I LOVE IT!!!
I'm SO in <3 with this idea! Great work there Brigadoom!

Thomas or someone needs to grab this thread up and pound Dan on the head with it until he says 'uncle'. :p
Did you apply for one of the job postings yet, Brigadoom?

Somebody quick......go get the dev team.......
Make a hard copy of this thread and send it to Cryptic via snail mail.....

Send a subspace communique.....get an Indian Runner......Smoke signals......whatever must be done to make sure that this idea gets spotted by the team.......

For a task of this importance I would trust only a British Army carrier pigeon!!!

Thankyou

I've not, I would need several more good ideas and a portfolio of .. even more good ideas. And a healthier foundry list. Unless Cryptic would be looking specifically for an intern in the UK with a background in either Sociology or Sound Engineering...

Speaking as a fellow Brit, I think Cryptic could do a lot worse than letting one of us into their ranks

I happen to think its about time my XO was knighted for services to Starfleet- you could make this happen....

Anything that doesnt add more out-of-place combat it win in my book. /Signed

Could perhaps tie this in with the Duty Officer system, by having Zoology assignments where you send officers off to track, study, or capture wildlife < (link to photobucket). Study their natural habits, tag a few to understand their movement habits, diet and such. Maybe a ridiculously rare mission to study some cetaceans :p The KDF could smuggle "illegal" animals.

Disaster could mean the death of officers sent on the assignment, as clearly many creatures in STO are violent, vicious and bloodthirsty. Mission length/size could range from a single officer sent to watch some untamed Warriguls hunt for a day, to a whole team being sent to set up a duckblind and study Saurs throughout their entire mating season.

Mere failure could mean they get mauled, poisoned or contaminated/a parasite attached to them or something (ewww :p). Success would grant you Exobiology XP (EXP?) and maybe critical success would reveal a lifeform thought extinct < (link to photobucket).

Positive outcomes could also unlock a small tidbit on the species in the Exobiology Database; "The targ's favourite food is raw tribble", "Warriguls are monogamous", where we can read up on the lifeforms we've found and be proud that a lot of that information has been discovered/unlocked by our own crew

I say take the initiative and do a Foundry mission along your ideas, exactly like you illustrated in your examples. This is too good to pass up. Show them how to do science and exploration the RIGHT way.

Fantastic idea and a good read, thank you. I'd have posted my praise sooner were it no for other threads.

This is so much better than just more non combat missions. I hope this gets taken seriously.

And so this please, pretty pretty please. Or get somone good with the foundry to do it to your designs, if you can't .

As a paleontologist, (and fanatic about all kinds of life in general), I apporve this idea.