and the punishment super low or no punishment at all.

Also, do I use/utilize "/" too much?

[Flatfingers]

Maybe the orders to explore and patrol areas could be simi-optional. If you do them, you get respect/money/whatever... but If you do not/can not follow the orders, you lose only a slight amount. In other words, make the rewards high, and the punishment super low or no punishment at all.

That's exactly how I imagine it working.

The only slight difference is that I would have no punishment for choosing not to take an Admiral-designed mission; I would make that completely optional. That way the burden would be on player Admirals to create missions that are as interesting and fun for other players as possible.

Also, do I use/utilize "/" too much?

Absolutely not. I do it myself sometimes/often/usually. :)

--Flatfingers

[Kenshiki]

Thanks, I am looking forward to seeing how the game will work. I like the voluntary idea. It will be interesting to see how the forces of emergence will show themselves.

[Borek]

It has been interesting to see some of your thoughts on this. I agree that ordering PvP may not be a swell though... Maybe the orders to explore and patrol areas could be simi-optional. If you do them, you get respect/money/whatever... but If you do not/can not follow the orders, you lose only a slight amount. In other words, make the rewards high, and the punishment super low or no punishment at all.


I like the OP's ideas, but I don't think you should lose anything at all for not doing PVP related missions. I do like PVP myself and will probably hang out a lot in the neutral zone (in my science vessel, hehe), but I think people should not be forced in any way. They could obviously offer rewards (XP/respect/money/whatever :) ), but I get the idea those same rewards could be gained while doing other things in game, so essentially you wouldn't lose anything.

The problem is: how do you simply turn away from a Starfleet order without consequences? They could make it so that the orders are not specific to "your" ship, but rather broadcast to all (or restricted further?) the ships who are accepting missions in the neutral zone at a given time, for example.

[JacobFlowers]

An idea I had (while taking a shower) was that Starfleet or The Klingon Homeworld could order captains to patrol or defend the neutral zone. There would have to be a balance between orders and freeplay, of course, but it would be a way to unify both sides against the other.

Just an idea… and maybe the people who are paid think of this stuff had this idea and already implemented or rejected it. I just want to get the thoughts of the online community.

I would also like to hear other ideas about what Starflee/Homeworld orders could be for captians.

There was actually a discussion already started on this:

http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=14617

I posted this idea up a few weeks ago. I think it would be a part of the game that would significantly set it apart from other MMOs, where factions really have no over-arcing storyling, and there is no central involvement. If Starfleet Central Command issued orders to Vessels, that would be great.

Additionally, for those people who might be "busy" getting resources, or PvPing, they could "Flag" or "Unflag" themselves to receive communique from Starfleet HQ or not.

[Kenshiki]

Thanks for your reply, JacobFlowers. I am sorry that I reposted a similar idea. I did my best to look through the forums before posting to see if there was a similar discussion, but it appears that I have failed.

I am glad to hear your ideas on the topic. I think we all share the hope that this MMORPG (I pronounce that as mum-OR-Pu-Ger) will be a really good one. There is a balance in repeatable missions to make them enjoyable, replay-able, and not too grindtastic.

[ktanner3]

It has been interesting to see some of your thoughts on this. I agree that ordering PvP may not be a swell though... Maybe the orders to explore and patrol areas could be simi-optional. If you do them, you get respect/money/whatever... but If you do not/can not follow the orders, you lose only a slight amount. In other words, make the rewards high, and the punishment super low or no punishment at all.

Also, do I use/utilize "/" too much?


It could be something similiar to Starfleet command where in game you agree to join a special forces type unit that involves missions in Neutral Zone conflict. The specials unit will have some conditions you agree to before joining them. One of those conditions being that you will be engaged in PVP and that you accept this before signing up. This should help to eliminate all those "forced PVP" accusations that litter MMO Forums because it is a complete opt in.