STO Lead Designer Al Rivera issued a special dev blog outlining the new changes to security for fleets, and Executive Producer Daniel Stahl also posted about the integration of material from Star Trek: Voyager into the game, so join me past the break as I cover what has happened in STO since we got back from Las Vegas!
A couple of weeks ago, Dan Stahl posted a special dev blog on the STO site explaining that the team is currently about "mid-way through" development of the upcoming Season Eight patch. He reiterated that the Voth from Star Trek: Voyager will be heavily featured, as will the new Dyson Sphere space adventure zone. Concept art images of the new Dyson Sphere interiors can be found both in my previous Captain's Log that summarizes the news as well as on the STO screenshots page.
In his blog, Stahl posted the results of an in-forum poll that had asked the players, "Which Trek series' ships, characters, species, and stories, would you most like to see more of in a future STO expansion?" The results weren't very surprising, but the numbers were very clear:
- Enterprise – 409
- The Original Series – 198
- The Next Generation – 371
- Deep Space Nine – 474
- Voyager – 1,216
We can infer from the blog that after the teams are done working on Season Eight, they might be turning their attention to a new expansion and that expansion will focus on the Delta Quadrant. Stahl did say the Delta Quadrant is extremely distant from the home areas set on the edges of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. Because of this, "any journey into the Delta Quadrant would be long-term missions due to the expanse being traveled."
Stahl hinted heavily at the integration of new fleet holdings and projects that will lay the foundation for the advancement of the Federation and Klingon factions as they move toward the Delta Quadrant. However, Stahl also seemed to be eliciting responses from players by delineating several potential options for gameplay style with any future expansion that involves the Delta Quadrant.
Stahl said that there is a lot for the team to discuss, but it's looking to the players for their input. So expect more polls in the forums and participate in them. Currently, the next asks, "Which of these societies from Star Trek: Voyager would you most like to encounter in STO?" I don't want to hear from anyone that he was denied the opportunity to have his voice heard about a new Delta Quadrant-themed expansion because the door has been opened and they're listening right now!
As many of you know, several months ago I wrote about the tragic (tempered in the sense of gaming; no one died) loss of my fleet's, well, fleetness. We lost everything; our starbase, our embassy, our bank inventory, and access to the fleet itself. Every single member was booted out by a rogue fleet member.
How could that have happened, you ask? It was actually quite simple. From the information I was able to gather, a fleetmate became angry over his demotion in the fleet due to his inactivity. So angered, he either hacked a fleet leader or had been given that fleet leader's password and used it to sign in as the leader. Once he was in the game, he used the fleet leader's clearance to demote all other leaders in the game (of which there were five or so) and proceeded to kick every single member from the both our Federation and KDF fleets.
Thousands of hours had been spent earning our holdings' tiers, and admittedly, an ungodly amount of money. Luckily for us, the STO community proved to everyone why it's considered to be one of the finest MMO communities in the world, and hundreds of people came forward to donate to help us start all over again. No one could have prepared us for the amazing generosity we experienced, and we're still incredibly grateful for the kindness shown to us by every single one of them.
I have since found out that we have not been the only victims of this tactic, and the developers at Cryptic have hear our pleas. This week Al Rivera posted a dev blog that outlines the new security measures that were put into place during the game's last patch. Like any set of security methods, these are not foolproof, but they are a welcomed addition for fleets like mine that use a more democratic approach in their operations.
I have never believed in the term "benevolent dictator." I have never experienced a solo fleet leader who didn't eventually become an egomaniacal bleeper-bleeper who uses his so-called power to be nothing less than a jerk to those under his command. I don't react well in those circumstances. I get cranky. I'm too damn old to be told that my playstyle doesn't conform to the ideals of the fleet leader. I deal with that in real life and get paid damn well for it. I don't need it in a game I'm supposed to enjoying on my free time.
Next week, we'll be hearing more about the new Romulan tactical ship that will be put into the game, and we're being teased that we might hear more about the new Featured Episode bridging the story-gap between the Legacy of Romulus expansion and the upcoming release of Season Eight. If not, then I'll pick back up with my interviews with the STO art team! Until next week, live long and prosper!