borg

[up2zero]

i seen we will battle the borg, but will we be able to play as the borg?

[marscentral]

Not on release. Federation or Klingon to start with, more factions later.

Check the FAQ.

[Silverspar]

i seen we will battle the borg, but will we be able to play as the borg?

Doubt it. The Borg are not exactly free anything you go where the Collective decides to go.

[simply]

Maybe later like a collective - many players in one ship - each with one job.

But I do not not if it can be done

[CarlR]

i belive the borg are an Event thing, possible part of a quest line but other then that i hope to not see them, and i highly doubt you can play them. The Borg are Over used, so much so that every time i see the dam borg i moan "Aww man not the Borg again!" i am sick of the borg!!

[TruthSeer]

Personally I hope they're not playable.

[NightWatcher]

I think maybe you should be able to play as a freed borg but I would like to be part of the collective.

[TheMasterpiece]

i belive the borg are an Event thing, possible part of a quest line but other then that i hope to not see them, and i highly doubt you can play them. The Borg are Over used, so much so that every time i see the dam borg i moan "Aww man not the Borg again!" i am sick of the borg!!



Thats true about the events. One of the random events listed was a borg invasion of a sector. Borg are an impressive ncp enemy. not a good playable faction. Not to mention voyager ruined the borg anyway

[Silverspar]

I think maybe you should be able to play as a freed borg but I would like to be part of the collective.

My understanding you can make a character that was freed from the Collective, but I really hope they don't make the Collective a playable faction. THe Borg were wussified enough because of Voyager and towards the end of First Contact. The most dangerous threat in the Galaxy should of never been made to look as weak as it has.

[IanD967]

1st: welcome! :D
2nd yes we will fight the borg (as shown on the trailer) and i sure as heck hope we dont get to play as a borg :)

[TheMasterpiece]

I think were safe there, the playable factions seem to be all alpha quadrant (both starter factions and those released later) excluding the dominion who only came through the wormhole anyway.

[Will_Lucky]

You cant play as the Borg but I'm sure there is nothing stopping you using create a race and joining Starfleet or The Klingon Empire with it.

[NeoWolf]

Although they do not seem to be in from release, there is certainly enough rationalisation for them to be a playabale faction...

We have borg who have been recovered a la Picard and Seven, the Echeb etc.. with varying degrees of cybernetic implant remnants and therefore susceptibility to borg control.

We also have Hugh and his Free Thinking borg from TNG as well as the other independants that Lore was leading fora time (which seemed likely to become part of Hughs group)

We have the Cooperative, ex borg from the Voyager Series..

Also from Voyager we have the Unimatrix 0 borg who were given there independance again there were lots of these guys.. the queen is unlikely to have killed, reassimilated all of them.

So there are certainly plenty of precedents that make borg a feasible non enemy faction in thier own right too..

However you also have to consider Game Balance.. cybernetics give a huge performance edge.. it wouldnt be easy to fairly implement that in game without nerfing what it means to be borg anyway.. then there is the fact that they CAN still assimilate others, even 7of9 still had this capability.. and Assimilation as a playable Game mechanic would impose too much control over other peoples characters, such that it would become a point of contention.. (i.e Dude, Assimilated me, I didnt play 3 years to be a fekking borg.. I want it removed..yada yada...)... again something that couldnt easily be done game play wise to make people happy.

So whether they end up a playabale faction.. or instead with the usual evil non playabale borg and some non evil borg npc factions (more likely) remains to be seen.

[Awarkle]

i think rescued borg but effectivly its a normal toon with just visible borg implants.


although personally i dont think race should ever effect your toons abilites it causes way too many balance issues.

[Silverspar]

The vibe I am getting is that race won't affect any of your characters skills or stats, it's basically a cosmetic look. Generally speaking the only unique trait for races out there tend to be whether they are psychic or not (cept in Vulcan cases of having green blood).

[TheMasterpiece]

certain races may be smarter or more inclined to science while others are faster, more combative, more adept at engineering etc.

[Silverspar]

certain races may be smarter or more inclined to science while others are faster, more combative, more adept at engineering etc.

I tend to find that in profiling, and definitely wouldn't fit the over-all theme of Star Trek. Yea, I know the motif of TOS put Tellerites as outstanding engineers, andorians and great security, vulcans as exceptional science, ect... but in TNG and beyond that just doesn't flow anymore. Not to mention, again, with your ability to create a race, that mold just no longer fits.

