Ejecting the Warp Core

[Vernian]

This just occurred to me and I wanted to get what others thought of it.

Remember in all those episodes in TNG and Voyager when the engineers yell up to the captain that the warp core is about to lose containment. Also I remember an episode of Voyager where they ejected the Warp Core and later retrieved it. I was thinking it might be cool if we had that option in the game. If a ship wants to blow up another ship, you target the warp core correct? Well, to add some more strategy into the game, shouldn't we be allowed to eject the core?

I am pretty sure you can't go to warp without your warp core so I was thinking if you lose your warp core that there would be an option to call for a tug boat. The tug boat would warp to your position in a short amount of time (may not be realistic but if it takes awhile it might get boring waiting). The tug boat would then tractor you to the nearest star base.

Thoughts, comments?

[stogod]

good idea:)! I think that they will definetly have eject warp core into space option. Though I doubt very much that you will be able to retrieve it after.

[Kinjiru]

Roger that... once it's ejected it should be gone. Actually, the only reason *to* eject the core would be if it's about to blow. But it's a good idea to have the option in case of imminent breach.

[ibby1kanobi]

That was only used as a last option/resort. I don't think it should be done that way, because then everyone will just be ejecting warpcores left and right. I think that if you do eject it and it guest destroyed (which it probably will), then I think there should be a pretty severe penalty. 20-30 min for a trip to nearest starbase, and a hefty fee for replacement. Ejecting the warpcore isn't fun and games.

[Smellykat405]

Alas! My Star Trek nerdom is not fleshed out enough to know what you are talking about. It has been a long time since I saw any TNG episodes. I have been watching the original series lately. lol. They dont seem to eject the warp core in that. But it does sound really neat. Anything that causes big booms is okay by me. ;)

[jepsmith]

good idea:)! I think that they will definetly have eject warp core into space option. Though I doubt very much that you will be able to retrieve it after.

Well, why not retrieve it? It is canon since it was in Voyager.

However, what happens if the core is stolen/destroyed/lost before you can retrieve it? Tug Boat may be an option, but what keeps the player from self-destructing to avoid the wait? If concequences aren't that tough, sometimes they would be less onerous than the time to wait on the tug.... So it may be better to use the same mechanic that a destroyed ship would use without the player having to self destruct.

[Jaqknife]

Ejecting the warp core should be a last ditch effort because afterwards you are limited to impulse power only. I really like the idea of the tug boat because there might be other situations where you are badly damaged and the warp drive might be destroyed.

[EkulTails]

It gives the game more of a good 'ole true Trek touch to it. Also, if you enemy ship is near it while it explodes, I doubt there will be anything left of that ship!:D I like the idea of having being tugged (no ridiculous times, though!) but maybe have some kind of back-up warp core? So you can just replace the old one you ejected. That'd be a lot simpler than having a ship tugging you. Though, if you lose that one, well then I guess your going to have to be tugged.

[njdss4]

Voyager ejected their warp core in an episode and then they were able to retrieve it later. I don't know if that kind of an element would work in an MMO, but if Cryptic thinks it's worth putting it in the game you should be able to retrieve it.

[Kinjiru]

Alas! My Star Trek nerdom is not fleshed out enough to know what you are talking about. It has been a long time since I saw any TNG episodes. I have been watching the original series lately. lol. They dont seem to eject the warp core in that. But it does sound really neat. Anything that causes big booms is okay by me. ;)

Like I said above, the only reason to eject the warp core would be in the case of an imminent warp core breach. This has (in the various series) only happened on a few occasions, with the usual result being that Scotty/Geordi/Torres save it at the last minute, avoiding the actual ejection.

Causes for a breach have been combat damage, security over-written instructions to the computer core telling it to drop it's containment field, things like that.

It's not a casual solution, since once the warp core is gone, the majority of power available to a ship is gone, leaving it with only Impulse drive and limiting the ship to sublight speeds.

In cases where it could actually happen to us, I can see it being a mission plot device, or in the case of actual combat damage. In the case of combat damage, you'd better be sure that when you eject it, the enemy is otherwise engaged or destroyed, since once your core is gone, you're basically defenseless.

An interesting last minute tactic could be to eject your core if it's about to blow, and the try to lock onto it with your transporter and attempt to beam it near (or onto, if it's shields are down) an enemy ship and watch the fireworks. :)

[Richman12]

I like the idea of the Tug boat as well when it comes to ejecting the warp core.

I also think thier should be an option where you can steal a core from another ship or derelect and be able to reverse engineer it to replace yours in case you eject yours.

Though I think this would more or less be an option of last resort if your in quadrant of space that tug boats can't get to.

[bobh]

Ejected warp cores.... hmmm.... a Salvage Fleet comes to mind.

And the only reason you never saw a core ejection in TOS is simply Mr. Scott was, and still is, the ultimate engineer.

