Season 7: Alert

[Morgan Shackelford]

Here's something you're going to want to know about Season 7 right now:

All Borg Tech, Salvage, and Encrypted Data Chips are being removed from the game.

You are going to want to trade in any of these barter items for something before Season 7 goes live. Omega Force items will remain in game, but the method for obtaining them is being changed to a Reputation based system. As you do STF's in the future, you will earn Omega Marks, which are utilized to complete Omega Force projects via your new Reputation Interface:



Look familiar? Omega Marks are, as you can see, only a portion of what you need to initiate a project, and the projects themselves - much like the starbase projects - have lengthy cooldown timers.

To get to the point where you can purchase Mk XII Omega Force gear is going to take a while, I'm estimating a full 3 months or longer to complete the reputation cycle to stage 5 where you can purchase these items. The good news, is that once you get there, you can purchase however many Mk XII items you need outright - no more waiting for drops. The bad news - absolutely zero chance of obtaining these items before reaching the end Reputation rank.

So, if you have 2 out of 3 items on a set now, or want to try and get these items before the change, you're going to need to spend some time in the current STF system. Once the changes go live, obtaining these things will be months out of reach.

[Morgan Shackelford]

And, for those of you that are fond of pairing the Borg space set with any of the other sets for a combo deal are going to love this:



The Borg console is no longer part of the Borg Space set. No more splitting two major sets to get two different 2 piece bonuses.

This does, however, open up the possibility of using a full 3 piece set in combination with this new Borg 'weapon' set, once you can obtain a cutting beam or plasma torp...

[Jason32]

I would like to caveat what the Chief said about this change...

I spent some time on Tribble this past weekend experimenting with this new system. It functions exactly like our current fleet project system. That being said, there are pros and cons to the change. If you are new to STO and have not started your hunt for stf gear, then this is a great change for you.

However, if you are not new to STO and have already spent a great deal of time running stf's for the gear, this will not be so good. If you are like many who are hunting that "final" piece of gear to complete your set, the clock is against you. Once this goes live, you would be forced into the new system with no hope of getting your last Mk XII piece until the very end. :\

I spent some time playing with this system, so if you have questions, feel free to ask.

[CAPT Huckabee]

I'm glad I got my stuff for my Fed, but still not motivated to finish KDF. I'm not liking the trend of new content=grinding stuff.

Really don't like the console change.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

obvious question is: Do we get any sort of credit for the number of STFs already done?

[VADM JT Kerry]

ADM Shackelford,
Season seven is on Tribble I take it? That's were you are getting you intel from along with the Dev Posts. It looks like, as always, there are pluses and minuses to the change. I wonder how this change affects the "Free to Pay" model we are currently under. Excuse me, "Free to Play".

Bottom line, how much will it cost? I see the "Store" in the bar over the "Select Active Project." I guess I will have to go out on Tribble, and read more of the Dev Blogs to see what it's all about. I also notice the "Romulan Star Empire" tab to the left. Are the Romulan scenarios now part of Omega force projects? Do they offer a different set of items to the mix? I'll have to see.

JT

[Morgan Shackelford]

Cleo Mavendorf wrote:

obvious question is: Do we get any sort of credit for the number of STFs already done?

Not that I'm aware of.

Look, I know the obvious thing to see here is the negative impact of this change. It's certainly the first thing that struck me, and why I wanted to post this info. But, there are some positives:

First, there are brand new skills tied in with this. As you increase your reputation, you are able to receive new skills, both passive and active, that will strengthen your captain and vessel.



I'm not 100% sure of how this all works, but the Omega skills looked to be a variety of passive and active shield and health/hull heals. So, that's a good thing.

Also, the system is no longer reliant on drops. That was, for most of us, the most frustrating thing under the most recent system. You could do Infected 100 times and not get the shield drop you needed. In this new system, once you get to the reputation level you need to get the item you want, then you're good. The random chance element is gone. Do x number of STF's, and you can purchase the items youre after. On top of that, you don't have to do specific STF's to get specific items, so, for example, if you hate doing ground STF's, you can get the ground set by doing space missions.

I'm not saying there aren't negatives to this change. What I am saying is, it's not all bad. We are, after all, talking about the ultimate items in game. For any mmo, getting the top tier items is grindy; whether it's raids, pvp, what have you - you don't get the uber sword of demon pwnage without running a gazillion dungeons.

The frustration is making a faction based system 30 months into the game. Yes, you would think that at this point, you would be on good terms with Omega Force. It is what it is. I just want everyone to be prepared, and have a short opportunity to grind some things out before changes go live if they choose to.

