Season 9 *SPOILER ALERT*
Posted: March 20th, 2014, 6:01 am
Captains.....
A new season of STO is upon us in a few weeks and as with the last season and to continue forward as long as I play/am a member of this fleet, I will continue to provide data about the upcoming season, changes, missions, and anything else that I can find for you. As before, I will strive to provide as accurate information as I can, but please note that as with everything in STO, content is subject to change with or without notice. Also, as before, I will refrain from speculation/rumors unless there is significant data to suggest they may be true. I will of course plainly state if an item of information is rumor/speculation. So, if you do not see *Rumor*, then it is not. Please be aware that from this point forward, I will be talking about the new content, so ******SPOILER ALERT!!*****. If you do know wish to know ahead of time, please do not read farther......
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
As we all already know from Season 8.5, Season 9 will be about the Undine and the Delta Quadrant. So far, we have seen 3 new areas added to the Tribble Testing grounds. 2 new PVE queues and 1 Space Battlezone. I have had a chance to run each of them once and the 2 PVE queues are just awesome. It's hard to get a 5 man team together on Tribble, so when I can, I will be FRAP'ing these queues so that you can see what is in store. Like with Season 8, I will post a link to my YouTube page where the video is hosted. Please do not search for it, as it is unlisted. You must have the link. Please, feel free to share with whomever you like.
Also, with Season 9, we have a new Earth Space Dock (ESD) that is just a work of art. Gone is the industrial donut that we all know and a new sleek, Starfleet/Federation inspired ESD has taken it's place. There are many levels and now, you can actually go out into the shuttle bay and see Runabouts, Shuttles and Workerbee's fly right past you and into the interior of ESD where the ships are docked. I will be posting some screenshots later, and possibly a vid walkthough, time permitting. Everything is nicely laid out and no more running forever to get somewhere. There are bank locations scattered throughout and the tailor even has changing rooms! Imagine that! There are quite a few different social areas and even a balcony way up that requires a turbolift to reach where you can relax, have meeting and watch all the activity below. ***Rumor*** It was talked about on the Officer Chat in Tribble Fleet (the Dev Fleet) that at some point in the future, ESD will have multiple levels to explore and interact with ***Rumor***. Yes, I got promoted to Senior Officer in the Tribble Fleet last night! There are waterfalls and lots of bonsai trees everywhere. It is really something to behold.
We will also be seeing the much anticipated Kit Revamp in Season 9 also. These new kits are pretty nice. For the Non-Fleet kits, you will have 2 offensive kit powers and 2 defensive kit powers. You choose. Basically, you get a Kit Frame with 4 slots. You then get Modules (Mods) that you will install in these slots that give you the Kit Powers. It is important to note here, as of this post, the idea is that you can swap out Mods whenever you like (Not in combat). So, say you are going to Defara as an Eng. You can slot Phaser Turret, Chronoton Mines, Weapon Malfunction and Shield Repair in the same kit. Then, say you head to go do a story mission, you can remove these Mods and then slot Transphasic Bomb, Medical Generator, Fuse Armor & Cover Shield. When replacing a Mod, you do not lose it, it goes back into your inventory to be used again later. However, slotting a Mod WILL make it Character Bound. Now, I know a lot of you are wondering "But, I just bought an expensive Spire Kit. What will happen to that?" Well, you will be able to trade it in for a new Spire Experimental Kit, which has 5 slots. There are a few different combos to choose from. So, if you just got a new shiney, don't worry, you can trade it in for free. Which brings me to my next point.....
The visuals have been changed for Season 9. Ship visuals as of now are still the same and no word that they will change. HOWEVER, personal visuals got a makeover. You will no longer be able to click on the little eyeball and show/hide your Armor, Weapon or Kits. All these visuals have been moved to the Tailor and are now options for costumes. And, let me tell you, there are ALOT of options . AND YOU CAN COLORIZE THEM!!! Here comes the pink armors, lol. Anyway. Federation, Romulan and KDF personnel all have these options available to them now. So, let your imagination run wild and break out the Zen for more costume slots
The new Reputation system will obviously be Undine. 8472 Counter-Command Reputation is what it will be called. It will be set up much like the Dyson Rep. You will get Undine Marks and Isomorphic Injectors to turn in. The actual Reputation is not yet up on Tribble, so the information is limited right now. Will post more when I get it. Also, according the Patcher Program, this last Tribble Patch loaded Undine Bridge Packs onto my computer, so I would say that it is safe to assume that we will be seeing an Undine Lockbox and Undine Playable ships with the release of Season 9. As many of you all are aware, I have been madly transferring Keys over to Tribble, so when these Lockboxes hit, I will be opening lots of them. Will get the rundown on them for you all as well.