I would think the sub-light penalty to crawl back to any space dock would be much stiffer than 20-30 mins of game time... so make that a Salvage/Tug Fleet.

ka-ching!

[Wolvar]

I think ejecting the core could very well be a good idea in some situations as a last resort... no one likes mixing that much matter and anti-matter... it will explode.

[Faith]

Bridge Commander had a mod later made that greatly increased the ship functions and what you could do. One of the things it allowed was the ability to eject the warp core and even use it as a weapon if you shoot it while a pursuing ship was in it's blast radius.

It was only meant to be used as a desperation move, since it would leave your ship dead in the water.

[Raven0238]

This would be necessary in STO, its an emergency system if your vessel takes too much damage.

[cavilier210]

theres also the subspace weapon the sona used that was sealed by the destruction of the warp core. I like this idea, more options and strategy :-D

[WarpVis]

Not only would the vessel that has ejected its warpcore be reduced to inpulse speeds but power to its weapons and shields would be greatly reduced. Also, there is a possibility that they would not have any photon torpedoes with the warp core gone.

[InSin]

I don't where that's coming from about no warp core = no torpedoes. It might be true, I just never heard that and since torpedoes are actually a projectile weapon, I don't think that would make much sense. Personally I was thinking about core ejections a couple of weeks ago. Could come in handy, not only to save your ship in the case of a core breach (keep in mind though it's supposed to be possible to just shut down the core too I think but they eject in the event that it can't be shut down) but also it could make for interesting tactics. Let's take the "Wrath of Kahn" scenario. What if Kirk entered that nebula with his damaged Enterprise, Kahn in persuit with his still healthy Miranda class but instead of the cat and mouse game Kirk ejects the warp core just inside the nebula, where the Miranda's sensors fail to detect it until it's close. Too close, then a remote detonation (like in Insurrection) or Kirk blasts it with his phasers. Tada, toasted light cruiser. As for the core less part of the game. What about calling in a supply ship? It can bring and install a new core for you... for a fee.

[WinterPark1701]

And the only reason you never saw a core ejection in TOS is simply Mr. Scott was, and still is, the ultimate engineer.

ka-ching!

Or they just didn't have the budget for it :)

[maxatron]

Well, why not retrieve it? It is canon since it was in Voyager.

However, what happens if the core is stolen/destroyed/lost before you can retrieve it? Tug Boat may be an option, but what keeps the player from self-destructing to avoid the wait? If concequences aren't that tough, sometimes they would be less onerous than the time to wait on the tug.... So it may be better to use the same mechanic that a destroyed ship would use without the player having to self destruct.

im a casual trek fan so i dont know to much about to the engine systems on a ship but as i understand it the warp core is the power plant of a starship and in order to self destruct you need the warp core so one way you could make it a penalty is that the ship has to run on back up power and therefore there isnt enough power but to say keep the life support, comms and other vital systems running so if they did it that way they wouldnt be able to issue the self destruct command because theres no bomb!

[wingnutf22]

There are always the impulse nuclear reactors for self-destruct those would work well, the only power source after the warp core was gone so you would almost certainly have to reduce power to all secondary systems to keep primary systems functioning at an appreciable efficiency.

[Trekkermaster]

I love the idea of being able to eject the warp-core. However, it really has to come to a cost in terms of whatever currency/ressources a player owns to replace/repair the ship. A tug boat is also a great for this situation and also introduce possibilities that your ship can be so badly damaged that you will need to call for its service (at a cost?)

[warbot7777]

I hope they add in all the alarm noises that go with the warp core, the klaxion for when breach is imminent and I hope they use the TNG computer voice. "Warp core breach imminent in 30 seconds".

[wiryone]

ya, makes it pointless to eject the core if you are not able to retrieve it. I mean who here wants to run at impluse power all the way back to the nearest starbase. I can only imagine how long that would take.

[Allardyn]

Ejecting the warp core should be a last ditch effort because afterwards you are limited to impulse power only. I really like the idea of the tug boat because there might be other situations where you are badly damaged and the warp drive might be destroyed.

Actually most starfleet vessels have a spare warpcore or the components required to rebuild another. It would just take awile to build/install it leaving the ship crippled and vunerable for the time.

[THORN74]

personally i dont see ejecting the warp core as a player gameplay mechanic. we wont be able to do it at will or anything like that. but i could see it as part of a scripted mission. if circumstances arrise durring the course of a mission it could be part of the narrative. I would have no problem with that usage.

but i cant see it being a good idea to have player control over ejecting the warp core. Its not as though its a valid defence, none of the shows ever used it as a defensive tactic. when and if they ever did eject the warp core it was usually due to an overload of some kind (usually related to some modification/ experiment they were attempting at the moment)

[Allardyn]

personally i dont see ejecting the warp core as a player gameplay mechanic. we wont be able to do it at will or anything like that. but i could see it as part of a scripted mission. if circumstances arrise durring the course of a mission it could be part of the narrative. I would have no problem with that usage.

but i cant see it being a good idea to have player control over ejecting the warp core. Its not as though its a valid defence, none of the shows ever used it as a defensive tactic. when and if they ever did eject the warp core it was usually due to an overload of some kind (usually related to some modification/ experiment they were attempting at the moment)

Actually they did use it defensivly in Insurrection.

