Star Trek = classes everywhere ... calm down

[soups]

I think the fear of everyone being a captain means everyone will be a clone is misplaced.

This is the beauty of the Star Trek IP...Cryptic has many options on how they approach character differentiation in the game and more than just your rank can set you apart.

First off we have to face it, many want to be captain of their own ship. That type of statement will peak the interest of potential players who might not like the idea of being forced to play with a bunch of Star Trek geeks (I'm one too).

But this could be ok, differentiation is everywhere in Star Trek. If everyone is captain of their own ship then perhaps while you are in space the ships are what will set us apart. We all certainly know there are enough ship classes in Star Trek to provide more classes than most MMOs offer.

Also in star trek anyone with any background could become captain of the right ship. Beverly crusher was probably never going to become captain of the Enterprise but low and behold she was captain of that medical ship (sorry I don't know the name).

So for the sake of calming down a little bit lets suppose that perhaps medical officers with get medical ships and engineers will get ships form the core of engineers. On group missions the make up of the fleet (group) would provide different advantages as each class of ship brings something different to the engagement.

I for one can't wait to see the video and any other tidbits that are thrown to us.. Not because I'm worried I will be dissapointed or because I think I will get the STO I want. No I am anxious because I can't wait to see what creative ways they have come up with to approach a Star Trek MMO. We can easily go where no MMO has gone before and Cryptic is high on my personal list for having what it takes to surprise us.

[ianobs]

thank you for saying what needed to be said.

[Arcturus]

Star Trek has never been about bringing people apart :-p the star trek philosophy is IDIC. Everyone a captain really isn't that idea. The worst thing that could happen is all of us being stamped into a common mold, taking that special delight in differences of ideas and appearances is what Star Trek is about.

[Cyjack]

Wow...common sense and rational thought. Its like a beautiful shimmering Oasis.


Prepare to be torpedoed by a handful of disgruntled fanboys.

[ChiefBrex]

Soups - Considering that work was done on creating interiors, as well as uniforms for each of the different departments, I some how doubt that STO will be from a starship perspective. That's not what an MMO is about.

And frankly, I'd rather start off as an Engineer on a ship, and work my way up the ranks, rather than starting out as a captain. And I've seen many people in the "100 billion captains" thread say that they don't want to be a captain either. So, saying that everyone wants to be a captain, is a bit of an over generalization.

Why not wait for the ingame footage to be shown first, then let's discuss what they mean with "Captain your own ship" or whatever.

[soups]

Star Trek has never been about bringing people apart :-p the star trek philosophy is IDIC. Everyone a captain really isn't that idea. The worst thing that could happen is all of us being stamped into a common mold, taking that special delight in differences of ideas and appearances is what Star Trek is about.

I agree that I don't want to see everyone the same. Not just because of what the Star Trek IP stands for but because it would make a really lame MMO.

I don't think everyone being a captain automatically makes us all identical. My point is that we can certainly all be captains and still play the game very differently based on the ships we choose and the specializations we have choosen or the load outs we have etc. There are so many things in the Star Trek universe that can seperate one captain from another that there is probably room for us all.

Just think how different Archer is from Kirk and he from Picard and he from Sisko and he from...you get the idea.

Also, don't think that just because we will be in seperate ships in space that we will suddenly be cut off from each other.

One of the things cryptic seems to understand better than most other MMO developers is the desire of gamers to be different from each other. Their character creation in COV and COH is proof enough of that. Not only does it boad well for any MMO but particularly their ability to deliver STO with that same understanding of our desire for unique character design the IP so demands.

[onibocho]

This is the beauty of the Star Trek IP...Cryptic has many options on how they approach character differentiation in the game.

First off we have to face it, everyone wants to be captain of their own ship. Who really wants to devote the time MMOs require to just be second fiddle on a ship.


I for one can't wait to see the video and any other tidbits that are thrown to us.. Not because I'm worried I will be dissapointed or because I think I will get the STO I want. No I am anxious because I can't wait to see what creative ways they have come up with to approach a Star Trek MMO. We can easily go where no MMO has gone before and Cryptic is high on my personal list for having what it takes to surprise us.

