STO: T’Androma Returns With Thoughts On The Care And Keeping Of Duty Officers

One of the features I’m just now trying for the very first time in Star Trek Online is the Duty Officer system, due to the fact I left the game shortly before they put it in. So, ever since my return to the game a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been playing around with DOffs and DOff assignments on my main character T’Androma, familiarizing myself with the mechanics.

My initial impressions? I’m rather pleased at how well they implemented it.

Okay, fine, gross understatement. The truth is, I’m totally addicted, and it’s become as instinctual as breathing to check my available duty officer assignments as soon as I enter into a new space sector.

The thing I love best about the system is how it completely immerses you into this leadership aspect of the game, putting me at one with my power-tripping Vulcan by actually making me feel like a big important starship captain delegating my legions of puny underlings to do my bidding. One of the first things I did was set up T’Andy’s team of department heads, so that her Chief Science Officer (and secret lover) is also the First Officer. Being involved in a torrid affair with the boss lady has got to have its perks.

Some of the scenarios and their outcomes also really crack me up. It all goes back to what I was saying about the system feeling so detailed and immersive. The dispassionate emotional landscape of my cold Vulcan heart notwithstanding, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt the first time I lost an officer on an assignment that resulted in complete disaster. Nonetheless, logic dictates the mission was still a success, in that the incident taught me a valuable lesson: always read the assignment information carefully and try to better match what they require! Still, pretty damn sure that won’t be my last “red shirt”.

Another time I just about fell out of my chair laughing when a duty officer received serious injuries after confronting an unruly crew member during the personal assignment “Confiscate Contraband from Crew”. I know I’m probably a terrible person for finding it funny, but it was so hilariously outrageous and shocking at the time to find out it is actually possible to fail so utterly and pathetically at such an innocuous sounding mission. Now, of course, my question is: where can I get the option to have this unruly crew member flogged?

I’ve Got Faaaiiiith, Faith Of The Heeaaaaarrrrt

Okay, first of all, I quite liked Enterprise and I don’t understand why it gets all this hate. As a series, I thought it was very entertaining.

Second of all, I have a rabid addiction to costumes in Star Trek Online, so when Cryptic rolled out their new Enterprise-themed items in the C-store, decking my away team out in the Earth space exploration program uniforms was a no-brainer. T’Andy, being the captain and therefore special, also gets the honor of being stuck in a T’Pol jumpsuit (“logical and fashionable”?!)

Let this be my tribute to Enterprise, may it get the love it deserves. I did pass on the NX-01 ship replica, however. Think I’ll stick with my Maelstrom class fleet escort, thanks.

Dammit, now I have “Where My Heart Will Take Me” stuck in my head.

STO: Keeping Things Warm In Cold Storage

What do you do when you arrive to find the Breen and the True Way beating the crap out of each other? You join in, of course.

Once again we take this lovely Monday to look at the latest Star Trek Online featured weekly episode, which by the way I had the pleasure of experiencing on Advanced Difficulty with my fleet of brave Federation News Service correspondents — Longasc, Thomas, Thumupp and Tipa (who has written a very comprehensive account of the mission this week as well).

More on how that turned out later. First, I can’t believe it’s been five weeks already. What is it they say, that time flies when you’re having fun? Anyway, what a ride this last month has been — I’ve encounter new species, new planets, and new technology. I’ve defended newfound allies, held off hostile enemies, and negotiated myself out of sticky situations. I’ve been unceremoniously blown up, knocked on my ass, and zapped by ice beams. It all came to a head on Saturday with “Cold Storage”, the final episode of the Breen story arc.

A tribute to TOS's "The Paradise Syndrome"

I knew it was coming — showdown at the lost Preserver archives! — but I still nearly fell out of my chair when I saw the giant obelisk. While this arc’s conclusion was somewhat predictable, I still have to appreciate these little homages they throw in to honor the various Star Trek episodes. I don’t think you have to be familiar with the shows to enjoy STO, but being able to spot these little touches do add to the game. Sure makes me glad I spent all those months devouring everything from the original series to Enterprise, or else I wonder how much would have gone over my head.

If we stay together, we survive.

Combat on this mission proved to be a formidable challenge. In space, I was just a sliver of health (at one point, just 2%!) away from being completely obliterated and only survived thanks to the concerted efforts of my fleetmates healing me. Still, my starship is an Escort, a flying tin can not known for being terribly sturdy, so admittedly being blown to smithereens (or close to it) isn’t so much of an irregular occurrence.

The difference was more noticeable on the ground, however. Apparently the Breen wised up, as evidenced by a new ability which appeared capable of one-shotting unsuspecting Federation officers. I’m not sure how much of it actually had to do with our group doing it on the advanced difficulty setting, since another member of or fleet doing this quest individually also noticed this happening.

Er...what tones?

In the underground passageways beneath the obelisk, we came upon a mini-game of sorts. Three consoles which supposedly would emit a tone when activated, and doing them in the right order based on sound would unlock the Archives proper.

Well, I couldn’t hear anything when I activated the first one. Granted, it could be my sound settings or the possibly the ambient noises in the room, but I know my hearing’s fine and I still wasn’t able to pick anything up even when I leaned into my speakers. I left the task to someone else who might have better luck hearing the tones, but regardless, there are only a handful of possible combinations to try, so getting into the final room shouldn’t be problem.

Anyway, you can never go wrong with a boss fight.

Wow, aren't you a big boy!

