1581

i assume they delayed the STO F2P launch because of SW:TOR launch

i may try play it again after the F2P …

but i never really like instanced MMO w/o single universe and this is nothing compared to ST: Klingon Academy and ST: Bridge Commander

imo ST: KA was one of best ST games ever (flight model wise, major capital ship combat, controls, environment usage for tactic in combat)
and ST: Elite Forces one of best FPS games from the ST universe even with good story and play-ability

also community made great stuff too youtube.com/watch?v=40d-SpClc5Q which puts ST: O ino shame even these days (and it’s 4 years old)

1582

I was reading the update notes for season 5 and I was reading about how you can allocate duty officers now. Has anyone tried that out yet and can talk about what it does?

1583

Basically, it’s a bit like a collectible card game. You get a bunch of individual ‘duty officers’, each with individual assignments and traits (these are pre-set and don’t change). You can have up to about 100 of these, and they come in different species and rarity, with some being more valuable and having rarer traits.

You can then send these guys off on various assignments: Trade, Diplomacy, Military, blah-de-blah, depending on what sector of space you happen to be in. Their chances of success depend on their traits and the assignments take a certain amount of time (whether you’re online or not). On completion, you then get a reward based on what kind of assignment it was - generally just some skill points and dilithium. In the event of failure, they can get injured and sent to sickbay for a time - or die in the case of the ‘common’ value officers.

Most of them can also be slotted on your ship - you have a set number of slots for this purpose - and provide some small passive bonus to either ground or space combat (like lowering the cooldown of a skill or adding a new functionality to one).

It’s a step in the direction they should have been going in from the start - ie: fun adventures in Star Trek space with your quirky, customisable, unique crew… but the duty officers themselves are too pre-determined and lacking in personality for it to really feel meaningful. Their traits never change, and you can’t even rename them - someone else is going to get the same Andorian, female engineer you got with the exact same traits you did.

1584

Seems that I’ve been away so long that I have to respec my main from the ground up. I’ve seen people saying that the respec tokens they had saved up are gone. I didn’t check this yet but if it’s true, that sucks big time. I’ve been in the game from day one. I had a crapload of them. If they were just removed somebody fucked up.

1585

The Duty Officer system is a good touch. I would add it does two important things.

Duty Officer adds a sense of engagement and substance. I find myself logging in whenever I’m “in between” stuff around the house and updating my assignments. Some are on fairly short cycles. You have different missions with different rewards in each sector (including recruitment missions when at Earth Spacedock and a couple other places to get more Duty Officers) as well as shipboard missions that are constantly cycling. The slotted buffs aren’t entirely passive either. I’ve got a couple characters that will beam in crew in certain situations: a nurse that offers a small chance to beam in a medic that heals the party whenever a hypo is used (Science skill) and a security officer with a chance to beam in an extra officer when a Tactical Officer uses his security team power. The chance for big risks with catastrophic failures in some missions adds a gambling feel to things as well. I don’t think each Duty Officer is premade. I think they’re randomly generated as there’s such a huge spread of roles (everything from bartender to armory officer) along with traits (stubborn, telepathic, aggressive, etc.) that can define a DO. Getting the right officer into the right role, and getting more officers to more effectively respond to available missions, is a fun little minigame.

The other important thing DO does is help with immersion. I really feel more like a captain now. There I am managing a vast crew aboard a big old ship.

I’d argue that I do get attached to certain officers. The more valuable ones with helpful traits are folks I’m already getting to know by name. I almost wish I could promote some of them into bridge positions as they’re earning it.

1586

Thanks for the info Brian. So what constitutes a “Catastrophic Failure?” Is it possible for the Duty Officer to die?

Also are they actually on the ship if you wander about the corridors or visit Engineering or the Sick Bay?

1587

What am I? Chopped liver? Jesus.

And no. There’s no visual representation of them on your ship.

1588

Thanks LeeArac :-)

1589

This is untrue. Every single DOff is pre-defined and not random. You will get exact copies of a single duty officer on your crew if you use the system long enough.

This is ostensibly a database-size issue, but I don’t like it.

1590

I suppose that’s possible? But I’ve already blown some cash on “booster packs” and I haven’t even filled all the possible roles yet much less gotten doubles on anyone. I think I might like to do some trading if that’s possible? How would that work? Or do you just sell them on the auction house?

1591

Sell them on the auction house, prices are crazy high for the rare ones.

1592

Not selling the rares! Unless I somehow get a double maybe…eventually I want all my DOs to be rare or better quality. Good officers can practically cover for not having the precise temperaments or skill sets needed for an assignment because of their quality bonuses.

1593

I am pretty amazed the game has pulled me in for 10 hours this week, I was pretty burned out after season 3.

1594

Once I got into the DO rotation I ended up doing other stuff while the missions cycled. When I was playing Skyrim I’d end up thinking about getting back on STO to mess around some more. Odds are this won’t last but right now I’m giving it another serious look. I didn’t think I’d be back until they kicked off doing Episodes again.

1595

Thank the ghods of gaming, they have a patch in the works for that thrice damned popping and crackling on ESB. ETA, this week.

1596

First round of C-store points went out, I logged on and found I had my 400CP waiting for me.

You are rewarded them on the day of the month you started playing STO.

Also don’t forget to claim your free ship this month from the C-store. Feds and Klingon’s both get a ship.

1597

I’m finding the Duty Officer “mini-game” very much like the old days of EVE. Back then you would train up skills even offline. Sometimes I’d set an alarm for when the training would end so as not to miss changing the skill training.

I’m not doing it for STO, but it does ring a bell.

1598

Hey, this is kinda cool from my user-generated-content loving perspective. From a “Yes, I’m back” forum post by dstahl:

That is why I’m excited to be back at Cryptic working directly with the highly talented UGC team to begin working on future updates for the Foundry, especially with the development of Neverwinter which has its own deep history of User Developed Content.

So this is going to be a continuing focus of development both with STO and the upcoming Neverwinter. NWN sets the bar for graphical MUDs where I’m concerned. Amazing little worlds people build and run out there. Dasaria is the one I messed with a bit and they’re still up and running. Just announced a 10th anniversary event (they migrated from NWN to NWN2).

1599

Last 20% off sale before F2P goes live next month.

I am gonna use my free 400cp I got last month to get 2 uniform sets I’ve been wanting.

Also they changed how ranks are displayed for the F2P tards : http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2745

And ground skills changes are being tested on the tribble shard :http://www.startrekonline.com/node/2744

1600

Just got an invite to start playing for free right now. All existing accounts are activated. It goes free for the rest of the world on the 17th.