Every month, Cryptic Studios opens up a thread in their forums so as to answer questions regarding current issues and concerns and upcoming content. This month, it is all about upcoming content as the game's first expansion, Legacy of Romulus, is due out next month. In this latest edition of "Ask Cryptic," Star Trek Online's developers answered questions regarding Romulan duty officers, ships, new villains, the foundry, and many other topics. You can check out "Ask Cryptic: April 2013" in its entirety below.

Legacy of Romulus will be released on May 21st, 2013.

Q: (cgn1987) Are you thinking about implementing more custom bridges? Or would a bridge editor be possible in the future?

STO Team: We have always wanted to implement a custom bridge editor, but would like for the tech in the Foundry to progress to the point where this would be possible. There is a chance this might become available in the future, but it is several seasons away from a possibility.

 

Q: (realcornholio) Will you extend the member cap for fleets any time soon?

STO Team: Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, we are unable to increase the cap at this time. We are, however, looking into possible ways that fleets can ally with each other, which effectively could be similar to increasing the cap.

 

Q: (ghost2448) Will be moving from 2409 to 2410?

STO Team: The current storyline in STO still revolves around the year 2409. While Legacy of Romulus will not yet take us to 2410, getting there in the future is not out of the question. Once we do get there, the story will have progressed significantly for the Federation, Klingon Defense Force, and Romulan Republic, but we’re still a ways off from this and have a lot of stories to tell that still take place in 2409.

 

Q: (ceekayzero) Any chance for more canon Star Trek characters as unique/handcrafted DOFFs?

STO Team: This is a possibility for the future, and something we will consider for special rewards. For instance, Holo-Leeta is given out to our players who attend official Star Trek conventions. Canon Star Trek characters as Duty Officers would most likely continue to be holo versions, though.

 

Q: (androphoros) Will there be any way to get Nukara marks besides Nukara and queued missions, such as a patrol daily?

STO Team: We will be putting in Tholian Marks as rewards for missions and events that involve fighting against the Tholians. This includes, but it is not limited to, Azure Nebula Rescue, The Vault: Ensnared, missions on Nukara Prime, and the Tholian Red Alerts. While rewards for Legacy of Romulus are still being finalized, you can look forward to a complete list of missions and events that award Tholian Marks in our Legacy of Romulus release notes.

 

Q: (kirimuffin) Will Romulans have access to their allies' C-Store ships and consoles? When a Romulan character opens a console reward pack from a lockbox, what (if anything) will she get?

STO Team: As revealed in a recent blog, there has been a change in which allied ships members of the Romulan Republic can command. Romulans will have access to Tier 4 and lower C-Store ships and consoles from those ships, but will not be able to command Tier 5 (Rear Admiral, Vice Admiral, Brigadier General, or Lieutenant General) ships.

As for Lock Box consoles and ships, Romulans will get access to their allied version console reward packs, and most lock box ships* – it's important to note that they are not able to open lock boxes until they choose an ally, though. At launch, Romulan players will not have access to a time ship variant, nor mirror ships, and thus will not be able to open those reward packs* (they can still open Temporal Lock Boxes, though). We do plan to create a unique variant for them to be released at a future date. *Full details about this topic can be found in this Dev Blog.

 

Q: (syberghost) Will there be any Romulan related special goodies for Lifetime subs?

STO Team: We do have a Dev Blog planned that will reveal our Lifetime Subscriber/ Veteran/ Gold Member rewards. These are almost finalized, so plan on seeing the blog about them in the very near future (as soon as early next week).

 

Q: (castsbugc) Will someone give Foundry authors with an update to the Roadmap for the Foundry?

STO Team: We will be revisiting Foundry updates in a future Season, but for now all of our efforts are focused on the upcoming Legacy of Romulus expansion. Once we get past that release, then we can discuss future Foundry possibilities.

 

Q: (psiamesse) How high on the whiteboard is the Exploration revamp for STO?

STO Team: With the success of the Foundry, in many ways player authored missions has become the Exploration content within Star Trek Online. Now that Foundry missions offer valuable rewards, they are much higher quality episodes than the Genesis maps that were shipped at launch. Sometime in the next two years, we would like to leverage the popularity of the Foundry as a legitimate way to explore the galaxy.

 

Q: (xlocutusofborgx) Will the Romulan faction have their own unique ground STF gear?

STO Team: While members of the Romulan Republic can build reputation with Task Force Omega, they will be gaining access to the STF gear of their allies.

 

Q: (sc0ttish) Can you tell us something about the next adventure zone? Is it going to be part of the Legacy of Romulus update?

STO Team: It will be taking place on Nimbus and is slightly different from that of New Romulus in that it is specifically designed for levels 21-25 in a captain’s career. It is also a more story driven zone with distinct episodes in the Mission Journal. There are world events that take place on this map that players can participate in for rewards even if they are finished with their episode progression. Also, all three factions will have access to this zone and story arc.

 

Q: (malkarris) Any news on the Suliban?

STO Team: Yes! The Suliban will make their first STO appearance when Legacy of Romulus launches next month. You’ll have to jump in-game and play through the Romulan Republic storyline to see what they are up to.

 

Q: (suaveks) Can you shed some light on the Romulan main hub area? Will it work the same way as the Qo'nos and ESD work? Will it include any kind of Romulan Academy?

STO Team: The Romulan Republic‘s main hub will work exactly like Qo’nos and Earth Spacedock. It will be your faction hub for ships, costumes, and character progression, and is only accessible by Romulans. Also, Romulan players can visit the hubs of their ally. As for an academy, the Romulan Republic is in its infancy and do not have a training program that requires one at this time.

