That's a reasonable interpretation. However, it might have been enough to "front-load" the PvE content, i.e., fill in content gaps by level bracket starting with the lowest levels first. Such a strategy might have gotten folks to 1) actually play KDF, 2) play longer (and thus "invest" more) in their KDF characters, and 3) look forward to the next round of content.

Not so sure if the experiment could be tweaked and repeated, though. I feel like the Foundry actually carries some resistance to further KDF development, in that if we're unhappy with the status of KDF PvE, we can make our own d**n missions...

Had another notion about exclusive KDF content...

KDF Mission Packs <- Follow the link!

I know that the notion of 'buying extra content' is not well received by some, but it would sure demonstrate and stimulate demand more effectively than trying to wheedle the devs into making more KDF missions at the expense of the rest of the development schedule.

I wonder if they'd go for that idea (as a way to accelerate KDF content delivery)?

[quote=PatricianVetinari]I like this idea. I know people who don't use the foundry as they consider it substandard content (even though that's not always true). Putting an Official Seal on it could take away that stigma. Cryptic could give the story to one of it's normal mission givers at the appropriate level, players would just see it as part of their normal progression, and as you say, it would free-up one of the author's mission slots. Add some official rewards (XP, BO pts, Honor, maybe even a "physical" prize), and you've got a "real" KDF mission. Nice.

The only downside is I know Crpytic has said in the past, for other things, that they can't publish user-submitted material. How the exception works for the Foundry, I don't understand, but I fear there could be some kind of Rights issue (?). I don't know, honestly, but it's a concern I have. Overall though, this idea should have very little, to no, resource investment on Crpytic's part, and I like that, too.

New items don't have to be done all the time, and it doesn't even have to necessarily be a "unique" item. Imagine there was a Covariant [Cap]x2 in the KDF mission and a Hyper Combat Impulse Engine [Trn] x2 in the Federation mission. That would already provide some incentives to players, I think.
"Play episode X on the KDF, cheapest way to get decent shields at any tier!"

Overall I think it's naturally a little more work, but ultimately - Without any work at all, Klingon-specific missions won't come into being at all. So try to look for efficient ways to do it.

The instead only applied to removing an entire Featured Series or Episode. The idea to promote Foundry missions to official status and giving them decent skill point and item rewards sounds great to me.

Problem with that logic, IMO, is that Cryptic points at those missions and says they didn't make the KDF population explode.
Cryptic also pointed at the few bridge packs in the C-Store and said "KDF Stuff does not sell really well".
That is like giving a cripple a cane and then complaining he can't participate in a marathon.

I think you miss the point. No one ever claimed the 8 episodes in Season 2 were going to fix the KDF faction, and no one would claim giving a cripple a cane would fix his condition. However, giving a cripple a cane should at the very least help him walk better. But according to what we have been told, the 8 Season 2 episodes did nothing at all to increase the KDF playerbase.

I'm not entirely sure I do.
First they said it was 12% of the players, later they said 18%.
Either those were different percentages of something or there was growth (about 50%) but it was appearently not enough.

Or the Federation player base shrunk significantly while the KDF player base remained the same. Percentages are a terrible way to measure.