With all due repect you assume too much. If you have read the most read and posted thread "100bilion Captains" you would see that this is not the case. Yes most would like to be a Captain but most want to work for it, they want that position to have meaning when they achieve it. That is the crux of the argument. Most of use want a key part of the experiance to be the achievment of that position not just paying the subscription, logging on and "Walla!" your a star ship captain. That's all. Hell! To be honest outside of that I am liking what I hear so far. But the captain thing is obviously an important issue to be adressed. If Cryptic learned anything from the "GREAT PE PSI WAR" is that if you get over 1000 post threads on a single issue maybe you should pay attention to it.

[soups]

Soups - Considering that work was done on creating interiors, as well as uniforms for each of the different departments, I some how doubt that STO will be from a starship perspective. That's not what an MMO is about.

And frankly, I'd rather start off as an Engineer on a ship, and work my way up the ranks, rather than starting out as a captain. And I've seen many people in the "100 billion captains" thread say that they don't want to be a captain either. So, saying that everyone wants to be a captain, is a bit of an over generalization.

Why not wait for the ingame footage to be shown first, then let's discuss what they mean with "Captain your own ship" or whatever.

You and I are actually on the same page, we really don't have enough info yet. And yes it is an over generalization but it is going to be the vast majority of players who would rather have their own ship. It will be a point of pride, sure guild ships or the abillity to crew each other ships would be fantastic and there are great ideas on how that could work. But at the core the bulk of the players are going to want to solo. Unfortunately the world of MMOs is being infected with the console type players who are comfortable with single player games.

Also, I think it is a mistake to think that we both have to be on the same ship to feel like we are together playing an MMO. I would suggest that space could feel little different than running around on the surface of a planet depending on what we do while we are in space. On the ground in most MMOs we each have our own toons which have their own bodies and I'm sure few would have a problem with the standard ground game scenario, obviously Star Trek provides a great group opportunity in crewing ships.

I would like to see the option of manning a ship with a live crew or an NPC crew because frankly my friends all play at different times and I do not want to be tied to their schedules with no options. I believe a ship crewed with real players should be able to out play an NPC crew with just a single captain as well. But again those are mechanics which we have yet to hear about.

[TheMasterpiece]

This is the beauty of the Star Trek IP...Cryptic has many options on how they approach character differentiation in the game.

First off we have to face it, everyone wants to be captain of their own ship. Who really wants to devote the time MMOs require to just be second fiddle on a ship.

But this could be ok, differentiation is everywhere in Star Trek. If everyone is captain of their own ship then perhaps while you are in space the ships are what will set us apart. We all certainly know there are enough ship classes in Star Trek to provide more classes than most MMOs offer.

Also in star trek anyone with any background could become captain of the right ship. Beverly crusher was probably never going to become captain of the Enterprise but low and behold she was captain of that medical ship (sorry I don't know the name).

So for the sake of calming down a little bit lets suppose that perhaps medical officers with get medical ships and engineers will get ships form the core of engineers. On group missions the make up of the fleet (group) would provide different advantages as each class of ship brings something different to the engagement.

I for one can't wait to see the video and any other tidbits that are thrown to us.. Not because I'm worried I will be dissapointed or because I think I will get the STO I want. No I am anxious because I can't wait to see what creative ways they have come up with to approach a Star Trek MMO. We can easily go where no MMO has gone before and Cryptic is high on my personal list for having what it takes to surprise us.



I gotta say youre wrong, so many of the established members here including myself WANT TO BE OFFICERS and work up from the bottom. not just be captains.

[soups]

With all due repect you assume too much. If you have read the most read and posted thread "100bilion Captains" you would see that this is not the case. Yes most would like to be a Captain but most want to work for it, they want that position to have meaning when they achieve it. That is the crux of the argument. Most of use want a key part of the experiance to be the achievment of that position not just paying the subscription, logging on and "Walla!" your a star ship captain. That's all. Hell! To be honest outside of that I am liking what I hear so far. But the captain thing is obviously an important issue to be adressed. If Cryptic learned anything from the "GREAT PE PSI WAR" is that if you get over 1000 post threads on a single issue maybe you should pay attention to it.