 

Q: (dontdrunkimshoot) Will STO soon be able to use the Neverwinter PvP tools so PvP can finally get some attention?

STO Team: PvP is on the radar and something we’d like to update for STO. Stay tuned! Also, we are all proud of the recent graduates from PvP Boot Camp, and all the organizers and coaches! Great job to all involved with that program.

 

Q: (originpi) Will Romulans who have selected Federation allies and Romulans who have selected Klingon allies be able to join Teams together? If so, which allies (if any) would also be able to join the team?

STO Team: Due to the way that teams and open teams function in Star Trek Online, once a Romulan selects an ally, they will not be able to create a team with another Romulan who chose a different ally unless they are in an event queue.

What this means is that Romulans who have selected different allies will be unable to team for specific episodes in the Romulan storyline, but will be able to team for events and fleet actions where cross-faction teaming is allowed.

 

Q: (shpoks) Are fleet versions of the Atrox and Kar'fi carriers being considered?

STO Team: We continue to consider and evaluate what ships might be offered in the future in the Fleet variety. We know that these two ships, as well as others, are frequent requests, so never say never.

 

Q: (rtk142) Will the existing three piece ship sets like MACO/Omega Force/Borg etc become four piece sets with the addition of warp cores?

STO Team: We don’t have any plans for this at the launch of Legacy of Romulus, but there is a possibility that Warp Cores will be added to existing sets. Future sets will be very likely to include Warp Cores.

 

Q: (roman1229) When will KDF get KDF only missions?

STO Team: The launch of the Legacy of Romulus expansion will see a brand new Klingon themed tutorial, a handful of exclusive KDF missions, and a number of episodes that fit within the Klingon storyline that have been converted from the Federation mission journal. It’s important to note that these missions have been updated to make them Klingon themed, and some even have a few surprising elements that only a Klingon can experience. Overall, at launch, Klingons will have a full 1-50 progression path for episodes. More details about this will be posted in an upcoming Dev Blog.

 

Q: (wilbor2) Is there going to be new KDF C-Store store ships when legacy comes out?

STO Team: Yes! There will be new Tier 1 and Tier 2 Bird-of-Prey refits, each with their own unique costumes and consoles. Additional Klingon C-Store ships are being considered for after launch, as well.

 

Q: (mattjohnsonva) When, if ever, are we going to see a fleet Galaxy-X? If there is to be one can you give a few pointers as to the changes?

STO Team: As previously mentioned, we continue to consider and evaluate what ships might be offered in the future in the Fleet variety. We also have not forgotten about our plans for an updated Galaxy-X that includes saucer separation, but technical hurdles are currently hindering its completion. We hope to resolve these in the near future.

 

Q: (nithanath) Is any solution to the AFKer problem being discussed?

STO Team: We regularly discuss ways to improve the issues with AFK players, though we’re attempting to implement it in a way that won’t impact players that aren’t abusing the system. More details will be available as we get closer to implementing such a solution.

 

Q: (sauveks) Is the playable Reman species going to include both genders, or just male?

STO Team: We’re happy to announce that players will be able to create both male and female Remans if they have unlocked the Reman playable species. A future Dev Blog will discuss more information about them.

 

Q: (rezking) Will the Borg ever be a playable Faction in STO?

STO Team: We aren’t eliminating the possibility of any faction being created for STO. If we were to implement them, they would most likely be liberated or “Hugh-like“ Borg.

 

Q: (westx211) Will there be playable liberated Borg Romulans for Lifetime Subscribers?

STO Team: Yes! More details will be provided in our upcoming blog about Lifetime Subscriber/ Veteran/ Gold Member rewards.

 

Q: (akpa) Will we see race and gender change token in C-Store with this expansion?

STO Team: We don’t have any plans at this time to implement a race or gender change token, but it’s not entirely out of the question. You won’t see it with the launch of Legacy of Romulus, though.

 

Q: (kekvin) How much VO work will Denise Crosby be doing for the new faction?

STO Team: A lot! She is reprising her role as Empress Sela and is featured in several episodes, narrates the Tau Dewa Sector Block introduction, and will congratulate Romulan Republic players upon rank up. I get chills every time I hear her speak in-game.

 

Q: (gespensterjaeger) Solo fleets for solo people — when will the price reduction for fleet upgrades be done?

STO Team: While we appreciate that there are players who run their own fleets by themselves, we simply can’t balance around this. We are still working on the best options for adjusting fleet progression pricing, but do not have plans to adjust values to accommodate fleets below the established 25 player mark.

 

Q: (zeuxidemus001) Any ETA on when the KDF STF Mk XII costumes will be fixed?

STO Team: Our systems team is investigating this, and has made a few posts in our forums recently. We hope to have a resolution in the near future.

 

Q: (pharhaun) Is it possible to set up a special inventory for pets? Many Epohhs and vanity pets… Too many for the normal inventory (I have unlock all the inventory slots in C-Store but it is not enough).

STO Team: We’re considering options that will address this, but we don’t have any concrete details to share at this time.

 

Q: (chalpen) Long time request: UI Pet # display? It is hard to see how many pets are deployed now.

STO Team: This is also a feature that is requested often. We have a solution for this planned and is a task we’ll likely cover in a future update.

 

Q: (psycoticvulcan) When will we get more non-Romulan ships in the C-store?

STO Team: At this time, we’re only ready to announce the two, new Klingon ships mentioned above, but we are always looking to add more ships to the C-Store. Stay tuned!