WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS THREAD?

I know this is pretty long (and initially some people may wonder about some of the early points), but stick with it and read the whole idea. I think many of you will be able to think of many ways this system could be extended - there really is no limit.

I would greatly appreciate other people's feedback and ideas on how to improve it as well. If you don't like it, feel free to say why; or even better, offer alternatives. I will create links to your ideas in the post below as a table of contents.

I would like this thread to be a think tank of player ideas before cryptic get too far into their fleet starbase system.
I am sure many players have good ideas that cryptic have not considerred, and now is the time to voice them.

What do us players want from the future of STO?
I personally would like to see the game become much more dynamic and player driven. Through dynamic content cryptic would end up freeing up much more time to focus on the game's future. The more dynamic content they add, the easier it becomes to add more (if they design all new additions with reusability in mind).

This idea also immediately improves the klingon faction (and any new factions added in the future - as well as making the possibility of them happening much sooner possible).

A reasonable ammount of what is required for this idea is already in the game, it only needs to be expanded apon and used in new ways.

With the introduction done, here is my idea...


THE IDEA:

A ROADMAP TO ENDLESS, DYNAMIC, PLAYER DRIVEN CONTENT... THROUGH AN EFFICIENT FUTURE-EXPANDABLE SYSTEM.

1. Just forget new mission content (you can always come back and add more later once the dynamic systems are working and the devs have free time). Once a dynamic content system is added, scripted missions are not required, but are just an occasional bonus.

Extend the foundry. Let the foundry be used to create eps and assign a developer or gm to approve content (have it listed in normal missions section) and add missions rewards. This will free up developers for 2, 3 and 4.

2. Use all these developers previously wasting time on mission content to create new (dynamic enemy) fleet actions and STFs by creating generic scenarios and spawning a different enemy type. Use others to fix game bugs (*cough* chase camera), and then to improve the game itself.

2.1. Design new fleet actions/stf's in a way that they can be reused for other enemy factions and fill up the FA queue with new missions vs many different enemies (starbase 24 could be attacked by any number of enemies, with just a copy/paste of code or a randomized enemy selection system, you don't even need to alter the map!).

2.2. (as an extention of 2.1) Completely move away from static content, into more dynamic content that can later be extended into exploration and voyager-like scenarios (stuck in an unstable wormhole and have to return home through randomized areas of space). True exploration, not charting the same 3 systems/sectors as every other player in the game. Charting unknown systems/sectors could give fleet bonuses (XP system for fleets, ending in the ability to drop a transwarp hub and claim the sector for your fleet?).

Let us truely seek out new life, new civilizations, and boldly go where noone has gone before... Isn't that the whole point?

2.3. Adapt 2.2 to be part of the new fleet space/starbase system. Some systems could have wormholes or other anomalies. Add random spacial events that force exploration in order to return home.

2.4. Players can select different ship components (as well as tailor their looks) now. Why not let the new randomized species under this exploration system create their ships (and their race looks) by randomizing components from a list of models - RESULT: Near infinate species options. Each random race then has its own fairly-unique style of ship design (and appearance). Simply adding 1 new ear model greatly increases the number of randomized races possible (making aditional future options simple)!

The system to do it is already there, use it!

2.5. Give fleets the possibility of colonising these exploration areas (via deploying a transwarp hub at the other end), expanding the size of the universe to an infinate size (through instancing).

From what I have read, the fleet starbase system is instanced, why not make this how you get to (and then colonize) the system? It's not much of a stretch from what I think you are already planning - just offers more options later.

A (science ship only) sensor scan in a current public sector would reveal locations of (or unstable wormholes to) new instanced sector blocks to explore/colonize. This is a simple method of adding infinite instanced exploration/fleet space. Fleet members can either warp to the location, or transwarp to the player once they enter the new sector (sci ships could have a transwarp beacon ability or module?).

