USS_Parallax
07-29-2008, 11:18 AM
I've imagined a Star Trek MMO a few times before and I'll just share some thoughts I've had. :P
Ranks:
You star off as a Cadet and when you graduate the Academy you'll attain the rank of Ensign. The higher in rank you are the more bonuses and options you have such as what ship you use and what kind of NPC crew you can command (since I assume you won't need 1000+ real people for a Galaxy class ship). The ranks are split into 3 or 4 main "groups".
Cadet: Training Class given to you when you start a character. Almost a tutorial class.
Line Officers:
-Junior Officers-
Ensign, lieutenant junior grade, lieutenant
-Senior Officers-
Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain
Flag Officers:
Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral
Commodore
Bonuses you might get from ranks (mattering on what "class" you are be it an Engineer or Security Officer) would be stuff like NPC and player crew bonuses. An Admiral specializing in Engineering might give it's crew a bonus to Ship repair as well as a slight bonus to general effectiveness of the NPC crew while a Captain who specializes in Security might give a bonus in defenses.
The bonuses and additional options wouldn't be so over powered as to negate skill as to avoid "gear wars" like what happens in most MMOs.
Also ranks would be based on performance vs population when you get to the higher ones. The majority of people would be Junior Officers and Senior Officers. Lieutenant Commander would be the point where Casuals usually have trouble getting past. Commander and Captain would easier to get for the hardcore.
Flag Officers would be unique towards those most hardcore of players and would be few.
Higher Ranks have more options on ships. It caps after Captain. I wouldn't see an Ensign commanding a Galaxy-class ship but I might see a Captain commanding one or a Admiral. Lower ranks would be restricted to, generally speaking, smaller and more common ships.
Flag Officers would have a higher chance or getting rarer ships like Galaxy-class ships but while most might be in the hands of Flag Officers you've got to give the opportunity for lower ranks to get these rare ships even if it's much harder and the amount limited.
Ships:
These can be used by real players and come with an NPC crew. Mattering on the ship these would require certain amounts and certain ranks of real players to operate. A Galaxy-class ship might require at least a Captain and 2 Senior Officers and 3 other Officers (numbers just an example). An Intrepid-class might require at least a Commander and 2 other Officers (numbers just an example). A shuttle might just require a Cadet while a Miranda-class refit might require just a Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant.
A person of any rank can fill a spot that requires a rank below them. An Admiral can still fly a Shuttle or fill any Officer spot in an ship and can even hand command of the ship over to anyone else eligible even if they're of a lower rank. Basically this avoids having to be so specific for ranks when picking ships that it becomes too hard to group.
Sure, technically they should probably let you fly a big ship with only yourself and an NPC crew but expect the ship to be nerfed a lot and less effective without a real player crew at the bridge and engineering.
Ships would also be available but multiple means.
One way would be to "rent" one from an NPC Shipyard for a quest. Mattering on rank and influence you'll have more ships available.
However if you want to upgrade and customize your ship more then just a bit you'll have to "buy" one. Currency system aside (down) and can heavily customize it that way.
Guild ships would be a big part of the game too as guilds can assemble Fleets much easier (though you can outside of guilds too). Guilds get more and more resources (be it currency, influence, or whatever) mattering on guild population of unique accounts, ranks in the guild, achievements of the guild (a big part), etc. The higher the resources the more options the guild has when "buying" ships.
To avoid having a fleet of nothing but Sovereign-class ships there would be a limit of ships per class.. This would help diversify Fleets and make them more interesting.
Miranda Refits might not have a limit but Sovereign-class would be extremely limited.
The only problem here would be trying to make all the spots in a ship interesting and fun to play. Obviously the things we think of as fun would first be navigation and weapons. The hard part is making other spots more interesting.
"Currency":
(talking of Federation only and not Klingons yet)
We do know that Currency exists in Star Trek however it's de-emphasis so much in the Federation that it's of little to no use outside of some territories close to certain borders (you see them dealing with money in DS9 because of the economics of the area and you see the use of Federation Credits a few times elsewhere).
This just tells me that a Currency of some type should be available and it's use simply limited to certain border areas or traders who travel in Federation space.
The money currency would buy a limited assortment of supplies mostly for your person, sometimes for ship parts and rarely for whole ships beyond smaller ones (though possible for the soloers).
Trade would have emphasis too and I'd hope to see it somehow emphasized more in this then in most MMOs where it just becomes about gold gold gold.
The second type of currency would be "influence" or something of that nature. Basically as you complete missions, gain rank and do more and more for the Federation you obtain more influence (or whatever). There's your influence and a guild has it's own separate influence too. This can be used to access more ships, get parts for upgrades and refits, etc. This would be your main means for the "larger" things mainly focused around ships. Why not just use some cash? I don't think the Federation sells it's ships ever. :P
Influence could also give you more options like special missions, etc.
