I just got an email regarding Series Two: The Devidians. The Devidian sprites look pretty cool, and I'd like to run into a bunch of them in a ground zone 'cause it might be pretty dark and creepy, but I'm afraid if it's just more floating around in space doing loop-the-loops and auto-firing all weapons it doesn't seem like anything new.

I read recently that they're planning a total overhaul of the ground combat system, including first-person view ( ), more abilities on hotbars and re-categorising of weapons to allow for more versatility. That sounds more of interest to me. As I've said many times, I'm not really a fan of the space aspect of this game. Without the ability to plot 3-dimensional courses (for example 000,270 or 000,090 - look up how they plot courses in Star Trek if you don't know what I mean) it's just not true space flight.

I really hope someone pulls a rabbit out of the hat to make this game what it deserves to be, both in space AND on the ground. Time will tell, I guess. I know it sounds like I'm complaining but I'm not, I'm just stating my opinion in a calm and respectful manner. I love Star Trek. Have done since I was a kid, and I could go on all day and into the night about what I think would make the game better, but in all honesty, the breadth of suggestions I have would literally make it a different game to what it is now. But then that's the whole point.

Peace and long life, dudes and dudettes

Where do I find the new episode?

it havent lunched yet. about an hour left, but it will be south of sirius sector.

also they wont be revamping the ground combat system, just adding a new factor to it.
at least from what ive read.

It's a Section 31 mission.

I don't like Section 31 and i can't stand them and I CATEGORICALLY REFUSE to accept any and all further Section 31 missions. and since the Admins of the game are playing "Don't respond to the user" I figure this would be the next best way.

Caution doing the mission , it tends to crash at the end. Awsome mission though. No complaints except for the crash. Already been reported!!!

do it on your klingon then. same mission, but given by Klingon inteligence.
but seriously, are you gonna deny yourself content just because of who is giving you the mission?

Dude, who cares who gives you the mission? I think you might be a little too wrapped up in the role-playing if you're going to deny yourself a gaming experience based on who gives you the mission.

Dude, by that logic, if you don't care about the trappings of Star Trek, why bother playing a Star Trek game? If the contacts are just point and click for missions for you, c'est ca and enjoy, but please understand some of us actually pay attention to the game as a story and are bothered when the story is broken in some way.

I played the mission and I enjoyed it -- and I saw absolutely no reason why Section 31 should be involved with it. Maybe it will become clear later in the mission tree, but for now, Drake's presence does absolutely nothing except make me unhappy going into the missions. There seemed absolutely no reason why Wildman or some Admiral pursuing the war against the Klingons wouldn't be the central figure in what is, after all, a Klingon battlefield series.

I think Franklin Drake is a fantastic character used the way he has been to date -- he fits into the Section 31 mythos nicely, and his missions give you that wonderful 'dirty' feeling. Having him here as a point of contact for me in this mission feels out of place -- almost none of my characters would willingly work with the man for any reason. Certainly, my Vice Admiral, who outranks him significantly, wouldn't begin to take anything remotely resembling an order from him.

I think using Drake for this was a singularly bad idea. He should be reserved for a series that actually involves Section 31 as the primary setting. That shouldn't involve a mission that was, at its core, a straightforward military mission.

It diminished what was otherwise a bloody fantastic mission, and I'm sorry to see that.

This is the first episode of this series. Why don't we wait and see?

I think, perhaps, you misunderstand the purpose of a feedback forum.

Yes, we're going to see how the mission tree plays out. However, Drake's presence at the beginning -- especially unexplained (there's really no reason we're given why we're contacted by him, or why he has the authority to add us to a Starfleet task force) creates in many a visceral reaction.

That, by the way, is a very good thing.

Seriously. The best possible sign that Cryptic is doing a good job in the construction of their missions and the populating of their in-game universe is the fact that people have an immediate reaction to the mere presence of a character. We're supposed to actively dislike Drake -- it shows engagement. It shows focus. It shows commitment and an acceptance of the in-game universe. It's why hot button characters like Drake are valuable.

However, it makes their misuse all the more glaring.

Drake creates visceral, immediate reactions in players. Heck, at least one person in this thread said they won't play the series because they won't take orders from Drake. That both shows investment in the character and a potentially very bad choice on the part of the mission designers. If the primary focus of this mission tree isn't Section 31 and the moral ambiguities and grey areas (and always the sense of choice) that comes from Section 31, then Drake's use was misplaced. And the Devs need as solid a sense of feedback from that as they can get, as early as possible, while there's still a chance to fix it down the ine. If in fact this is a Section 31 series with all that entails, then the Devs need to know that the lead-in mission doesn't create the proper sense of buy-in in a good number of their players -- we don't have a good reason to do a thing Drake says, and plenty of reason not to.

That's stuff that can inform how they tweak or adjust the later missions in the tree. Already they should know that Drake's presence has created a profound reaction in the players -- one that needs to be addressed. Whether it's one they anticipated and have already addressed, or one they didn't anticipate and need to address moving forward you and I don't know -- but they do.

That said -- if they did anticipate it, then they did a singularly poor job of introducing the scenario to us. If they didn't... well, they're going to have some work to do.

The rest of the episode is amazing. The Devedians are well handled, the puzzles are well constructed, the level of conflict is well placed. The atmosphere is great. (I love the burned out Cardassian ship map, and the haze of heat in the bridge after the subspace effect fades is amazing.) However, the fact that in the feedback thread we're not getting massive kudoes for a great episode but instead a debate over the mission contact on the Starfleet side truly is indicative of how significant Drake's presence is to the arc -- and that's something the developers need to understand before next week's episode.