They used to warp core to counter/dissipate a sub space tear created by the Sona's weapons.

[auutumn]

Well, I think ejecting your warp core should be doable and I think that retrieving it, such as it the tractor beam or a shuttle, should be possible. There's also the possibility of it hitting your ship or another ship and exploding...or it could be stolen.

[THORN74]

Actually they did use it defensivly in Insurrection.

They used to warp core to counter/dissipate a sub space tear created by the Sona's weapons.

yes, u r correct, but insurection also gave us the podium flight stick helm control, for rikers "super kool" slow-arching turn to port. maybe we should have that idiotic "manual helm conrtol" included in the game too.


i can forsee a played controlled warpcore ejection being this games equivilant to halos rabbit-jumping combat style. Both annoying and irritating at the same time

[OrabIbo]

I'm all for ejecting your Warp core, IF it works..... I don't think there was a single sucessful ejections of the Warp Core in any of the TNG series. They threatened with it, they attempted it but saved from doing it at the last possible second. or it failed to eject at all and the HAD to do something. Picard was pretty adamant about not losing his ship.

[warbot7777]

I'm all for ejecting your Warp core, IF it works..... I don't think there was a single sucessful ejections of the Warp Core in any of the TNG series. They threatened with it, they attempted it but saved from doing it at the last possible second. or it failed to eject at all and the HAD to do something. Picard was pretty adamant about not losing his ship.

You're right but I did find this:

The USS Enterprise-E ejected its warp core in 2375 to seal a subspace tear created by a isolytic burst. (Star Trek: Insurrection)

USS Voyager's warp core was ejected on several occasions:

* In 2371 by B'Elanna Torres, under the influence of the consciousness of Chakotay, to prevent Voyager entering a dark-matter nebula. (VOY: "Cathexis")
* In 2374, after a stream of tachyons triggered a core overload. The core was captured by the Caatati, but later recovered. (VOY: "Day of Honor")
* The mimetic copy of Voyager was forced to eject its warp core shortly before its destruction in 2375. The ejection allows the ship to drop out of warp, but caused further damage to the already disintegrating vessel. (VOY: "Course: Oblivion")
* The Doctor as the Emergency Command Hologram had the ability to order a core ejection. In 2378, he did so in order to pay for Captain Janeway's release from the Hierarchy. (VOY: "Renaissance Man")


http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Image:Warp_core_breach_flashpoint.jpg

[Typheron]

Im all for this too, as either a mission plot point (ala voyager episodes) or as a last-ditch attempt to save your ship should you take too much damage to the core and its about to breach.

Oviously as a plot point its recoverable as part of a mission, but doing it in combat should very much be a last resort thats only slightly better than it breaching.

[Mojo]

Ejection of the warp core would only be used as a last resort in the event of a series of failures.

First, there would have to be an uncontrolled reaction of matter and anti matter within the magnetic bottle in the core. This can occur for any number of reasons, including damage to the core, occlusion of the matter/antimatter streams, or damage to the dilithium crystals.

Next, you would try to shut down the warp core. This would be accomplished by simply turning off the matter/antimatter fuel streams.

If you couldn't do that (the injectors were frozen for some reason, such as excessive heating), you could eject the fuel tanks or the core itself.

As mentioned, the parts would be on board any ship for the construction of a new core. Presumably, this replacement would be rather less efficient than the main core, but it would be functional. Fuel on the other hand might be harder to come by. Antimatter can be generated by the ship, but the deuterium supply would need to be protected. Thus, ejection of the antimatter supply might be more practical than ejecting the core. The situation would be the determining factor.

In any case, it would be exclusively an emergency action. Without the core, the ship's main power source would be gone. The warp core provides power for all systems, after all. The Impulse engines can fill in for important systems, but there would be no way to generate a warp field of any significant intensity.

As a combat tactic, ejecting the warp core would be foolhardy. Not only would you leave yourelf defenseless, you wouldn't to do much damage to anyone in the proximity of the blast. It's not a weapon, much of the energy of the blast would be wasted in collateral effects and would have no real impact on a ship's hull, let alone its shields. Uncontrolled means unfocused, and that means less impact.

[Typheron]

"Uncontrolled means unfocused, and that means less impact."

while true, theres still a vast amount of energy being released there, way more than a photon torp (which is a antimatter warhead). I would still expect significant shield/hull damage to anything within the blast area, definatly not enough to kill a ship outright, but enough to damage it. Look what happened to the Ent-D saucer at the end of generations, a bunch of systems got knocked offline when the D's core went and some panels exploded.

