This is still developing… more to come.

I love the ships.

Hints at the new content.

But has it come at a price?

Like many of you I was initially stunned at the choice for the next expansion of Star Trek Online. I wasn’t kidding when in my first Twitter comment I added the line ‘processing… processing..’ . What was the driving decision behind looking back to classic Trek, over say adding the Cardassians as a playable race?

And the ships: from Matt Jeffries-inspired classic designs, to the line of T6 ships that look to be predecessors to the Enterprise J; there is a lot to consider.

(I’m prepping a separate post for the ships – coming soon)

What expansion would be perfectly timed for the 50th anniversary? I thought we might see the Borg as both a revised adversary AND a playable faction through the Cooperative. The more I look at this announcement, and the more I calmly I look at it from a marketer’s point of view – What better way to appeal to new players than to give us a new look with the classic vibes?

My gut tells me this expansion isn’t targeted to existing players. It’s for new players. It’s for fresh eyes looking for more of the same Trek we all grew up with. And what better way could you achieve it by picking up the story where classic Trek left off as a doorway to over a hundred years of storytelling? It’s a ballsy move and as with any Star Trek discussion, it’s not without it’s share of detractors.

Let’s start by acknowledging the elephant in the room – at first glance this is exclusively a Federation update. Over the past six weeks we’ve been getting hints from the usual suspects that the Federation were getting the bulk – if not all – of the new ships. While not entirely surprising given that most of the players are Feds, there was some hope that we’d hear about Temporal ships for the KDF and the Romulan factions as well. What is surprising – and these are early days – there’s no mention of how the new Temporal Specialization tree will impact these factions. If you buy either package the new character benefits appear to be Federation only. The ships themselves have variants in Tier I through IV – so they should be playable by all factions.

As for the Specialization packages and upgrades “It unlocks for all TOS and Federation characters on an account.” Whew. That’s telling.

The truth is at the moment we don’t know what else is coming. A lot more information has yet to be released. If this plays out in a similar way to Season 7 and the addition of the Romulans as a faction, likely they held back something to include later to build interest.

The fan angst over the lack of anything Romulan or KDF has been huge.

I think player attitudes are best summed up by an exchange I had with balloon99 on Reddit:

It’s just that they must know that, objectively, the reds and the greens are less well served. And that their adherents will parse any new announcement to see what crumbs they’re getting from the main course.

When you’re as hungry as the reds and the greens, the prospect of even a crumb is important. If there is no prospect, then put us out of our misery. Knowing you’re going to be hungry a bit longer is more merciful than hoping for a crust tomorrow that never comes.

Eloquently put.

So while I hold out that more is coming for all factions, I’m also bracing myself for the idea that the Reds and Greens may be in for a major disappointment. But I might be okay with that if it means we bring more players into the game.

(In my best Oden/Sisko voice)

THIS is a HUGE victory of the GOOD GUYS. This may be the turning point for the ENTIRE Temporal cold war. There is even a ‘Welcome to the Fight’ party on r/sto. So. I bought the full pack. I read between the lines. I offered bribes to find out more. I am an accessory to grammatical murder. But the most damning thing of all, I think I can live with it. And if I had to do it all over again, I would. Ballon99 was right about the Reds and Greens, but I believe a guilty conscience is a small price to pay for the security and growth of the STO player base. So I will learn to live with it. Because I can live with it. I CAN live with it. *thoughtful pause* Computer, erase this entire personal blog entry.

My Two bits,

Lootcritter.