= State of the Fleet, September 2016 =

[Marcase]

Greetings 44th,

Here’s September’s State of the Fleet, as usual we begin by welcoming our newest members that joined last August;

@madmax#4916 (Frank) from Northern British Columbia, Canada
@madhattr64#3353 (Charles) from Alaska, USA
@hawkeye18893049 (Blake) from California, USA (provisional)
@taylor248 (Scott) from Illinois, USA
@mcflatus#9611 (pete) from California, USA (provisional)
@jerlbar aka Sybu (Alan) from the UK (provisional)
@qwert1234543212 (Kieran) from London, UK
@kryechton (Jeremy) from the US (CST)
@craftyveteran1 aka Washburn (Todd) from the UK
@jrodblue22 (Jarrod) from Kentucky, USA
@badratio (Nick) from New York, USA
@Wardancer12 (David) from Scotland, UK

The (provisional) members have been invited but haven’t accepted yet.
[attachment=1:2d4c2lfz]Thanks Defcon.JPG[/attachment:2d4c2lfz]
I’m also happy to announce that your 44th Command Staff has been reinforced. Long-time member Palcioz has officially been promoted to Vice-Admiral, and Horridperson has been elevated to Commodore rank. Palcioz is hard at work behind the scenes revamping our website, and Horridperson will assist in day to day operations running our three fleets, aided by his private army of cats, no doubt.

Unlike most ranks in the 44th, these ranks have to be earned and voted for by the entire Command Staff, so congratulations to both, well deserved.

Just to illustrate, the 44th Admiralty consists of;
Fleet Admirals – Sargon, Marcase
Vice-Admirals – Damix4, Blackout8888, Palcioz
Commodores – Defcon, Fatman, Horridperson

There are also some staff listed on the rosters who are retained but are (indefinite) afk.
The Admiralty may seem a bit top-heavy, but remember we’re three fleets acting as one. The paperwork can be daunting. Check the in-game roster and you will usually see a Command Staff member present in all time-zones; don’t hesitate to ask for advice, projects etc.
Bad jokes and puns optional.

Soon the winners of the “Toons on their homeworld” will be announced (around Sunday 4th) and I’d like to thank all of you who took the time and effort to submit your pictures.
A special thanks again to Resto for very generously providing the rewards.
As I mentioned in the original post, even if you didn’t win, your pictures may very well appear on our new website, and some sort of thank you will be in the mail for all participants soon.
We will follow this track a bit further and ask for different kinds of website pictures in the very near future: think of themed (44th) banners, smaller visuals or specific screenshots etc. Let us know if you have any ideas or suggestions, all appreciated.

In STO news, well Cryptic kinda threw us a curveball the size of a planet-killing asteroid.
After several years of claiming there would not, as in not ever, be a playable Tier 6 Constitution (since that would be *weird* having a TOS-era 23rd century ship fighting among 25th century ones), Cryptic released quite suddenly an Original Series Enterprise. To say this caused a stir is putting it mildly.

Not just because they suddenly did what they always said they wouldn’t, but also about the way they released it – the bloody expensive c-store R&D packs.
While the lockbox lottery is a certain gamble, successfull R&D drops are even more elusive. Not only that, R&D ships are often ‘once and never again‘ drops. So if you are like the rest of us and spend zen and didn’t get one, chances are you never will.
Some are sold seperate off the exchange via the various Trade Channels for 750-900 million ec. The KDF D-7 and Rom Warbird are marketed for a bit less, but only a tiny bit.
Their stats are good, with the D-7 probably having the best, see them here.

The reason behind it is probably – and this is speculation – CBS (the rightfull owner of the design) could have demanded a one-off promotion, so the game should not be flooded with them, keeping it super-exclusive.
I can understand that, as I believe there should be some exclusivity in game as a goal, something to work for.
The boys and girls at Cryptic may have asked/begged/cajoled CBS for this one-time reward, since it’s TOS 50th anniversary. So Cryptic, thanks…?
Again just a WAG on my part.

If you don’t want to spend the zen, the R&D packs can also be bought on the exchange (just search for Promotion) at a whopping 17 mil each. That’s a lot for just for a 99.99% chance on 10 lobi crystals and the 1% chance for a TOS T6. But hey, if you have ec to burn (like Blackout) you can buy a bunch and get lucky (like Blackout). #jealous.:D

Mirror Event ! It has returned and we’re mid-way now. Although the mission is fairly simple (PUGs are notorious for still fracking it up however) it’s still a grind. The Admiralty ship is nice if you don’t have many yet, the extra dili and marks rewarded are decent; 50,000 Dilithium Ore, 500 Fleet Marks, 250 Marks of Your Choice.