[Azurian]

Yes, Warp Core ejections should be in the game. Even it being unejectable, thus having to use the escape pods.

Ejection of the warp core would only be used as a last resort in the event of a series of failures.

First, there would have to be an uncontrolled reaction of matter and anti matter within the magnetic bottle in the core. This can occur for any number of reasons, including damage to the core, occlusion of the matter/antimatter streams, or damage to the dilithium crystals.

Next, you would try to shut down the warp core. This would be accomplished by simply turning off the matter/antimatter fuel streams.

If you couldn't do that (the injectors were frozen for some reason, such as excessive heating), you could eject the fuel tanks or the core itself.

As mentioned, the parts would be on board any ship for the construction of a new core. Presumably, this replacement would be rather less efficient than the main core, but it would be functional. Fuel on the other hand might be harder to come by. Antimatter can be generated by the ship, but the deuterium supply would need to be protected. Thus, ejection of the antimatter supply might be more practical than ejecting the core. The situation would be the determining factor.

In any case, it would be exclusively an emergency action. Without the core, the ship's main power source would be gone. The warp core provides power for all systems, after all. The Impulse engines can fill in for important systems, but there would be no way to generate a warp field of any significant intensity.

As a combat tactic, ejecting the warp core would be foolhardy. Not only would you leave yourelf defenseless, you wouldn't to do much damage to anyone in the proximity of the blast. It's not a weapon, much of the energy of the blast would be wasted in collateral effects and would have no real impact on a ship's hull, let alone its shields. Uncontrolled means unfocused, and that means less impact.

Not sure on other classes, but on the Galaxy-class and the Consitution-class the Deuterium tanks were embedded deep in the secondary hull, so they were impossible to eject. But Anti-Matter Containment pods were ejectable, incase of pod containment failing.


But you have a misunderstanding on some things. Deuterium doesn't need need to be protected as much as Anti-matter, because Anti-matter is more volitile than Deuterium.

And yes, ships do have Anti-Matter generators, but they are meant for emergencies only. And Deuterium can be collected from the Bussard Collectors on the Warp Nacelles.

Also, the Warp Core isn't the only power source on a starship. The Impulse Engines generate power as well. That's why the Enterprise D's Saucer Section had power, and why starships can continue to function without it's Warp Cores.

[Mojo]

Yes, Warp Core ejections should be in the game. Even it being unejectable, thus having to use the escape pods.



Not sure on other classes, but on the Galaxy-class and the Consitution-class the Deuterium tanks were embedded deep in the secondary hull, so they were impossible to eject. But Anti-Matter Containment pods were ejectable, incase of pod containment failing.


But you have a misunderstanding on some things. Deuterium doesn't need need to be protected as much as Anti-matter, because Anti-matter is more volitile than Deuterium.

And yes, ships do have Anti-Matter generators, but they are meant for emergencies only. And Deuterium can be collected from the Bussard Collectors on the Warp Nacelles.

Also, the Warp Core isn't the only power source on a starship. The Impulse Engines generate power as well. That's why the Enterprise D's Saucer Section had power, and why starships can continue to function without it's Warp Cores.


Unfocused means less impact. Consider your garden hose. if you take the spray nozzle off the end, the water runs out, but has little pressure. As soon as you concentrate and focus the stream, you get more pressure. Same amount of water, much greater pressure.
Remember that the warp core doesn't contain the antimatter, it's only going to have a small amount of it at any given time. Even if the amount is greater than that in a photon torpedo, the torpedo is designed to deliver maximum impact. It would be like the difference between a general bomb and a shaped charge. The non-shaped charge would explode in all directions, and much of the energy expended wouldn't come in contact with the ship. A photon torpedo would get more bang for it's antimatter buck because all fo it would be directed at the target. Enterprise D's saucer suffered because their systems were damaged in battle, and because the explosion pushed them into the gravity of the planet. The explosion itself did comparatively little damage. It was the prior battle and the crash that did it.

I would expect that the deuterium tanks would be in different locations on different ships, and that there would be ways of emptying them if neccesary. However, as you say, deuterium is not as volatile as antimatter, and likely wouldn't need to be dumped in most circumstances. Still, one never knows.

I already said that the ship can rely on power from the impulse engines, but there's no way they can produce anywhere near the power of the antimatter reaction.