[Netche]

The vibe I am getting is that race won't affect any of your characters skills or stats, it's basically a cosmetic look. Generally speaking the only unique trait for races out there tend to be whether they are psychic or not (cept in Vulcan cases of having green blood).

I agre with silverspar.
but am also very interested how the skills will be handeled.
wil it go up with xp, or like in eve over time

[Trekkie]

I do not think that the Borg will be a playable faction considering they might overpower the other factions.

[Drazal]

i always been a fan of the borg

[JMD10222]

It wont happen. The Borg would not work as a player race, because of their lack of individuality.

[Drazal]

ya, but i would love to see some kind of ex borg option in player creation

[Silverspar]

ya, but i would love to see some kind of ex borg option in player creation

Considering the character creation engine would allow for virtually any character to be created, it shouldn't be difficult to conceive that there will be options to make a character look like an ex borg, or even just claim your character was liberated from the Collective. One of the great things about role-playing; you create the backstory of your character.

[Ontas]

You can't outrun them, you can't destroy them. If you damage them the essence of what they are remains. They regenerate and keep coming. Eventually you will weaken. Your reserves will be gone. They are relentless. -Q

Here are some things I don't want to see:

Borg as a player faction

The Borg are too powerful to be a player faction. They have no individuals, so being a Borg would be like sitting behind the controls and watching an NPC go about its business. The only feasible way to do a collective mind in an MMORPG is to have one player controlling the entire race, and I think we can all see the flaws in that.

Borg as a "non-collective" player faction

There's no need to change the Borg. Voyager already weakened them by forgetting that they are a force of nature instead of Machiavellian monsters. Giving the Borg free will or allowing for independent "collectives" on individual cubes, spheres, and other geometric starships takes away from what originally made the Borg so ominous, so threatening, and so unstoppable.

The Borg should be near-invulnerable, awe-inspiring, and otherwise too powerful to be put in player hands. That's the long and short of it, and the reason I say no to a Borg player faction.

Borg as a "species" option when you are creating captain/crew

I doubt I'll win on this one, but I have a feeling that if you open up the option for players to be a Borg or have a Borg on their crew, too many people will be tempted. Even if every 1 out of 10 ships has a Borg, that's too many. The Borg don't leave the Collective, and severing a Borg after a long time with the Collective is a painful, traumatic, and taxing event (see Jean-Luc Picard or Seven of Nine for reference). It's just completely unbelievable to me that the Borg would represent a significant percentage of the Starfleet population.

So am I totally anti "player Borg"?

Not necessarily, because there is something I would like to see in the game:

Missions that allow you to rescue and de-assimilate a severed drone

It has already been stated that players will be able to integrate aliens they encounter into their crews. If players want a Borg, they should be a hard thing to come by, and should be an achievement rather than a right.

Imagine the mission: your ship receives a distress call. You find a ruined alien ship, and a Borg scout vessel nearby. There is only one survivor: a drone. At great risk to your crew, you decide to help this injured drone, now severed from the Collective. Based on the skill and experience of your medical and engineering teams, the drone might actually survive the removal of many of its implants. Reluctantly, the Borg joins your crew, and slowly acclimates to its new existence, but having a Borg on board should be a constant liability. Seven of Nine, for instance, had occasions where she was sought for vengeance, for sport, and for her Borg abilities, and even turned on the crew once or twice. I think the bad feelings toward the Borg remain well into the 25th century throughout the galaxy, and it should also be difficult for them to fight their nature and resist the urge to rejoin the Collective.

So, those are all my thoughts on what the Borg should and shouldn't be. As a player faction, I think the Borg would be silly. I think if the option to create a Borg character exists, it will be exploited too much by people who just like the idea of evil cyborgs. However, I think a mission that involves the rescue of a Borg could invoke images and themes from "I, Borg" and the Seven of Nine story lines whilst providing a few dedicated players with the opportunity to "assimilate" a Borg crewmember of their very own.

[Voorhees]

Ok, the borg will be based off mission lines. Example emmert used on an interview was this:

"You may get a mission, where a borg cube is about to assimulate a pre warp civiliation and your mission may wind up to stop the borg but, without any knowledge to the ciliviation that what is going on" The cool thing about this is that its 2 cool mission in one.

1 is a borg mission. 2 its a prime directive mission!!!!

They will also be used as big events like a borg invasion or some sort too.

[Drazal]

It has already been stated that players will be able to integrate aliens they encounter into their crews. If players want a Borg, they should be a hard thing to come by, and should be an achievement rather than a right.

