Originally Posted by dalolorn

Wasn't the BoP unique because of the battle cloak, NOT the universal slots? :p (so yeah, that was a bit of uniqueness too, but...)

Originally Posted by Warmaker01

Anyways, when I first left the game, I do remember the whines of the Feds to nerf cloaks, or if not, give them cloaks. There's all kinds of stupid justifications they put out to merit cloaks, but any Star Trek fan knows damn well that the Federation is vehemently against developing it. Anyways, they also whined about the carrier, now they've gotten it. They whined about Universal Bridge Slots, so now they're starting to see them.

The faction favoritism has been going towards the Feds since Day 1. I come back years later to STO and I still find the Klingons confined to a dark corner of the game with the devs still annoyed by the fact it exists at all.

As for the notion of the inclusion of other factions like the Romulans and Dominion? Like they're going to be better off? Seeing how the devs handled the Klingon Empire, and how the faction looks years later, the Romulans or Dominion would have been worse off. Hell, even in movie and TV canon alone, the Klingons have by far the richest history outside the Federation. So many named Klingon characters, events, story arcs. The Klingons have showed up in more ST movies than any other group or faction outside the Federation. The Klingons have played more important, fleshed out roles than any other non-Fed faction in all the Star Trek movies. The Klingons had far more story arcs centered on them, their culture, and their history, most especially from the various TV shows. The Klingons were Kirk's longtime enemies from TOS and into the movies. The Klingons received ALOT of love and lore from the TNG and DS9 series.

No other non-Federation group has received this much lore and attention from the makers of Star Trek over the years. Not even the Romulans, who have been around since TOS. Them nor the much, much later introduced Dominion have anywhere near the level of Star Trek lore as the Klingons.

And with STO, what do we have for the Klingons? A tiny corner of the overall map, little to travel and see, and experience. Even worse when you consider the huge imbalance of faction play when the Feds and Klingons are weighed in.

It's why the very idea of the Romulans or any other non-Klingon faction would have fared better is laughable. There is so much to draw from on Klingon ST canon and lore. Yet the implementation of the faction and blatant dev hate of the faction even now, May 15, 2012, is disappointing.

And if the Romulans somehow replaced us as the faction to oppose the Federation when the game went live, the Feds will still complain about them and try to take any unique elements away from them. Hell, they'd complain about Romulan cloaks being OP... just like they actually did with the Klingons. They'd complain about the D'Deridex being OP in their frontal alpha strikes. Which is what the ship was purely designed for, demolishing whatever is in front. Jeez, I can already imagine the look on Fed faces when a D'Deridex comes out of cloak doing alpha strikes, melting their faces instantly

Originally Posted by piwright42

To me the flexibility of the BoP is a feature. Universal BO slots are a major factor in the flexibility that the raider role demands.

Originally Posted by Shinkuu_Akagan

Umm... TNG: Season 7, Episode 12 "The Pegasus" We find that the Federation is anything BUT vehemently against Cloak and tried to develop a truly revolutionary cloak. The only thing holding them back was their Treaty with the now DEFUNCT Romulan Star Empire. Now that the RSE is very much in ruins and a non-issue I cannot fathom why they would not take an about-face and put very advanced cloaking devices on all their ships.

*snip*
.

Originally Posted by dalolorn

Okay, I guess you have a point. But let's be realistic: Why should -any- ship be limited by boff slots, regardless of class? (ok, so rank might be a good idea, but... class-specific slots?)

Originally Posted by drazur_southclaw

Hi, I'm KDF-Mirror Drazur_Southclaw - I can't chat for long because the spacetime covnergence won't be stable for much longer.

(Plus, I'm not sure that your Drazur_Southclaw would even survive in my universe, and there would be no honor in having his death on my conscience.)

I come from the universe where KDF are (and always have been) more popular than the Federation, ever since The Original Series.

While Voyager: Elite Force floundered around the video games market, Klingon Honor Guard was lauded with praises and sold in the millions. It is STILL being played and modded. In Korea, it has its own TV channel which constantly plays matches from the KHG World Championship Tournament circuit.

Mark Orkrand and James Doohan both have statues at the Institute Of Language Skills (I've seen Facebook in this reality, so I know you guys don't have that in this universe. Let's just say it's a really big deal where I come from.)

In my universe, Cryptic own Perfect World, because of the buying power that Klingon Fandom represents. On that topic, what is a 'World Of ********'? Where I come from, there is only one - what's the term - MMO? And it's called KDF Online, and the Fed faction are really upset because they feel like they are paying for half a game, and that the developers lied to them.

And I am here to say "Well, boo hoo. It's a Klingon's World. Suck it up." (Because if I said brainless crap like "Suck it up" back in my universe, I would be gutted where I stood.)

But the one in THIS universe - It's not called Starfleet Online, but it's not called KDF Online, either. It's called Star Trek Online. If Star Trek represents knee-jerked insults instead of tolerance and discussion, then I really AM in the wrong universe.

No, I've never played an STF. Why do you ask?

Ooops - the convergence is thinning out - gotta go. As I believe your President Lincoln once said: "Be excellent to each other - and party on dudes!"

Mirror Southclaw out.

(In other words: I believe that KDF should be allowed to air their grievances in this forum, and they are for the most part doing so with honor. I myself would rather play KDF, but the PvP in this game is not for the faint of heart, and it is a LARGE part of the Klingon play experience. There is only so much I can do/take in one day. Thank Kahless that there are some truly excellent Klingon Foundry Missions out there - and check out the Featured Foundry Klingon mission if you haven't already!)

Originally Posted by Warmaker01

The Romulan Star Empire even in STO's timeframe is very much still in existence. It has had internal stability problems with the destruction of the homeworld. But it still has a governing body. The Empire is not the same from that we have seen from TOS, TNG, DS9, and VOY timeframes. It has had to reconsolidate, and alter itself to be a power again in the area.

Have they lost alot? Yes, the loss of the original homeworld was an unmitigated disaster.

But they have a new homeworld and reestablished their government, and further efforts in place to reconsolidate its power. Even with the destruction of the old homeworld, their navy of course still exists in strength. It's not like the majority of the Romulan Navy was at Romulus when it went kaput.

The loss of Romulus terribly weakened the Romulan Star Empire, and it took them alot of strides to become a competitor again. A weaker competitor compared to the pre-nova Empire, but a strong enough player that the Federation and Klingons still have to worry about.

And that is why the Treaty of Algeron is still very, very relevant to the Federation, an organization built on diplomacy, agreements, and treaties. The Federation very much has always stuck to the agreements it makes. Capt. Picard, in the TNG episode you mentioned, STRONGLY was against development of the cloaks because it violated the treaty that the Federation signed "in good faith" and made efforts to squash the cloaks that was being developed. Technology that was being developed without the Federation's own graces to begin with... That, and the Romulans still pack alot of warships.

And with the Federation at war with the Klingons, you really, REALLY don't want an all-out open war with the sneaky Romulans and their already fully cloak capable fleet. They may be weak compared to before, but they still are a great military power in the quadrant.

I know the devs like to toss the theme and feel of Star Trek under the bus, but Star Trek is Star Trek.

Originally Posted by drazur_southclaw

Hi, I'm KDF-Mirror Drazur_Southclaw - I can't chat for long because the spacetime covnergence won't be stable for much longer.