[cavilier210]

Unfocused means less impact. Consider your garden hose. if you take the spray nozzle off the end, the water runs out, but has little pressure. As soon as you concentrate and focus the stream, you get more pressure. Same amount of water, much greater pressure.
Remember that the warp core doesn't contain the antimatter, it's only going to have a small amount of it at any given time. Even if the amount is greater than that in a photon torpedo, the torpedo is designed to deliver maximum impact. It would be like the difference between a general bomb and a shaped charge. The non-shaped charge would explode in all directions, and much of the energy expended wouldn't come in contact with the ship. A photon torpedo would get more bang for it's antimatter buck because all fo it would be directed at the target. Enterprise D's saucer suffered because their systems were damaged in battle, and because the explosion pushed them into the gravity of the planet. The explosion itself did comparatively little damage. It was the prior battle and the crash that did it.

I would expect that the deuterium tanks would be in different locations on different ships, and that there would be ways of emptying them if neccesary. However, as you say, deuterium is not as volatile as antimatter, and likely wouldn't need to be dumped in most circumstances. Still, one never knows.

I already said that the ship can rely on power from the impulse engines, but there's no way they can produce anywhere near the power of the antimatter reaction.



Actually, the photon torpedoes don't direct their damage, they just blow up when they hit something, like a missile does. the only differece is that the torpedo hits its target, and maybe embeds itself a little ways. Now, quantum torpedoes DO focus their energy towards the taget, using a field akin to shields.

I would also argue that the core, which is tall and has a continuous stream of anti-protons flying though it all the time, would have far greater destructive power then a torpedo. Also, theres A LOT of energy in a single atom, and at 100% efficiency, a matter/anti-matter explosion of any size could be devestating.

Depending on your source, theres also the issue that the anti-matter in the photon torpedo comes from the store for the core, so starfleet would want as little of the fuel for its ships going into these projectiles. Only a few millegrams are needed to have the desired effect.... if even a mg.

[dbonarius]

i hope they make a warp core ejection system (but it should only be available is the core is going to breach)

[jagerbolt]

I'm not sure if it would work so well as a game/battle mechanic, seems like it has the potential for abuse. Maybe like someone else mentioned, Mr. Scott was an elite engineer so if you have an excellent or elite engineer of your own then the option becomes available as a last second effort that may or may not work.

Another idea that would be cool is to involve it as a plot device for one of the missions. Someone sabotages the ship and ejects/steals the core leaving you and the crew to find out who is the culprit is and track them down with the limited power available to the ship. Could be interesting/fun if done right.

[THORN74]

Another idea that would be cool is to involve it as a plot device for one of the missions. Someone sabotages the ship and ejects/steals the core leaving you and the crew to find out who is the culprit is and track them down with the limited power available to the ship. Could be interesting/fun if done right.

i could see this work as part of a mission story, but under no circumstances should ejecting the warp core be under player control.

[A-British-Ferengi]

Well i believe a player should be able to eject the warp core, but it would always be a sucidal move and you would be drifting afterwards unless your with a buddy and he tractors you away from the warp core, and an ejected warpcore should be highly explosive so most forms of damage can set it off potentialy causing lots of damage, as for the you've been saved by your buddy by your own drifting warp core scenario and what you do without a warp core you've got me.

[Azurian]

I think it should be up to the player under certain circumstances. (Like your core is breeching and then you have the option of ejecting, or as part of the script in an event). That way it should prevent griefing.

Unfocused means less impact. Consider your garden hose. if you take the spray nozzle off the end, the water runs out, but has little pressure. As soon as you concentrate and focus the stream, you get more pressure. Same amount of water, much greater pressure.
Remember that the warp core doesn't contain the antimatter, it's only going to have a small amount of it at any given time. Even if the amount is greater than that in a photon torpedo, the torpedo is designed to deliver maximum impact. It would be like the difference between a general bomb and a shaped charge. The non-shaped charge would explode in all directions, and much of the energy expended wouldn't come in contact with the ship. A photon torpedo would get more bang for it's antimatter buck because all fo it would be directed at the target. Enterprise D's saucer suffered because their systems were damaged in battle, and because the explosion pushed them into the gravity of the planet. The explosion itself did comparatively little damage. It was the prior battle and the crash that did it.

What you are citing is called the Bernoulli Principle of Hydrodynamics. That does not hold for Quantum Mechanics.

And I know that the Warp Core Doesn't contain the Antimatter, it's where it mixes. But still it contains enough antimatter to warrant the core's ejection to prevent the destruction of the ship.

As for your Photon Torpedo analogy, it is wrong. It's simply a guided Anti-matter warhead. And if it was "Maximum Effect" then they would not replace it with Quantum Torpedoes. :p

[rygar]

Well i believe a player should be able to eject the warp core, but it would always be a sucidal move and you would be drifting afterwards unless your with a buddy and he tractors you away from the warp core, and an ejected warpcore should be highly explosive so most forms of damage can set it off potentialy causing lots of damage, as for the you've been saved by your buddy by your own drifting warp core scenario and what you do without a warp core you've got me.

I would think that if starfleet put an eject on the warp core it would have sufficent velocity to carry it far enough away from the ship before it blows. Otherwise why have an eject for it at all?