Imagine the mission: your ship receives a distress call. You find a ruined alien ship, and a Borg scout vessel nearby. There is only one survivor: a drone. At great risk to your crew, you decide to help this injured drone, now severed from the Collective. Based on the skill and experience of your medical and engineering teams, the drone might actually survive the removal of many of its implants. Reluctantly, the Borg joins your crew, and slowly acclimates to its new existence, but having a Borg on board should be a constant liability. Seven of Nine, for instance, had occasions where she was sought for vengeance, for sport, and for her Borg abilities, and even turned on the crew once or twice. I think the bad feelings toward the Borg remain well into the 25th century throughout the galaxy, and it should also be difficult for them to fight their nature and resist the urge to rejoin the Collective.

However, I think a mission that involves the rescue of a Borg could invoke images and themes from "I, Borg" and the Seven of Nine story lines whilst providing a few dedicated players with the opportunity to "assimilate" a Borg crewmember of their very own.

I really think that is a great idea

[belfastbutcher]

I think it would be cool if our avatars could get captured and assimilated. I don't know if this game will have real death (which raises the stakes and therefore fun, in my opinion), but it would be cool to find yourself battling your old avatar who had been turned into a Borg. Maybe have task force missions to rescue your old avatar before it's too late. If you succeed, your avatar can return and "hear" the Borg like Picard, but he would also attract them more. Lots of possibilities.

[Omega1]

I think it would be cool if our avatars could get captured and assimilated. I don't know if this game will have real death (which raises the stakes and therefore fun, in my opinion), but it would be cool to find yourself battling your old avatar who had been turned into a Borg. Maybe have task force missions to rescue your old avatar before it's too late. If you succeed, your avatar can return and "hear" the Borg like Picard, but he would also attract them more. Lots of possibilities.


Although i do like that idea.....i'd be gutted if if i didn't save my precious avatar:(

[BirdOfPrey]

Do nyou really want to play this borg?
(http://images.easyart.com/i/prints/rw/lg/2/3/Celebrity-Image-Bjorn-Borg-231156.jpg)

[BirdOfPrey]

Shame on me for the next 100 years for this bad joke. :o

[belfastbutcher]

Although i do like that idea.....i'd be gutted if if i didn't save my precious avatar:(

I would be gutted too, but that's the point! With real risk and high stakes, the victories would be sweeter. Gets you emotionally involved. I care less when I can just rez my avatar. It would also integrate player experience into the universe---your avatar would become a storyline for others to play. Maybe they could save your toon, maybe they couldn't, but it would have immortality. You can always create another one.

[marscentral]

I am lookig forward to the first time my ship (hopefully with a fleet) encounters the Borg, just for that "We are the Borg.." line. Then watching as we all go to red alert and raise shields.

[YYC26]

I think it would be cool if our avatars could get captured and assimilated. I don't know if this game will have real death (which raises the stakes and therefore fun, in my opinion), but it would be cool to find yourself battling your old avatar who had been turned into a Borg. Maybe have task force missions to rescue your old avatar before it's too late. If you succeed, your avatar can return and "hear" the Borg like Picard, but he would also attract them more. Lots of possibilities.

Jack's already said there won't be harsh death penalties. Perma-death would kill this game in terms of any sort of casual player-base.

[Fernos]

I asked at the Vegas ST convention, as has been said not at release and most likely never as a playable race...however they seemed to hint at your PC being able to appear as if they were once assimilated...which works well for the character I have planned.

[TruthSeer]

Ok, the borg will be based off mission lines. Example emmert used on an interview was this:

"You may get a mission, where a borg cube is about to assimulate a pre warp civiliation and your mission may wind up to stop the borg but, without any knowledge to the ciliviation that what is going on" The cool thing about this is that its 2 cool mission in one.

1 is a borg mission. 2 its a prime directive mission!!!!

They will also be used as big events like a borg invasion or some sort too.

But doesn't this scenario go against borg cannon? Why would they be interested in a pre-warp civ?

[AaronH]

But doesn't this scenario go against borg cannon? Why would they be interested in a pre-warp civ?

Most likely yes. However, just because they are Pre Warp doesn't mean they are technological neanderthals. They could have some sort of advanced medical technology, or some sort of new allow never before seen, or so on. Heck, they could just be so genetically different and/or advanced the borg want to get whatever is in their genes. I could totally see the borg trying to assimilate the Horta, and they were prewarp.

Or they may simply desire something on the planet, maybe it is rich in some special metal or dilithium or something that the borg want for one reason or another,

[Angelphoenix12]

i wouldnt think so. manily because they would be over powering compaired to the other races.