OK Captains, that is all that I have for you for now. Please keep checking back over the next few days as I will be uploading the first video, Viscous Cycle Elite, in approximately 8 hours. Will also be uploading screenshots and more info in the next 24 - 48 hours along with another video. Everything will be kept here in this thread. I will let everyone know via TPD Chat when new info is posted.
Keep The Phoenix Burning!
Vice Admiral Mara Razorwalker
Crimson Phoenix Squadron
of
The Phoenix Division
UPDATED 3/21/14
I have some more news for everyone! It was released today in the Season 9 Dev Blog #3 that the Reputation System is also being revamped! Good news or not, I will have screenshots in a few hours of the revamped reputation system.
UPDATED 3/22/14
OK, Captains, got some more news for you, although I am not sure if this will release with S9 or after. It appears that we will be getting a lvl cap increase! Yes, that is right, a level cap increase. Judging from what I have seen, I will wager to GUESS (NOT CONFIRMED) that it will be to lvl 60. Today, as some of you already know, I managed to crack open the .hogg files for Holodeck. VERY interesting. Don't worry, scroll down and you will find some screenshots and info. But, it is looking like there will be item increases to Mk XIV gear, both regular, special sets and Fleet gear. So, you are asking "But Mara, what is gonna happen to all this MK XII Fleet gear that I have grinded months and months on???" Well, at this point, I do not have an answer for you. I can only speculate. Seeing as how they are doing "Trade-ins" on the Fleet Kits, I am HOPING that something similar will be implemented. HOWEVER, I do not really see that happening. More likely, to keep the masses happy and at bay, I THINK (AGAIN, Not confirmed or even hinted at.) what will happen is that we will see the current Mk XII Fleet Gear bumped to Mk XIV Fleet gear and new Mk XII gear takes it's place. That would be the logical thing to do. There will be MASSIVE rage if they did anything else since Cryptic has swore for years now that there would be nothing more powerful that Mk XII. However, their own update files have proven those statements as a lie. Again, I have ZERO idea what will happen when these new Mk XIV equipment hits Tribble, then Holodeck. We will just have to hope for the best. So, scroll on down to the post and check out the images I ripped from the .hogg files and I even took a screenshot of the files open on my computer with the date/time at the bottom
UPDATED 3/23/14
Found some more interesting items in the .hogg file.
UPDATED 3/28/14
I have added 2 new videos, one of the new Space PVE Undine Assault Normal and one of the new Ground PVE Undine Infiltration Normal. I hope that you enjoy!
UPDATED 4/13/14
I have added a screenshot of the upcoming Summer Event Swimsuits and Powerboards from the store. I had no Favours to buy any, but at least you can see what is available and for how much
A new season of STO is upon us in a few weeks and as with the last season and to continue forward as long as I play/am a member of this fleet, I will continue to provide data about the upcoming season, changes, missions, and anything else that I can find for you. As before, I will strive to provide as accurate information as I can, but please note that as with everything in STO, content is subject to change with or without notice. Also, as before, I will refrain from speculation/rumors unless there is significant data to suggest they may be true. I will of course plainly state if an item of information is rumor/speculation. So, if you do not see *Rumor*, then it is not. Please be aware that from this point forward, I will be talking about the new content, so ******SPOILER ALERT!!*****. If you do know wish to know ahead of time, please do not read farther......
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
As we all already know from Season 8.5, Season 9 will be about the Undine and the Delta Quadrant. So far, we have seen 3 new areas added to the Tribble Testing grounds. 2 new PVE queues and 1 Space Battlezone. I have had a chance to run each of them once and the 2 PVE queues are just awesome. It's hard to get a 5 man team together on Tribble, so when I can, I will be FRAP'ing these queues so that you can see what is in store. Like with Season 8, I will post a link to my YouTube page where the video is hosted. Please do not search for it, as it is unlisted. You must have the link. Please, feel free to share with whomever you like.