A fleet deploying a transwarp hub in a system adds it to the game map as a transwarp-able system to fleet members, and a long (through sector space to the closest edge of current claimed sector space) travel option for enemy factions. At this time, the sector becomes a static game sector (and is writen to the database) until such time as the hub (and starbase if they fleet built one) are/is destroyed. The enemy can deploy their own hub on destruction of another fleet's, otherwise the system is removed from the transwarp list (and map) and database.

A (any ship) sensor scan in one of these new sectors would give locations of PVE content in the sector (randomized) or spacial anomalies (unstable wormholes, etc). A really lucky science ship may even possibly find a stable wormhole in their fleet space!

3. With the above done, STO is never boring endgame again.

There will always be these randomized places to fight over, and an endless supply of unique content, and (maybe) an endless supply of unique (randomized) items only available from these distant areas of space - so each fleet has items unique to them.

You could later on even add a system to let the owners of a system allow other fleets to share their space. (alliances?)

4. Now that developers have been freed from mission content development, assign some (currently content development) developers to add new playable races, including new cstore ships for extra revenue. Make almost unlimited revenue in a way that players enjoy.

You no longer need to invest time into mission development as the players and dynamic systems will be more then enough, and will automaticly scale with the number of players playing the game.


THE FUTURE:
Dynamic content is the best future for STO. Dynamic through dynamic AI and encounters (like 2.x above), and through dynamic PVP (like 2.5 above).

Players will keep themselves busy endlessly under a system like this, leaving developers to spend time on improving the game instead of adding chat dialogs, cutscenes and non-reusable maps.

Extend the foundry, which is currently wasted (and remove the slot limitations from players creating content with it).

Impelement new dynamic content, and free up developer time for more important issues then rarely-worth-repeating scripted gameplay.

A system like this is the best option (especially for cryptic). Developers are given room to work on important game improvements, while players (using the foundry) and dynamic content keep everyone happy.

Other space MMO's (I will not name) have shown that if you offer dynamic unscripted content, players will use it - one particular game has only added like 5 new scripted missions in the last 5 years lol, and noone cares because dynamic content will always be more interresting and less tedious.

There are endless possibilities on where this system could lead in the future, and if done right, future additions would become easier and easier as more and more generic systems are added to the game. My ideas here are just the building blocks to endless possibility.

Under this system, us, the captains create the future of our factions. Another well known space MMO calls it "sandboxing". Their system has limits, this system does not.

(reserved this post to link other people's ideas into a sort of glossary in the hope that we get lots of them)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
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1. An idea on how space may be conquered from an enemy fleet by realuniqueone (me).
2. More info on how dynamic PvE content might work by realuniqueone (me).
3. New class-specific ship roles/abilities (and deployment of fleet sectors). by realuniqueone (me).

Thoughts? Ideas?

Love the ideas, i see you were or are playing EvE Online. but i dont think these changes will ever happen or even being considered. There will be too many problems with CBS cuz alot of the ideas wouldnt be canon.

Indeed I have/do. ... but I was not going to mention them lol...

One of the advantages of this idea is that it doesn't even touch on cannon requirements. All the races and sectors proposed are unknown (random) and therefore have no back-story that needs to be taken into account. They are all completely new alien races, completely outside of the scope of the series.

It is completely cannon however, to seek out new life and civilizations, and to boldly go where noone has gone before. I propose we do that...

In addition to the PvP options mentioned in my initial post, more options for PvP could be linked into a system like this, Fixing PvP With Foundry - Video Concept Inside, allowing the foundry to be used as part of the sector conquering process - again reducing the development time for cryptic by outsourcing work to the players. My post a little down the first page gives my idea on how the 2 things may be combined.

I also see no reason the foundry could not be used to create these "generic" fleet action/STF scenario maps. Then all cryptic need to do is link things together and add new playable races, increasing their sales with new faction's ships. The more they can outsource to players, the more they can concentrate on improving the game as a whole.