I may have assumed to much somewhere but you are also assuming that my post was directed at your point of view. So that makes us both ^^^^^

My post is directed toward the feeling that everyone being captain means everyone will be the same.

The fear that the journey toward the rank of captain would be overlooked as a game mechanic would certainly be a terrible oversight in my opinion as well.

I would hope that you would get what you want in the rewarding journey, and once everyone who wants to be a captain (a ton of people) has made it there we will be able to choose vessels, specialties etc. that allow us to play and contribute to our group of friends in unique ways.

[soups]

I gotta say youre wrong, so many of the established members here including myself WANT TO BE OFFICERS and work up from the bottom. not just be captains.

You are talking about the journey to get to captain I'm talking about what happens after everyone is a captain. There seems to be some concern in multiple threads that everyone being captains means everyone is the same. I"m just trying to illustrate that captains come in many different varieties in Star Trek so everyone becoming a captain does not mean we will all be clones.

[Arcturus]

It's the prior experiences that shape the Captain. I just think it will be terribly lonely now, just me on my ship wishing I could go sit and read and let #1 take the helm occasionally looking out at the stars pass behind the nebula we're inspecting.

[onibocho]

My post is directed toward the feeling that everyone being captain means everyone will be the same.

The fear that the journey toward the rank of captain would be overlooked as a game mechanic would certainly be a terrible oversight in my opinion as well.

I would hope that you would get what you want in the rewarding journey, and once everyone who wants to be a captain (a ton of people) has made it there we will be able to choose vessels, specialties etc. that allow us to play and contribute to our group of friends in unique ways.


I stand corrected then.:o After playing COH one thing I have the most confidence in is that Cyptic understands the players need to express his own indivduality. To have a unique charactor with a unique story. If there is one thing that I can rest easy on about Crptics development of STO is the paying attention to individual charactor development.

[soups]

It's the prior experiences that shape the Captain. I just think it will be terribly lonely now, just me on my ship wishing I could go sit and read and let #1 take the helm occasionally looking out at the stars pass behind the nebula we're inspecting.

I certainly agree, I hope that at some point I can get off my gunboat or off my medical frigate and join my buddies on their dreadnaught. And then when I'm tired of doing nothing but setting the course and warp factor (that is an exaggeration) going back to my own vessel for a little bit to call the shoots so to speak.

That is the kind of flexibility that can help the game provide a true trek experience and appeal to the non-trek or solo player as well.

[soups]

I stand corrected then.:o After playing COH one thing I have the most confidence in is that Cyptic understands the players need to express his own indivduality. To have a unique charactor with a unique story. If there is one thing that I can rest easy on about Crptics development of STO is the paying attention to individual charactor development.

Rock on dude! Your welcome to take the helm on my ship any time as long as I get the captains chair on yours!! :D Man I can't wait for this game!

[onibocho]

I don't care where I sit, as long as I can enjoy the ride, home fry!;)

[ChiefBrex]

Well, as I stated in another thread before, Star Trek has proven that a Starfleet ship can have multiple officers with the RANK of captain, but only ONE person is considered the "Captain of the vessel" or the Commanding Officer of a ship. So, you could have a crew of captains, but only one is considered the CO of that ship.

And I would think that Cryptic would limit the number of people that could CO a ship, especially since people who are Commanding Officers would, in a way, be helping Cryptic on running the game. Which would mean that you would have to earn your CO-ship, and prove that you could be trusted as a leader.

Plus, you all forget, there are postings OTHER than ships. There are starbases, there is Starfleet Command, Starfleet Medical. There are also different branches of Starfleet like the Corp of Engineers, etc.

If this game is truly to be an MMO, then I would think that players could chose/take postings at Utopia Planetia and build ships that would be crewed by future players. Or that Cryptic would "offer" stellar COs the ability to achieve the ranks of Admiral and take postings else where, like being stationed on a starbase and coordinating fleet movements throughout the Federation.

While I have never played an MMO before, from what I've heard of WoW and other successful MMOs, is that the world is "immersive" and that players' actions and choices help to shape the world. So, I would hope that STO would reflect at least those kinds of aspects of MMOs. My hope is that Cryptic truly recreates the Star Trek universe.

But, all in all, I think we all need to relax and wait til after Sunday's game/test footage.