That's it for my incredible unorganized thoughts.
Ranks:
You star off as a Cadet and when you graduate the Academy you'll attain the rank of Ensign. The higher in rank you are the more bonuses and options you have such as what ship you use and what kind of NPC crew you can command (since I assume you won't need 1000+ real people for a Galaxy class ship). The ranks are split into 3 or 4 main "groups".
Cadet: Training Class given to you when you start a character. Almost a tutorial class.
Line Officers:
-Junior Officers-
Ensign, lieutenant junior grade, lieutenant
-Senior Officers-
Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain
Flag Officers:
Fleet Admiral
Admiral
Vice Admiral
Rear Admiral
Commodore
Bonuses you might get from ranks (mattering on what "class" you are be it an Engineer or Security Officer) would be stuff like NPC and player crew bonuses. An Admiral specializing in Engineering might give it's crew a bonus to Ship repair as well as a slight bonus to general effectiveness of the NPC crew while a Captain who specializes in Security might give a bonus in defenses.
The bonuses and additional options wouldn't be so over powered as to negate skill as to avoid "gear wars" like what happens in most MMOs.
Also ranks would be based on performance vs population when you get to the higher ones. The majority of people would be Junior Officers and Senior Officers. Lieutenant Commander would be the point where Casuals usually have trouble getting past. Commander and Captain would easier to get for the hardcore.
Flag Officers would be unique towards those most hardcore of players and would be few.
Higher Ranks have more options on ships. It caps after Captain. I wouldn't see an Ensign commanding a Galaxy-class ship but I might see a Captain commanding one or a Admiral. Lower ranks would be restricted to, generally speaking, smaller and more common ships.
Flag Officers would have a higher chance or getting rarer ships like Galaxy-class ships but while most might be in the hands of Flag Officers you've got to give the opportunity for lower ranks to get these rare ships even if it's much harder and the amount limited.
Ships:
These can be used by real players and come with an NPC crew. Mattering on the ship these would require certain amounts and certain ranks of real players to operate. A Galaxy-class ship might require at least a Captain and 2 Senior Officers and 3 other Officers (numbers just an example). An Intrepid-class might require at least a Commander and 2 other Officers (numbers just an example). A shuttle might just require a Cadet while a Miranda-class refit might require just a Lieutenant Commander or Lieutenant.
A person of any rank can fill a spot that requires a rank below them. An Admiral can still fly a Shuttle or fill any Officer spot in an ship and can even hand command of the ship over to anyone else eligible even if they're of a lower rank. Basically this avoids having to be so specific for ranks when picking ships that it becomes too hard to group.
Sure, technically they should probably let you fly a big ship with only yourself and an NPC crew but expect the ship to be nerfed a lot and less effective without a real player crew at the bridge and engineering.
Ships would also be available but multiple means.
One way would be to "rent" one from an NPC Shipyard for a quest. Mattering on rank and influence you'll have more ships available.
However if you want to upgrade and customize your ship more then just a bit you'll have to "buy" one. Currency system aside (down) and can heavily customize it that way.
Guild ships would be a big part of the game too as guilds can assemble Fleets much easier (though you can outside of guilds too). Guilds get more and more resources (be it currency, influence, or whatever) mattering on guild population of unique accounts, ranks in the guild, achievements of the guild (a big part), etc. The higher the resources the more options the guild has when "buying" ships.
To avoid having a fleet of nothing but Sovereign-class ships there would be a limit of ships per class.. This would help diversify Fleets and make them more interesting.
Miranda Refits might not have a limit but Sovereign-class would be extremely limited.
The only problem here would be trying to make all the spots in a ship interesting and fun to play. Obviously the things we think of as fun would first be navigation and weapons. The hard part is making other spots more interesting.
"Currency":
(talking of Federation only and not Klingons yet)
We do know that Currency exists in Star Trek however it's de-emphasis so much in the Federation that it's of little to no use outside of some territories close to certain borders (you see them dealing with money in DS9 because of the economics of the area and you see the use of Federation Credits a few times elsewhere).
This just tells me that a Currency of some type should be available and it's use simply limited to certain border areas or traders who travel in Federation space.
The money currency would buy a limited assortment of supplies mostly for your person, sometimes for ship parts and rarely for whole ships beyond smaller ones (though possible for the soloers).
Trade would have emphasis too and I'd hope to see it somehow emphasized more in this then in most MMOs where it just becomes about gold gold gold.
The second type of currency would be "influence" or something of that nature. Basically as you complete missions, gain rank and do more and more for the Federation you obtain more influence (or whatever). There's your influence and a guild has it's own separate influence too. This can be used to access more ships, get parts for upgrades and refits, etc. This would be your main means for the "larger" things mainly focused around ships. Why not just use some cash? I don't think the Federation sells it's ships ever. :P
Influence could also give you more options like special missions, etc.
That's it for my incredible unorganized thoughts.