[aero029]

I wonder if you could beam over to another ship, eject THEIR core, and then annihilate them. Either that, or just to mess around with your friend's ship. Cath 'em with their shields down, lol....

[cocoa-jin]

Ejecting you warp core is good for what? In combat it essentially throwing your gun down when it jams in a fire fight, with no place to hide your dead anyway.

In non-combat situtations, how often will you need to eject your core?

So if its mainly a combat option, why warp a tug boat in within a short period of time/ The guy who whooped your warp core into a froth is still likly their and will essentially destroy the tug.

Now, if the damage model is good enough, perhaps warp core contaiment issues could degrade over time, giving one the option to run away, hide, or not realize the extent of core damage and get an imminent breach later on(a presistent and accumaltive damage aspect to the damage model) when its least suspected.

Requesting a tug should take some time to minimize exploiting and gamieness. So requesting a tug while under threat should make you sweat and be unsuccessful more often than not. It cant be a PvP exploit or PvE exploit to dump your core severly damage others, then get a free ride back to base...or nuke the enemy and then just waltz back into the fight with a fresh ship.

[Dext]

This just occurred to me and I wanted to get what others thought of it.

Remember in all those episodes in TNG and Voyager when the engineers yell up to the captain that the warp core is about to lose containment. Also I remember an episode of Voyager where they ejected the Warp Core and later retrieved it. I was thinking it might be cool if we had that option in the game. If a ship wants to blow up another ship, you target the warp core correct? Well, to add some more strategy into the game, shouldn't we be allowed to eject the core?

I am pretty sure you can't go to warp without your warp core so I was thinking if you lose your warp core that there would be an option to call for a tug boat. The tug boat would warp to your position in a short amount of time (may not be realistic but if it takes awhile it might get boring waiting). The tug boat would then tractor you to the nearest star base.

Thoughts, comments?

The only time you should be allowed to do this is if the core is going to blow an it has some kind of pop up asking you if you would like to. but it would also need a chance not to work like we seen in the show where they try to dump it but it wont.

[cavilier210]

much as i like the ideas for dumping the core, i think the best idea would be to have it as an extreme engine damage situation, or a scripted moment. Also, maybe it would be a good consequence (if we can set our warp factors) to have our cores overload if we drive the engine to hard

[Toaster87]

You should be only allowed to eject the core if your Containment level goes below a certain level.....lets say 5%. And at 1% the computer will automatically start the procedure but it might not be enough time for the computer to eject it so u still might go boom.

And what about selling retrieved warpcores to other NPC races for some technology or hand it bk to your respective fleet for a Ship upgrade or something along those lines. You should only see a salvagable warpcore once in a very long time coz if it gets ejected then they ejected it for a reason lol

[THORN74]

Well i believe a player should be able to eject the warp core, but it would always be a sucidal move and you would be drifting afterwards unless your with a buddy and he tractors you away from the warp core, and an ejected warpcore should be highly explosive so most forms of damage can set it off potentialy causing lots of damage, as for the you've been saved by your buddy by your own drifting warp core scenario and what you do without a warp core you've got me.

Just because you dumped your warp core doesnt mean your ships is a drifting lifeless hulk. you still have impulse reactors and impulse drive (unless they are offline/damaged. you would probably be at 10% power capacity and also be limited to sublight travel, but not dead in space.

[JamesDBurke]

Ok, I've read through the whole thread and both (well, there are more than two POVs on this so all) sides of the debate make some really good points about whether or not Warp COre Ejection should be a part of the game. The one thing everyone misses is the fun factor.

Let's face it there are certain aspects of ejecting your warp core in a last ditch effort to save your ship and crew, to use to disable a gi-normous hostile probe/station/weapon etc... that just are plain cool. Now, we already know that Cryptic is avoiding harsh 'player death' penalties so there is no reason to believe that the penalty for Warp Core Ejection would be all that harsh either, although it would probably be less than for all out 'player death'.

What it comes to is that if Cryptic can find a fun, applicable method of applying Warp Core Ejection to the game to enhance the experience of gameplay I'm sure we can rest assure that they will. If they can't find a way to do it then they won't. As much as some of us would like this to be a true SIM, remember it isn't. It is an MMO and that means the first requirement (after authenticity) is fun-factor and playability - not realism. And yes, there is a difference between authenticity and realism in reference to a manufactured Sci-Fi universe.

Authenticity: the sensation that you are actually taking part in the Trek universe while playing the game; that Federation & Klingon ships perform along expected characteristics and that missions for Feds & Klingons have a separate feel that clearly marks one as Federation (ie Utopian/Exploration) or Klingon (Honor Bound/Expansionist/Combative).

Realism: ensuring that phaser power is regulated to within accepted power output; that warp core mix ratios are accurate; that shield frequencies must be regularly calibrated to mach weapons frequencies; that the phrase 'harmonic resonance scan' actually means something.

