Season 9
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Futuristic 'Fortnite' Season 9 arrives with slipstreams and hover platforms
The volcano has erupted, and in its ashy wake Fortnite Season 9 is born -- and it looks decidedly futuristic. As players say goodbye to a successful Season 8, Epic has revealed what's in store for the game's next chapter, teasing it this week with the strapline, "The Future is..."
Captain's Log: A look at Star Trek Online's Season 9 to date
It's strange to be stepping on to an unfamiliar bridge, isn't it? To be in charge when previously you were just an observer, especially when the crew hasn't necessarily changed at all. But you didn't come here to read my metatextual woolgathering; you came here because you want to read about Season 9 of Star Trek Online. Yes, it's been out for about a month now, but that's enough time to get a fairly good sense of it, isn't it? Season 9 is an odd beast, in some ways; elements of it suffered for its long development, but it moves the game as a whole forward and introduces some interesting shifts all around. Its biggest weakness is in how much of it is based not around content so much as improvements of existing content and systems. But let's not focus on that; let's start at the huge upheaval that came with the featured episode and the overhauls it brought.
Star Trek Online launches Season 9: A New Accord
It's been a long while since Star Trek Online captains had to fear the Undine. This mysterious race has moved off of the radar as the Federation and KDF have explored the Solanae Dyson Sphere, fought back against the Borg and the Tholians, and sought allies upon New Romulus. But the latest patch for the game sees the Undine stepping up their campaign of aggression from fluidic space, sending players through a new series of featured episodes, introducing a new reputation, and offering several new endgame activities. Season 9 also brings with it a number of other changes, including a revamp to how both kits and reputations work. Both systems are now more flexible, with the former allowing captains more control over which abilities show up on the ground and the latter providing more player choice over the long term. Take a look at the full list of additions and get ready to set a course for new dangers in this update.
Take a look at Star Trek Online's Earth Spacedock revamp
Star Trek Online's main hub is about to get a massive facelift, and Cryptic wants to give you a preview of the new design of Earth Spacedock as well as a tour through it. In a dev blog posted yesterday, the studio went through the process of coming up with the ideas for a much improved Spacedock, including how it would be structured and what players would see: "A few solid points were decided. 1. It was all going to be on one floor. 2. We had to have a view both of Earth AND of the Shipyard. Point two meant that there was only one place for it. It had to be within the outer wall of the docking bay." The blog also contains a link to an animated graphic showing a time-lapsed construction of one of the new areas. The Earth Spacedock revamp will come with Season 9's release on April 22nd.
Star Trek Online Season 9 is coming on April 22nd
Even though April 22nd has yet to happen, we have the time travel technology to see it because that tech is a dime a dozen in Star Trek. And on April 22nd, we can tell you with assurance that Season 9 will release in Star Trek Online to the wild split-finger salute of digital Trekkies everywhere. Season 9 will contain a new feature episode, a space battlezone, overhauls to the Undine content, improvements to kits, and more heads. More heads make for a better galaxy, we always say! To celebrate the imminent content update, STO is doling out bonus XP from April 14th through April 21st. Cryptic put together a trailer to help get everyone up to speed on the events leading to Season 9, which you may watch after the jump.
Star Trek Online shows off new head options for Season 9
The character creator in Star Trek Online is pretty robust, but it has its limitations. There are only so many complexion options and only so many head shapes, and trying to create certain looks took an extraordinary amount of effort. So it's good news for all captains that Season 9 will bring with it a far more robust character creation setup with three new head shapes and three new complexions for everyone. It all started with bringing Tuvok into the game; creating a model that matched Tim Russ' actual face required the creation of a framework that segued naturally into more robust player options. It also gave the team an excuse to redo facial textures that had always been seen as problematic, replacing them with slightly higher-resolution versions that have better mapping. Take a look at the full development blog for more details on the process as well as a closer look at what can be done with the new options.
Star Trek Online shows off a revamp to player kits
Kits are your main method for grabbing ground combat abilities in Star Trek Online. You equip a kit and you're good to go. Despite that, they're also rather limited, as there are a limited number of different kit types and each kit of a given type contains a very set number of abilities. Season 9 is thus deploying an extensive overhaul of the kit system, allowing players to build the sorts of kits that they want to use in a more flexible framework. The core of the system is simple. Abilities are split into two categories for each profession: Assault and Strategic for Tactical, Medical and Research for Science, and Fabrication and Mechanic for Engineering. Kits will become frameworks that contain skill bonuses as well as slots to equip abilities, with each slot allowing any skill within a given category. For more details on how the new kits can be acquired and how the flexibility will benefit players, take a look at the full development blog.
