All at once, or staggered attacks. Whichever.
Hope it's not just me that thinks this, but seriously... most of the ships designed by Cryptic exclusively for STO are ugly as sin- some of them don't even look like they belong in Star Trek.
At the risk of getting chased with pitchforks and torches, hear me out...
When I first started playing (about four years ago) I was sort of excited to see the variants of the canon ships, until I started playing around in customisation and I hated all of them.
Don't get me wrong, the canon ships look superb, and some of the Cryptic designs are quite graceful, like the Sao Paulo or Venture classes- and the patrol escorts are nice, especially the Tempest class. Also I'm not counting the Odyssey class in this, as that was not designed by Cryptic.
But for the most part, I can't stand the canon variants or the newer designs like the Vesta class- it just looks like the devs have randomly elongated parts, or squished them, or flattened ships, or just plain added random geometric shapes into the design that just don't fit with the design.
The Dyson science destroyer is, to me, the absolute worst example of ship design I've seen in the game so far- even ignoring the garish, awful color scheme, the whole ship looks like it's just a mish-mash of random shapes and lines. Especially the deflector "dish"... the whole ship is nauseating to look at, a far cry from the graceful lines and curves of most the canon starships. The functionality is awesome, and I like the transition into tactical mode, it's just a shame the whole thing looks like a ten-year-old drew it on a napkin.
I just bought a Tempest class, and I'm happy with it- it's a little flattened out, but it looks quite sleek and "Trek-like", with nice updates to the warp nacelles and a smooth saucer section (once you get rid of the center pylon).
I'm just concerned that the T6 ships are going to be another set of half-assed designs that look vaguely like Star Trek ships but with none of the grace- and worse, that as end-game ships, players are going to be forced to use them to compete. As someone who finds immersion important, having to use a hideous-looking ship like a Dyson destroyer would probably drive me out of the game.
What does everyone else think? Does anyone find the Cryptic ships pleasing to look at?
Edit: Didn't realise the Vesta wasn't a Cryptic ship- I stand corrected, thanks for educating me, guys. (Still don't like it though :p )
Edit 2: I primarily mean Starfleet ships in this post, particularly th
... keep reading on reddit ➡
Let me preface this by saying I LOVE the Dream class of Carnival Ships. They have a great promenade area and smooth passenger flow, but I think it's time for Carnival to move on from the same old "Destiny" based designs. I'm extremely happy to see that Carnival is set to receive a new class of ship in 2020, this ew ship is going to weigh 180,000 GT and carry 6600 passengers. I'm thinking the design will be extremely similar to the 'Costa Smeralda' being launched in 2019 because the Costa ship also weights 180,000 GT and carries roughly the same number of people. Because there is no renderings out of the unnamed Carnival Ship, you can google renderings of the Costa Smerelda and see some of the features. I think it's a very attractive ship! I noticed what look to be "cove balconies" on the lower decks, and a large amount of forward facing balconies. At the back of the costa Smeralda there appears to be a large public area on the lower deck, I'm guessing this is where Carnival would put 'The Havana' area on their ship? There also appears to be an expansive promenade deck which I'm thrilled about. Wondering if anyone else had any speculation??
Update: Just found out P&O cruises (a Carnival subsidiary) is also getting a ship from this new class. A description of the new P&O ships says "stand-out features include a half-mile Lanai deck -- complete with al fresco dining and drinking; a giant glass dome, a massive Atrium with triple-deck glass windows; 17 eateries -- including seven speciality restaurants -- 12 bars, 13 entertainment venues, four pools and 16 whirlpools." I hope these features transfer over to the Carnival version of the ship.
So for all those who couldn't tune in we got a couple of announcements from this stream.
First is that it is highly likely that HMS Minotaur will be coming later this year.
The second is that the next BB line is the alternative USN BB line with USS Nevada at tier 4, USS Tennessee at tier 5, USS North Carolina at tier 6 and USS Georgia being a Premiun tier 7.
Finally the next Ships of the Line stream will be French Battleships.
Could be from "canon" or "Legends" or even "fan inspired"
TLDR but still TL: It's Christmas morning in the Rebel/Resistance household. The T-65, RZ-1, T-70 and RZ-2 all got their own box of nerf darts for Christmas. Then the T-70 also got a big fancy nerf gun, and the RZ-2 already had a fancy nerf gun. The T-65 and RZ-1 have to have fun throwing them I guess. The RZ-2 begrudgingly shares with a backhanded complement and tensions are high.
Meanwhile the big extended TIE family household is having a great and happy Christmas morning! Thanks Great-Uncle V-wing! :D
Also meanwhile, that same Christmas, the Y-wing Siblings are pondering what the heck to do with the Bagel Slicer that they all got...
Let me lead with this:
Ion Limiter Override is an excellent, and most importantly *fun* card, simply from having an fairly common trigger, and an aggressive risk/reward mechanic that suits the vibe of most of the ships the card is made for. Especially when paired with the lovely and very versatile Precision Ion Engine. 21 final positions from one dial selection is no joke!
The real problematic cards here are the X-wing's Backwards Tailslide, the A-wing's Starbird Slash, and, for far more overt reasons, the Y-wing's Tierfon Belly Run, all introduced in FFG's final months.
Ship specific Elite Talents are an amazing new design space. They have so much potential. They can elevate the "Talented Generics" from something beyond just a cheap bonus to initiative. They can be something that further pushes the synergy of named pilot's abilities with their ships.
FFG introduced the idea with the X-wing's Backwards Tailslide and the A-wing's Starbird Slash. The stream that introduced them was very excited at pointing out that the card didn't say "T-70 specific." It only said "X-wing." The T-65 can use it too! Awesome!
On it's own, Backwards Tailslide is definitely a niche card. Using your reposition action to *choose* to land on obstacle is very rarely "the optimal" play, and the odds of the small speed-one templates successfully moving over and obstacle and landing on the other side are quite small.
But, on it's own? At least it's equally useless for both the X-wings. Neither the T-65 nor the T-70 can really get much play out of it, so, not a big deal.
Then the same pack introduces the modification, Overdrive Thrusters, in the same pack... all your repositions are speed 2, making your chances for getting that evade token hugely more likely...for the T-70 only, not the T-65.
... keep reading on reddit ➡