Nice idea, won't happen, sorry.

i like the idea for lost in space scenarios and letting a fleet build their own homebase and homeworld with defensive outposts is an excellent idea. Even if it never is available for pvp battles it would be sweet to allow this. And since everything is instanced it would be so simple to implement.

Just waiting on them to get their ducks in a row and do it honestly.

There really is no reason it could not happen. Even if they do not take the approach I suggested, they still should be looking to make the game more player driven, dynamic, and writing code that is reusable. It is just good coding practice, specially with game creation. If you don't write code like this, your code base becomes spagetti and small bugs become major issues anyway. I have a feeling that cryptic may be having some of these issues right now (which is why the most basic bugs are not getting fixed).

One of the main advantages of my idea is each step that is completed adds a lot of content to the game. They could take their time doing each part in order, and each part adds to their previous additions and in turn adds new reusable systems that can be used in other ways or places rather then one-off additions to the game. Just the initial generic FA/STF map idea adds many repeatable missions to the game for example, and it's code can be reused in other places later.

Just a really basic idea on how conquest might work.

HOW SYSTEMS MAY BE CONQUERED FROM THE ENEMY FACTION (IDEA):
* Add the ability to link new foundry PvP maps to the PvP queue (via moderator approval). Let players make the maps again.

THE CONQUER PROCESS FOR PLAYERS:
* A fleet declares war vs the other fleet (needs to be enemy faction).

* Have the server select 5 random ground and 5 random space maps to add to the queue for the sector.
Any of the attacker faction's players can join the battle as an attacker.
Any of the defender faction can join as a defender.
If possible, send a join request to all online fleet players first, before openning up to the whole server.
Starting wait time for these PvP's should probably be about 10 minutes for players to prepare. It may be able to start earlier if everyone clicks a "ready" button.

* The attacker faction needs to conquer 5 ground and 5 space maps before the defender faction does (or the war is ended).

* If the attacker wins the above (and there is an outpost), they can then attack the outpost in a space battle PvP. (PvP Queue again)

* If the attacker wins the above, they can then attack the transwarp hub in a space PvP. (PvP Queue again)

* If the attacker wins the above, they can either deploy their own hub, or leave the space and it is deleted from the permanent database records.

You are not quite understanding my full meaning (because the original posted concept is just the building blocks).

Under my proposition most of this (all, if possible) would be made possible through the foundry... and there is no reason that all these things can not be a part of the randomized system.

The devs simply add these options as one possibility selcted from at mission creation (missions need objectives, the objectives come from a list - these things could be one or more options in that list).

There is no limit to how a system like this may be used, it is modular. Adding new options later is as simple as adding another choice to the list and then calling the new functions at that point in the generated mission script. With enough options, no 2 missions will be the same, and every story will be different (even on repeats). You may have just made peace in the mission, only to have the next part of the script tell them to change their mind... anything could happen (sort of like a choose your own adventure book - remember those? lol). The choices you make could also easy have it change the script.

The way things are in STO now, every time you run PvE content, the same things happen leading to the same outcome. This does not make for replayable content.

You would find that randomization of mission objectives would actually make for better story telling, while at the same time making things endlessly repeatable.

The best part of all of this is once the system is up and running, it is simple to add new options. Developers are freed up to improve the game as a whole, or add new dialog options, or fix bugs, or add new ships, or whatever. The system if designed like this makes adding new content so easy and fast. Things like new dialog options could probably even be done while the server is running and a dev has a little free time! It would just be a matter of them typing the dialog text and selecting the (effect) flags from a list.

No longer does cryptic need to spend months on a new mission. New missions would be created every time you start any mission... and if they want to create new featured episodes, there is no reason this system could not also be used for static scripts. Foundry authors hopefully would also gain access to all added content making their creation times faster and easier, and giving them access to any mechanics added by the devs in the future automaticly, removing all the foundry's restrictions.