Fleet Bases

Well folks, I had about given up on STO as a game. But then I read this article on Massively that outlines the new fleet Starbase system being added with season 6. Then another one was added with an interview with Daniel Stahl.

I want to quote to pieces first:

According to Cryptic, starbase development will involve several steps:

1. Gather the resources necessary for various Fleet Projects.
2. Individual members contribute resources to a Fleet Project, gaining individual Fleet Merits commensurate to the individual’s contribution.
3. When a Fleet Project meets the resource requirements, it will begin construction, whereupon the next queued Fleet Project will become available for contributions by fleet members.
4. When a Fleet Project’s build-time completes, the effects of the project will appear. In addition, fleet experience points in the related category may include buffs, limited quantities of unique ships and equipment in fleet stores, new contacts and functionality on the Starbase interior, improved starbase defensive capabilities, and other possible effects.
5. When enough fleet experience points have been accrued in one of the three categories (Military, Engineering, Science) to attain the next development tier for that category, special upgrade Fleet Projects will become available.
6. Completing one of the special upgrade projects will advance the associated facility (Shipyard, Industrial Fabricator, Communications Array, or the Starbase itself) to the next tier.

And about rewards

• New functionality to starbases, such as the ability to repair ships or open transwarp gates to distant sectors
• The ability to add new contacts to starbase interiors that allow for useful functions such as additional duty officer assignments, mail, banking, skill respecs, bridge officer training, and many other functions;\
• The ability to add limited numbers of new ships or other elite equipment to “fleet stores”
• Limited time buffs
• Aesthetic improvements to starbases

Okay, so my thoughts: It sounds really cool. Finally, there will something to do in the game at max level. Gathering resources and doing missions to help advance the fleet base sounds like fun. Especially the base defense missions. Making the base more than just an instanced social map is a nice touch.

I’ve enjoyed playing with the TOS Vets that I’m a fleet member of. They fit my off and on again playstyle very well, since they are all old like me and have lives. And since I’m a lifer, I can hop in whenever I want, so I’m looking forward to having a reason to log in occasionally. Granted, I don’t have a lot of play time. Can only really handle one game at a time. By the time this launches, Civ expansion will be out. And there’s still SWTOR to play.

Now, the negatives and questions. These are things I’m sure won’t be happening

• Customization. It seems like all the starbases will be identical. Would have preferred some SWG style customization, or even Foundry based design, but that’s never going to happen.
• It’s supposed take a max fleet working hard 6-7 months. But will that be mostly waiting time? But the “average” guilds will take 9-18 months. Does that mean the resource requirements will be astronomical? Cryptic has some pretty crazy ideas about what people can gather in a reasonable amount of time.
• How gated will the resources be? To run a project to get new ships, will it take 2 weeks, produce 2 ships for a fleet of 50 people?
• Will it be just like every other STO feature, sounds good until you see the implementation, which is terrible? I hope not. The DOFF system was pretty good.
• They keep alluding to territorial control, but I don’t expect to ever see that in reality.
• Will all of the additions and projects be worthwhile features, or dumb short term buffs?

PS, Check out this image from the recent Dev Blog about the bases. Can you spot the Futurama fan…