Realism is all the interesting nitty-gritty that is 'behind the scenes' so to speak, but that really would not appeal to any but the most hardcore of Trek fan. Please note that I said hardcore Trek fan, not hardcore gamer because even the most hardcore of gamers aren't looking for that much detail - that amount of detail is reserved only for advanced SIM players.

Let's face it. This will be a really good and authentic to Trek MMO that will be exceptionally fun to play and fairly in depth. What it won't be is a 'hard SIM' with extreme attention to detail. That wouldn't attract a large enough audience to make this concept viable.

[Haegemon]

Well i believe a player should be able to eject the warp core, but it would always be a sucidal move and you would be drifting afterwards unless your with a buddy and he tractors you away from the warp core, and an ejected warpcore should be highly explosive so most forms of damage can set it off potentialy causing lots of damage, as for the you've been saved by your buddy by your own drifting warp core scenario and what you do without a warp core you've got me.


Yes, I'm agree in how dangerous should be a floating warp core. If someone ejects the core, this while is floating is vulnerable. If a cause of inminent explosion or a torphedo, etc the core explodes you should better stay far away from it.

[Haegemon]

Ejecting you warp core is good for what? In combat it essentially throwing your gun down when it jams in a fire fight, with no place to hide your dead anyway.

In non-combat situtations, how often will you need to eject your core?

So if its mainly a combat option, why warp a tug boat in within a short period of time/ The guy who whooped your warp core into a froth is still likly their and will essentially destroy the tug.

Now, if the damage model is good enough, perhaps warp core contaiment issues could degrade over time, giving one the option to run away, hide, or not realize the extent of core damage and get an imminent breach later on(a presistent and accumaltive damage aspect to the damage model) when its least suspected.

Requesting a tug should take some time to minimize exploiting and gamieness. So requesting a tug while under threat should make you sweat and be unsuccessful more often than not. It cant be a PvP exploit or PvE exploit to dump your core severly damage others, then get a free ride back to base...or nuke the enemy and then just waltz back into the fight with a fresh ship.


Should be as a quest. In PVP if your warp core is damaged you're death, or as you said: "perhaps warp core contaiment issues could degrade over time, giving one the option to run away, hide, or not realize the extent of core damage and get an imminent breach later"

[cocoa-jin]

And what about selling retrieved warpcores to other NPC races for some technology or hand it bk to your respective fleet for a Ship upgrade or something along those lines.

Why would you get such a reward for doing your job? Prestege points, which could be used toward acquiring an upgrade, is the most one could reasonably ask for.

Civilian captains could theoretically salavage a warp core for sale on a black market at the risk for being caught with contra-band(I assume Federation or faction warp cores are controlled items)...though I suspect factions would pay a finders fee for civilian aid in locating lost cores...though I also suspect factions, at least Starfleet, is fully capable of tracking warp cores or at least the lose of ships resulting in the need of salavage and recovery missions for such controlled items like warp cores

[WinterPark1701]

It seems that finding lost warp cores wouldn't be a great way to make money as the vast majority of the time when you dump a warp core it generaly gets destroyed shortly there after. I mean if the problem wasn't so threating as to warrent the dumping of your primary source of purpoulsion then you'd problby just keep the damn thing and fix it abord your ship.

[callsign11b]

a warp core breach resulting to a emergency warp core ejection.
just what it is a emergency. means your lossing anti matter contaiment. witch we all know means big ban.
if you are successful in ejecting your warp core . you gotten it out of your ship before it blows up.
now to retreave it would be like retrievenig a atom bomb that was trigered but failed to exploded a good bump and you could be at ground zero and fixing your tan.
just because voy. show seam to eject there warp core every second show shouldn't be like that in the game.
once you eject it it should go boom and your either implusing speed home or your getting tractor home by another ship.

[tom_riker01]

How about a compromise folks? Obviously ejecting the warp core was not something ship captains did for the fun of it, however there were numerous instances where the core was ejected. Usually this was done because the core was going to breach, but it was proven in Star Trek - Insurrection that the warp core could be detonated remotely, causing the huge explosion we've all come to know and love.

My opinion: You can eject the core to save your ship from exploding. You can eject the core and detonate it remotely hoping to utterly destroy your enemy in the process, however you only have one warp core. Without it, you're now stuck on impulse power with only emergency power to keep your ship going. A good penalty would be no warpdrive, minimal shields and sensors and no weapons. (TOS: Elann of Troyius) Suffice it to say, you're now at a huge tactical disadvantage. Any ship operating at full strength will be able to crush you like an ant.

Clearly you'll have to call Starfleet up for a ride to the nearest base and again there should be a significant delay of sometype from installing the new warpcore. Not so long that it sucks to play, but long enough to make you think twice about losing it.