Star Trek Online previews the new Undine battlezone in Season 9
Star Trek Online captains have been diligently fighting against the Voth in the Dyson Sphere for some time now, but when Season 9 comes out, the Undine will arrive. That means players will have to face off against new challenges, starting with the Undine battlezone. While this region of the sphere was previously under Voth control, the Undine have taken this area for their own, forcing Starfleet, the KDF, and the Romulans to work together in order to drive them out. The Undine Battlezone will be accessible directly from the Ground Combat Zone and the Contested Zone. Players will be tasked with taking control of nine points within the map, followed by assaulting the Undine's planet-killer ships. Success earns Dilithium and Undine Marks, while failure... well, you can imagine what that involves. For more details on access and the point control, check out the full development blog.
Star Trek Online overhauls reputation bonus abilities
Reputation in Star Trek Online doesn't just give material rewards; higher reputation is directly tied to new abilities and enhancements for both ships and captains. Season 9 is already improving and renovating the system for advancing in reputation, and that means the developers are taking a closer look at the existing system as explained in the latest development blog. That examination showed off some real issues with the extra powers for veterans compared to new characters at the level cap. It came down to the simple fact that the setup was not viable forever, and as more reputations came in, the gap in power would start becoming sizable. So what does it mean? A new setup for the various reputation powers. Starting with Season 9, powers will be renamed to Reputation Traits, with all captains receiving four slots for Ground Traits, four slots for Space Traits, and four slots for active abilities. These slots can be reallocated at any time, as well, letting you choose from a wider pool of tricks as your reputations advance. Take a look at the latest development blog for details on how the existing abilities will be changing to be more powerful with the new system.
Star Trek Online details a revamp to the Undine
As Star Trek Online turns its focus more toward the Delta Quadrant, one of the biggest bads of that region deserved a fresh look. The Undine (also known as Species 8472) have been a notable threat to the Federation and the Klingon Empire since the earliest days of the game, but the developers have only briefly touched upon them here and there in storylines. The latest development blog highlights how the race has been revamped in light of the shapeshifters taking on a larger role in the Season 9 update. The old Undine armor is gone, replaced with new appearances that are higher-definition and look more in line with existing Undine technology. The mechanics of the species both on the ground and in space have also been revamped, giving a more coherent but still unique set of challenges when players are taking on the masters of fluidic space. For more details on the new visual rank distinctions and the changes to enemy mechanics, check out the full development blog.
Collision alert: Star Trek Online's Season 9 coming in late April
Player captains have mere weeks to prepare themselves before Star Trek Online's Season 9 arrives in late April with one of the biggest challenges to the galaxy to date. Cryptic Exective Producer Stephen D'Angelo posted an overview of Season 9 today on the official site. He said that players will have plenty to anticipate, including a new Undine feature episode, a space battlezone, updated episodes, a re-envisioning of kits, and a reworking of Earth Spacedock. "I challenged the STO team to come up with a new vision of ESD that would be so Star Trek that Trek lovers couldn't help but drool over it when arriving there," D'Angelo said. "The team did not disappoint!"
Star Trek Online transmits plans for next two seasons, mid-year event
Executive Producer Dan Stahl is hardly shy in tackling the myriad Ask Cryptic questions, and today's Star Trek Online queries proved to be no different for him. While there was a hodge-podge of questions from players, it seemed as though the focus for many was on the future of the game and Season 8 in specific. Stahl said that Season 8 is due in the first half of the year, possibly in May, although there will be some content arriving this month for the three-year anniversary of the game. He promises that Klingons will "get some love" in Season 8 and hints at the vast wealth of additions coming with the update: "[It] will focus on adding new missions and storyline to the game in the form of a new adventure zone, new episodes, and another big feature, which is yet to be revealed." Following Season 8, Cryptic will then roll out a mid-year event and Season 9. The mid-year event was compared to the game's current winter event, with the possibility of taking place on Risa. Stahl is quite pumped for the year in general: "Season 8 and Season 9 are both going to be BIG releases. I'm very much looking forward to them because they represent the first big releases we will have been able to do with the increase to our live team staff."