So, great episode and nice ending and all, but in the end what I loved best were the rewards — finally, a chance to be on the giving end of an ice beam for once with the CRM 200 ground weapon, and also a new Breen tactical bridge officer to call my own, whom I named “Pran”. I had to fire one of my other Boffs to make room for him, but it was worth it. High time for me to get rid of the freeloaders anyway.

Ice to see you! /lame joke

An interesting thought came to me as I was setting Pran up aboard the U.S.S. Taiga — might “special Boff” collecting become a new trend for STO players?

Report To The Bridge

Cryptic was kind enough to have a “Tax Day Discount” sale this weekend, offering players 25% off everything in their Star Trek Online and Champions Online stores. I saw that a couple of my fellow fleetmates had taken advantage of the sale — Tipa is now flying around in her spiffy new Nimbus-class Deep Space Science Vessel, and Adventurer Historian is rocking his Klingon and Fed bridges. I mulled over it for a while until finally, I too decided to purchase something from the STO store. I was still sitting on 240 Cryptic points from the time I did their survey, after all…and those new Science bridges did look awfully tempting.

So, I swooped in this morning before the sale ended, and snagged myself the Federation Bridge Pack III. I gotta say, I like it. I like it a lot. Here, why don’t I let our fearless leader show you around?

This particular interior is called the “Compassion Bridge”. I know — compassion isn’t exactly the first thing I think of when I look at my Vulcan tactical officer either, but I simply adore the color scheme. It’s spacious, though no where near as large as my last bridge, which I swear was roomy enough to hold a U2 concert. At least, this one is a more realistically sized bridge for my compact little fleet escort.

These are “Research Science Vessel” bridges, but really, they can be used in any type of ship as long as it’s on a Federation character. The description for this pack states that all of them were “designed with the needs of medical and research missions in mind,” so why don’t we check in on our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronbua and see what he thinks.

I recently realized that after giving each bridge officer their own biography, I’ve neglected to assign them their roles aboard my starship (beyond labeling them as “away” or “space”, that is). This oversight has since been amended and The U.S.S. Taiga now has senior staff! Let’s check out what some of them are up to. Like our Chief Engineering Officer for instance, the very talented Commander Donald C. Landsberry. 

Followed by a visit to the Senior Armory Officer, Lieutenant Ytap Onseriv, to check in on the state of our tactical systems and security staff.

And of course, no tour is complete without a look in on Mr. Sleer, the U.S.S. Taiga’s First Officer and Chief Science Officer. As you can see, despite his secret involvement with the captain, Commander Sleer is held to the same high standards as everyone else and is extended no preferential treatment or favoritism of any kind (Vulcans are waaaaaay too logical for that sort of drama, anyway).

One thing I do like about large bridges is that all my officers get to have a place on it; it just doesn’t feel right when any of them gets left out. I hope you’ve enjoyed this little tour of my new bridge as well as the update on some of the crew! I’ll come up with roles for the others soon enough. Until then…

STO Fan Art: T’Androma And Sleer

Well, I said I wanted to do something Star Trek Online related and I did.

This piece took me a couple days, and originally started out with just T’Andy. But then I remembered what I had written for my crew bio for her dashing First Officer Mr. Sleer:

Wherever T’Androma goes, he goes, no exceptions. That means, when she’s solving a mystery on a spacedock, Sleer is there. When she’s scanning for anomalies on an alien world, Sleer is there. And when she’s running head on and screaming at the top of her lungs into a group of hostile Klingons, Braveheart style — yep, you got it. Sleer is there.

Okay, you get the point. Sleer is always there, so it only goes to follow that I must include him in the drawing as well. Of course, if you ask my husband, he’ll tell you this is just another way for me to indulge in my Spock fetish, an allegation I will neither confirm nor deny.

Anyway, here it is. And yes, I’m aware that Sleer’s medical tricorder looks like a Nintendo DS. You caught him — he’s not healing his captain, he’s playing Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

As usual, click to enlarge.

Too Sexy For My Skirt

I realize this is the second Right Said Fred reference I’ve made in a post title in less than a month, and for that I owe you all my deepest apologies.

Okay, NOW I'm disco dancing.

Beckett Massive Online Gamer was giving out free Star Trek Original TV series uniforms for Star Trek Online recently, and I managed to claim a code for myself. My Vulcan first officer Sleer is now rocking the Mr. Spock look, and I played around with a skirt on T’Androma for a bit until I found a way to make it work with a pair of thigh-highs (are you seriously telling me these are regulation?) As far as I know, the giveaway is still going on and last I checked they were still in stock, so anyone interested should definitely head on over there and check it out.

Someone Really Oughta Find And Fix That One Pesky Transporter…

Disaster! Captain T’Androma has been the latest victim of a transporter malfunction, resulting in the materialization of an identical copy of our fearless leader!

@Longasc makes sure his crew is working hard while T'Androma (left) scrutinizes her copy (right). "Do my eyebrows REALLY look like that?"

The second T’Androma wasted no time jump-starting her Starfleet career, joining fleetmate @Longasc’s crew as his newest tactical officer. The assignment was a timely one, as @Longasc was apparently on an urgent, dangerous and ultra-secret mission that required the immediate enlistment of the finest young female Vulcans Starfleet can offer! Now a Commander in her own right, the T’Androma copy has found happiness and fulfillment working aboard his ship alongside his other talented officers Mirror Tipa and @Arkenor, as well as her fellow female Vulcan officers M’Egan and F’Ox.

Note: Special thanks to Bluekae, Longasc and Tipa for introducing me to the joys of officer picture trading! And of course, for walking me through the process to make this happen.