This would give you the option of having a last ditch, "I'm about to die but before I go take THIS!!!" weapon, and would provide realistic enough penalties to keep people from just firing warpcores galore.

Oh, and I should also mention that there should be an explosion radius large enough to make you seriously ask yourself if your ship can safely limp away.

As for recovering the warpcore, if you eject the core and it doesn't blow due to damage but can be repaired after a battle, then recovering it should be possible. But again, ejection was almost always a save your skin maneuver.

Just my two cents.

[jer08k2]

Well yes like everyone else said there will probably warp core ejection but I think if you want to retrive it you use a shuttle to go and tracter it back to you ship. That would be more realistic than a other ship coming out of no where and getting it for you. Just a thought.:)

[callsign11b]

I agree with that.
just don't think collecting warp cores as salvage is a thing to do.
it would be like playing russan roulet but with warp cores.

[DerManiac]

I'm not a tech expert (and I dont know if this has already been said), but wouldn't ejecting the warp core, not only leave you with only impulse power, but also limit the energy for all systems (including life support) to emergency power, since the EPS grid would go offline? Could that mean that you would have a limited time until your emergency power is depleted (and thus failing life support)? Or does a starship have another power supply next to the warp core?

I would find it rather interesting if one would have to abandon his warp core, and therefore would be floating in space with impulse thrusters only, forced to send a distress signal for one of the "engineering class" ships (as they have been introduced by cryptic) to show up and repair the mess.

Of course ejecting the warp core should not work in every situation where the ship is about to break into pieces. Only if the warp core is the reason, and ejecting works - i think i can remember a few occasions in the series where it was tried to eject it, but it didn't work, for whatever reason. A warp core breach isn't the only way for a ship to be destroyed, altough for dramatic reasons it was always the only way the "heroes" ship was beeing threatened. A hull breach is much more likely. Single hull breaches in non critical sections can be sealed off, but if the ship takes to much damage, it can be blown in to pieces in seconds (happens mostly to the "bad guys" in the series).
Therefore I don't think that adding this feature to the game would make everyone eject the warp core every 30 minutes.

[Jamisicus6]

[QUOTE=Vernian;154240]

I am pretty sure you can't go to warp without your warp core ...[QUOTE]


When you lose your warp core you not only lose the ability to warp but also to move shoot and do anything that involves large amounts of power as the Warp core is not only propulsion but also the ships main power generator. If you eject the warp core you lose everything and in effect also communications although I doubt this would be the case. You would possibly send a distress call and hope someone on your side gets to you first :). If not... BOOOOOM!!! and both you and your crew DIE!!!

[nexudude]

Thoughts, comments?
I like that idea.

There was an episode of tos where they had to eject a recorder marker or something to warn future explorers of the danger encountered. I think that'd be cool if you had to do something like that when your ship's about to be destroyed so you don't lose data or anything. There're tons of things like that, actually. Why not just give us a ship and we can jettison whatever the heck we want? like, "a giant hungry space monster's attacking! Quick! launch a jelly donut torpedo at it while we make our getaway!" or "a giant hungry space monster's attacking! pick straws and whoever loses we launch at it while we make our getaway!"

I'm just being goofy, but I'd like some sort of system where people can think of new ways to solve a problem. Maybe like that time in star trek VI when they modified a torpedo to seek that cloaked bird of prey. Stuff like this would be hard to do, though. I think it would work if you made a list of all equipment that your ship had, and you could group items together so they created special effects. perhaps if you encountered a giant space monster, you would say, "Quick! if we combine our teleporter and that nuclear reactor we picked up on Omnicron Perseiae 8, we could teleport radiation directly into the monster's body!" or maybe "Strap as many proton torpedos together as you can and launch them all!"

[DerManiac]

I "Quick! if we combine our teleporter and that nuclear reactor we picked up on Omnicron Perseiae 8, we could teleport radiation directly into the monster's body!" or maybe "Strap as many proton torpedos together as you can and launch them all!"

Yeah, why not implement a physic engine that applies the rules of quantum mechanics :D

[nexudude]

Yeah, why not implement a physic engine that applies the rules of quantum mechanics :D

why not! It'd be the first of its kind!

[DerManiac]

You think they could get Prof. Hawking in the development team?:D

[dinendae]

You think they could get Prof. Hawking in the development team?:D

Why not? ST:TNG got him for an episode!:D

[Trekkie]

I don't really think that ejecting the warp core should be something that players can do too often, but it might be a really good tactical move in Player vs. Player interactions or maybe as some sort of "last ditch" effort in large-scale events like Borg invasions. I wouldn't mind seeing something like this implemented as long as it was reasonably restricted.

[cocoa-jin]

My issue with the use of ejecting warp cores as a tactic is the lack of finality that would exist with its use in game.

It seems it'll be abused and exploited without some check and balance, risk/reward, something.