Honor compensation date announced for recent PVP gear debacle
Blizzard's Bashiok has posted a time frame for the previously announced 4,000-honor point compensation package for players who spent honor on old gear during the week between the PVP Season 9 and Season 10. Any player who spent honor on ilevel 365 gear during the transition week will be awarded a free 4,000 honor points, which can go over the point cap and can be spent on the new, higher tier of Vicious PVP gear. This free honor will be awarded to players during maintenance on July 19 (this coming Tuesday). I think this is a pretty good compensation package for players who were not informed of the change in how PVP gear would be handled this season. The biggest issue from the debacle was that players spent a huge amount of time and effort grinding out honor for ilevel 365 gear during the off-week, then spent it, only to see the gear became useless just days later. Now that work has essentially been restored in the form of new, shiny, over-the-cap honor points. You will not be able to earn more honor points until you dip below the cap again, however.
Update: PVP Season 9 ending as soon as June 28
The WoW community site was recently updated to let players know that the ninth PVP season would be ending as soon as June 28 rather than the June 21. What does this mean for us? Unofficial confirmation that patch 4.2 has been moved back at least a week. The new probable release date is June 28. Earlier this week, a new balance patch hit the PTR and some decently sized changes to abilities and their associated numbers were made. No new assets were added, but a lot of numbers were moved around. After Ghostcrawler's excellent balance post and call for feedback, we guessed that this PTR patch could have the potential to push the 4.2 back a week. Well, it looks like it did. Update your calendars, folks. You've got an extra week to push tier 11 content and have a patch-free Midsummer Fire Festival, which launches on June 21. The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
PVP Season 9 ending soon
Season 9 of the arena and rated battleground PVP experience is coming to an end as early as June 21, and end-of-season rewards will be calculated a week after that. While there is a break in the PVP season, all rated battleground and arena matches will become unavailable to players, so get your wins in now. Blizzard stresses that if you believe you are potentially going to get the Season 9 PVP rewards for being in the highest percentile of winners and think you might be eligible for the arena titles or Vicious Gladiator's Twilight Drake, you should refrain from transferring your character to a new server while the reward tabulation is going on. If you're a big PVPer, stay on your server until the winners have been announced. PVP Season 10 will begin approximately one week after Season 9 ends. All honor over the 4,000-point cap will be turned into gold at 35 silver per honor point. Blizzard's full post after the break.
Blood Sport: Season 9 arena gameplay predictions
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Sport for arena enthusiasts and The Art of War(craft) for fans of battlegrounds and world PvP. Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more. Listening Music: Bush with Glycerine. I had a hard time picking a Bush song, so I went with a tried and true. I just got done searching for a past article I apparently never wrote. I could have sworn I predicted something about how Season 8 would pan out, but apparently, I just talked about it with my teammates instead of putting my thoughts into internet words. Oh well. I guess I get to make some fun predictions about Season 9 and then recap them later when Season 10 rolls around. That's the plan, anyway.
Arena Season 9 to begin on Dec. 14, Cataclysm launch Dec. 7?
If Wowhead is to be believed, arena Season 9 is set to begin on Dec. 14. The curious folks at our favorite WoW database (as well as Boubouille of MMO-Champion) found a little snippet of text while scrounging around the game files: Arena battles and Rated Battlegrounds are only available during an active player versus player combat season. Season nine will begin on December 14th, so be prepared at that time to take your shot at glory! This would coincide neatly with the recent announcement that arena Season 8 can end as soon as Oct. 12. What makes this finding interesting is that arena Season 9 actually corresponds to rated battlegrounds Season 1, which means Cataclysm should be live by then. This could mean sometime in November. We'll find out for sure at this year's BlizzCon, but for now, all clues point to Blizzard's being on track to release the game before the end of the year. This gives players about a month or even less time -- about a week, to be exact -- to hit max level. If the uncovered code holds true, we should expect to see Cataclysm on the shelves by Dec. 7, if not sooner. Zach delivers your weekly dose of battlegrounds and world PvP in one crazy column. Find out how the Cataclysm talent tree redesign affects PvP, how sub-speccing will work at higher levels in the expansion, and how the new Azeroth will affect world PvP. Visit Blood Sport for the inside line on arena PvP.
