Kobayashi Maru Returns!

Beginning on October 17th, 2019, until November 7th, 2019, captains will again be challenged to face the harsh simulation of the “Kobayashi Maru” when it returns as our next Featured Task Force Operation. While this TFO is available, Captains may participate daily to earn progress towards a brand new Featured-TFO reward, as well as earning Event Campaign Progress toward a Tier-6 Starship Coupon.

Continue reading for full details!

Event Campaign – Part 1

The Kobayashi Maru Featured TFO will be the first of a series of upcoming Events that will participate in a multi-event system that we’re calling “Event Campaigns,” which will allow players to eventually earn a Z-Store Coupon that offered 100% Off on a Tier-6 Starship of their choice. Established players will recognize this system as an updated and re-named version of the previous progression that allowed players to do the same, and very little has changed in adapting this meta-system to the updated Event UI. The core gameplay remains the same: Participate in multiple Events scheduled over the next several months, to earn progress towards an extremely valuable prize. All of the following aspects of this system remain unchanged:

Players may earn 50 Event Campaign Progress for each day they participate in an eligible event.

Additional Event Campaign Progress can be earned by participating in Bonus Days, after the Grand Prize of an eligible event is claimed.

The following changes are being made, based on the needs of the ever-evolving Events System, and based on how players engaged with the previous iteration of this system:

There is an entire tab in the Events UI now dedicated to explaining and celebrating this ongoing activity, as it spans multiple Events that will come and go.

The amount of Event Campaign Progress required to claim the prize has been reduced to 2100, compared to the previous requirement of 3000.

Buying out an eligible event will include up to 700 Event Campaign Progress. Each event’s buyout only grants as much Event Campaign Progress as is relative to the amount paid, after pro-rated discounts are applied. This means that paying half price, (because you participated in 7 out of 14 of the required days so far) will grant you 350 Event Campaign Progress. Essentially, you get what you pay for.

There will still be Bonus Campaign Progress days (formerly “Bonus Coupon Days”), but they will be less frequently present than the previous iteration, and less predictable.

Perhaps as the most important change we’d like to announce – this version of the system will be coming to consoles in the near future – with some differences. Stay tuned for more information on that front! And keep an eye out for future Events to learn more about what activities will be eligible for participation in the new Event Campaigns.

Rise to a New Challenge

In anticipation of the Kobayashi Maru’s return as a long-running Event, and in response to player feedback received during previous runs of this challenge, we have made a number of alterations to the structure of this Task Force Operation.

The minimum level for participation has been removed. All characters must have completed their Tutorial Experience. Romulan and Jem’Hadar characters must have chosen a primary allegiance. TOS-era and DSC-era characters must have traveled to the appropriate timeline.

There will no longer be a “Timed” and “Untimed” version of the TFO. While the Event is active, only one version of the TFO will be accessible. This version of the Kobayashi Maru automatically completes upon the completion of Wave 6, at which point all related rewards will be granted and the operation is considered complete, and no additional waves will spawn. You must complete Wave 6 to earn your Daily Progress and Event Campaign Progress. Once the Event has ended, the above version of the TFO will become disabled and an “Infinite” version of Kobayashi Maru will become available in its place. This scaling challenge allows the boldest captains to test their mettle against unending waves of enemies at ever-increasing difficulties. Prizes for this version remain unchanged from those previously available on the “Untimed” version of the Kobayashi Maru.

The failure condition of having all players dead simultaneously, or of having the ECS Kobayashi Maru sustain fatal damage, have been removed from the Event version of the map. These conditions remain on the “infinite” version of the TFO only.



It is our hope that these changes will make the Event experience a cleaner and more enjoyable one.

This updated version of the Kobayashi Maru Event can be accessed via the new Event UI, accessible within your Mission Journal by pressing on the “Events” Tab.

Rewards

All players may complete the Kobayashi Maru FTFO in order to earn their Daily Progress once every 20 hours, in addition to TFO’s standard rewards. Players may continue to play the TFO as much as they like while it is active, but Event Progress will only be registered once per day, per account.

Earn a total of 14 days’ worth of Daily Progress to become eligible to claim all of these rewards:

Kobayashi Maru Transponder (and Account-Wide Unlock for Reclaim)

50,000 Dilithium Ore (once only)

3x Featured TFO Reward Boxes (once only) Each gives a choice of 1x Specialization Point or an Enhanced Universal Tech Upgrade



Upon claiming this Grand Prize (whether earned or purchased), your account will immediately become eligible for Bonus Progress. Each day thereafter will grant an increasing amount of Dilithium Ore as an additional reward for continuing to engage with the Featured TFO.

Kobayashi Maru Transponder

This device is capable of summoning the E.C.S. Kobayashi Maru to your position across the vast distances of space. Doing so provides different functionality depending upon whether you are currently in a system map, or within Sector Space.

When utilizing this device in Sector Space, the crew of this fabled ship appears and offers services such as Bank Access, Mail Access, and more.

When utilized while in system space, the Kobayashi Maru will arrive to aid in whatever conflicts you might be facing by way of dropping Resupply Pods periodically that will provide combat boosts to you and other nearby players. The Kobayashi Maru will retreat if it becomes too damaged, so protect it in order to maximize the benefits you receive from its presence!

(Must be equipped to a Device Slot for use. May not be activated while piloting a Small Craft.)

Obtaining the Kobayashi Maru Transponder on any character on your account will unlock the ability to reclaim the item on other characters, via the Reclaim Store within the Events UI. You may only reclaim this item on characters that do not already own one.

Legacy Progress

Veteran players that have participated in previous Featured TFOs may still be in possession of multiple “Featured TFO Commendation” items, which are no longer used in the new Event System. In an effort to maintain the value and investment attached to these legacy items, players that still have these will be able to turn them in for Daily Progress and Event Campaign Progress.

Each upcoming eligible event (typically only Featured TFO Events) will have an option to Apply Legacy Progress to the requirements present, allowing you to ‘cash in’ your already-earned (and/or already-purchased) progress, toward these new Events as they become active. This must be done on a per-character basis, on each character of yours that has one or more of the old Featured TFO Commendations.

For all intents and purposes, this means that your saved Commendations will still be usable in upcoming events, exactly as they would have been before. The Kobayashi Maru Featured TFO will be the first such Event to allow this conversion, and we’re excited to allow players to use this new system to get the value they earned for their prior investments.

For those of you who had past Featured TFO projects still slotted in the old Event Reputation UI, those projects will be auto-completed, granting you the rewards. This may not happen with the launch of the Kobayashi Maru event, but will happen very soon after.

Availability

Test your mettle against the epitome of a ‘No-Win Scenario’ by protecting the Kobayashi Maru against whatever randomized threats the simulation chooses to throw at you and your team. Dive into this starship combat challenge on PC from October 17th, 2019 until November 7th, 2019. The Kobayashi Maru Featured TFO is currently scheduled to become accessible for players on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 later this year.

Jeremy “BorticusCryptic” Randall

Lead Systems Designer

Cryptic Studios