[Morgan Shackelford]

FLTCPT JT Kerry wrote:

ADM Shackelford, Season seven is on Tribble I take it? That's were you are getting you intel from along with the Dev Posts. It looks like, as always, there are pluses and minuses to the change. I wonder how this change affects the "Free to Pay" model we are currently under. Excuse me, "Free to Play". Bottom line, how much will it cost? I see the "Store" in the bar over the "Select Active Project." I guess I will have to go out on Tribble, and read more of the Dev Blogs to see what it's all about. I also notice the "Romulan Star Empire" tab to the left. Are the Romulan scenarios now part of Omega force projects? Do they offer a different set of items to the mix? I'll have to see. JT

Well, Mr. Kerry, that is matter of outlook, paradigm, resources, and playstyle. So far, Cryptic has allowed for aquisition of store items via in game achievement; that is to say, you can earn dilithium, exchange for zen, and get that store item you want without ever paying a nickel to PWE. It's not easy to do so, but it is an option. Personally, I haven't paid any money to PWE since the takeover. I purchased my Defiant retrofit by converting dilithium to store points. It took me several months, but my patience was rewarded.

The store tab is greyed out, I am not sure what their intent is here. It does raise questions, though. I only know that unlocking reputation tiers grants access to purchase the Omega set items; what I don't know is what those items will cost. Is the store link a link to the c-store, or a link to to in game vendor? Perhaps it's a convenience to allow you to purchase that MACO rifle from anywhere in the game without having to go to DS9.

The projects themselves require dilithium, as you can see; the amount is tailored to be completeable by an individual. However, you can always purchase dilithium with $ rather than earn it, so there is a 'pay' option in that respect.

The Romulan Star Empire is the second faction included in the reputation system, and is tied in with the new sector block and new mission that are being introduced with season 7. So, in addition to working Omega faction, there is a seperate faction you will have to earn for Romulus.

[Anton Mercer]

I strongly suggest that we look into getting some fleet groups together to do STFs as I just finished a mk12 set for my engineer and have already looted 2 proto pieces in only having done 2 hours worth of stfs... they may have increased the drop rate without telling anyone in prep for them removing it.. or im extremely lucky.. but i've noticed that at least one proto is dropping per run and in some cases 2 so I dont really know..

[Morgan Shackelford]

There is a devblog online now with further information on the system:

http://sto.perfectworld.com/news/?p=726221

Of particular note:

NOTE: All STF “currency” items not spent before Season 7 launch will be converted to the new system!

There are 42 items that will be converted including:
•Encrypted Data Chips (EDCs)
•Marks of Requisition
•Recruit, Veteran, and Elite Requisitions
•Rare and Prototype Borg Salvage
•Common, Rare, and Prototype Tech

All types of these items will be immediately converted to Omega Marks and Borg Neural Processors when the owning character logs in for the first time after Season 7 releases.

Any existing Accolades, gear rewards and costume unlocks you have already earned by running STF content are yours to keep, even if you choose to not participate in the Reputation System.

[VADM pRett]

It'd be easy to get all curmudgeonly and gripe about how they claimed they were trying so simplify the in-game currencies when they got rid of the different rank tier PvE and PvP marks and replaced them with dilithium. Now they're revamping the STF reward system (again) and introducing a reputation system.

Some will call it grindy - but as many others have observed/commented at some point, pretty much every MMO has that grindy aspect to it. This new system, aside from giving you, as the captain some choices of the direction you wish to progress/improve/flavor your play, *also* shows that Cryptic is back to working on the game. It may not be what you, the individual player, wants to see, specifically, but it isn't lockboxes.

Think about that for a moment. This gear is pretty much completely acquired via in-game effort, not how much Zen you purchase.

[Jason32]

sparrow794 wrote:

There is a devblog online now with further information on the system: NOTE: All STF “currency” items not spent before Season 7 launch will be converted to the new system!

Interesting...anyone seen something out there in the interwebs that might suggest what the conversion rates might be...so we as users can decide when and where to spend our investments?

I tried transferring a current toon into tribble with some of those items in my inventory and there was no "magic" conversion yet.

[Cleo Mavendorf]

Nothing about conversion rates yet...but they did say that the converted items would be placed in a container that would be inaccesable until your Omega Reputation hit level 5

[Anton Mercer]

Now.. how exactly does the system work ontribble atm? Is it completely relient on doing the starbase like mission to advance in reputation? or does doing STFs contribute in any capacity?

[Jason32]

Its a combination of both. The process is like the fleet projects system we have today, however, instead of using Fleet Marks for projects you use Omega Marks. You earn Omega Marks by completing STFs.

Other than that, there is no real difference from the Sean 7 STF rewards system and Fleet projects system we have in game today.