[attachment=2:2d4c2lfz]Stadi.JPG[/attachment:2d4c2lfz]
Once completed, turning in extra Transporters gives dilithium.

Is it worth it, especially since it is NOT an account-wide unlock and you have to replay it on each individual toon ? Probably not, but it *is* a good way to earn those elusive marks like the new Temporal ones – it’s a fairly easy way to fill this new reputation quick and easy – just concentrate on 2-3 alts instead of 5 or more or you’ll get pointy ears.
It will last untill Sept 15th, so if you haven’t started it already you can do a few and save the Multidimensional Transporter for next year.

Calendar
Mirror Event, ends Sept. 15th
Junior Officer weekend Sept. 15th – 19th.
Bonus XP weekend Sept. 29th – Oct. 3rd.

On the recent STO Patch notes, an interesting ‘fix’ to Nanite-Reinforced Circuitry, Science Console.

Don’t be fooled, it’s a nerf. A recent discussion on reddit here.

[attachment=0:2d4c2lfz]NRC.JPG[/attachment:2d4c2lfz]
Basically, never use even a single console slot for hull regeneration, use that to either boost healing or squeeze more DPS out of the build instead.
Yes, seriously.
Hazard Emitters boosted by an Aux battery will boost/heal/cleanse you without giving up console space(s). There are also some good (free) starship traits out there (like attack pattern expertise) that can do the same or better.

Also in the patch notes; they ‘fixed’ the ground queue Miner Instabilities Advanced/Elite. Untill now, it was ridiculously easy and you could earn a bucket-load of marks quick and easy (which we did), since you didn’t get injured and the enemy NPCs weren’t as impressive (which they weren’t). Well, it sure was fun while it lasted. 😳
Don’t even attempt advanced unless you have good kit, a good team and plenty of hypo’s in your inventory.
No kidding, the Nakuhl’s trick of ganging up on you with a combination of grenades and sniper rifles is a killer.

A general note, remember to ALWAYS fix injuries, both in space and ground, since damage stacks and will make you weaker. When playing advanced or elite, always keep a stack of regenerators and repair kits in your bank. They don’t even have to be in your inventory, just keep them in your bank and when damaged/injured, call up your ship/character menu (press “U”) and fix/heal yourself.

Damix dug up some really nice gems, check out Info/Leaks in the (restricted) Fleet Tactics in the Secured Area.
Remember to not share that info in chat etc. Big Brother may be watching, but His Momma will eat you.
It does looks like a new event and one that should be quite fun.

Speaking of fun, I have to get back to doffing.

See you, out there, captains !
Marcase

"Boldly bashing Borg to bits since 2012..."

[CodeWarrior316]

This just in: http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/star-trek-online/news/detail/10142383-new-shipyards-are-coming-online
Prepare to open your wallets, Earth scum!

[horridperson]

Hi all. I’d like to extend my thanks to the rest of the command staff for allowing me to join them but with even a little power comes greater responsibilities.

For anyone that plays during the, “off hours” I’m here to help when I am online. With some administrative controls I can assist and expedite those fleet transfers when the majority of the fleet are counting Blind Grisnar Sheep. I like to chat when I’m on so if there is a conversation on the fleet diplo channel in all likelihood I’m at least “listening”. If there is silence on the channel and I’m on say hello if you need a hand or want just want to yammer about things Trek (or my cats).

@CodeWarrior

My wallet has taken a virtual beating all ready :).

On a more serious note I am a modelling snob and while I can imagine the price will be high the quality will be debatable at this point in time. 3d printing is improving but the “resolution” isn’t up to snuff. I don’t have much faith in layered goo taking on the clean finish that would be my expectations for a ship from the Star Trek universe. Print on demand objects remain inferior to cast products and should be avoided until the technology is up to the task of producing a display quality model.

[Marcase]

Very cool and Ouch! Says my wallet.

Considering the many-many ships I have, this is can get crazy like, crazy fast.

Looks like all models will obviously not be to scale and basically similar sized, so a Delta Flyer shuttle will prob be more detailed than a Jupiter carrier. They look very nice though, paintjob looks nice enoguh, should be nice seeing your own name on it.

Wonder how they’ll print that Vonph carrier though…

"Boldly bashing Borg to bits since 2012..."

[Damix]

Nice post, Marcase c:

Also, 7GB tribble patch has landed. Lighting effects with nice amount of fixes.

[CodeWarrior316]

Sorry wasn’t trying to thread jack maybe should be its on topic. Thanks for the writeup and congrats to the new command staff!

[Author]

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