Also, with Season 9, we have a new Earth Space Dock (ESD) that is just a work of art. Gone is the industrial donut that we all know and a new sleek, Starfleet/Federation inspired ESD has taken it's place. There are many levels and now, you can actually go out into the shuttle bay and see Runabouts, Shuttles and Workerbee's fly right past you and into the interior of ESD where the ships are docked. I will be posting some screenshots later, and possibly a vid walkthough, time permitting. Everything is nicely laid out and no more running forever to get somewhere. There are bank locations scattered throughout and the tailor even has changing rooms! Imagine that! There are quite a few different social areas and even a balcony way up that requires a turbolift to reach where you can relax, have meeting and watch all the activity below. ***Rumor*** It was talked about on the Officer Chat in Tribble Fleet (the Dev Fleet) that at some point in the future, ESD will have multiple levels to explore and interact with ***Rumor***. Yes, I got promoted to Senior Officer in the Tribble Fleet last night! There are waterfalls and lots of bonsai trees everywhere. It is really something to behold.
We will also be seeing the much anticipated Kit Revamp in Season 9 also. These new kits are pretty nice. For the Non-Fleet kits, you will have 2 offensive kit powers and 2 defensive kit powers. You choose. Basically, you get a Kit Frame with 4 slots. You then get Modules (Mods) that you will install in these slots that give you the Kit Powers. It is important to note here, as of this post, the idea is that you can swap out Mods whenever you like (Not in combat). So, say you are going to Defara as an Eng. You can slot Phaser Turret, Chronoton Mines, Weapon Malfunction and Shield Repair in the same kit. Then, say you head to go do a story mission, you can remove these Mods and then slot Transphasic Bomb, Medical Generator, Fuse Armor & Cover Shield. When replacing a Mod, you do not lose it, it goes back into your inventory to be used again later. However, slotting a Mod WILL make it Character Bound. Now, I know a lot of you are wondering "But, I just bought an expensive Spire Kit. What will happen to that?" Well, you will be able to trade it in for a new Spire Experimental Kit, which has 5 slots. There are a few different combos to choose from. So, if you just got a new shiney, don't worry, you can trade it in for free. Which brings me to my next point.....
The visuals have been changed for Season 9. Ship visuals as of now are still the same and no word that they will change. HOWEVER, personal visuals got a makeover. You will no longer be able to click on the little eyeball and show/hide your Armor, Weapon or Kits. All these visuals have been moved to the Tailor and are now options for costumes. And, let me tell you, there are ALOT of options . AND YOU CAN COLORIZE THEM!!! Here comes the pink armors, lol. Anyway. Federation, Romulan and KDF personnel all have these options available to them now. So, let your imagination run wild and break out the Zen for more costume slots
The new Reputation system will obviously be Undine. 8472 Counter-Command Reputation is what it will be called. It will be set up much like the Dyson Rep. You will get Undine Marks and Isomorphic Injectors to turn in. The actual Reputation is not yet up on Tribble, so the information is limited right now. Will post more when I get it. Also, according the Patcher Program, this last Tribble Patch loaded Undine Bridge Packs onto my computer, so I would say that it is safe to assume that we will be seeing an Undine Lockbox and Undine Playable ships with the release of Season 9. As many of you all are aware, I have been madly transferring Keys over to Tribble, so when these Lockboxes hit, I will be opening lots of them. Will get the rundown on them for you all as well.
OK Captains, that is all that I have for you for now. Please keep checking back over the next few days as I will be uploading the first video, Viscous Cycle Elite, in approximately 8 hours. Will also be uploading screenshots and more info in the next 24 - 48 hours along with another video. Everything will be kept here in this thread. I will let everyone know via TPD Chat when new info is posted.
Keep The Phoenix Burning!
Vice Admiral Mara Razorwalker
Crimson Phoenix Squadron
of
The Phoenix Division
UPDATED 3/21/14
I have some more news for everyone! It was released today in the Season 9 Dev Blog #3 that the Reputation System is also being revamped! Good news or not, I will have screenshots in a few hours of the revamped reputation system.
UPDATED 3/22/14
OK, Captains, got some more news for you, although I am not sure if this will release with S9 or after. It appears that we will be getting a lvl cap increase! Yes, that is right, a level cap increase. Judging from what I have seen, I will wager to GUESS (NOT CONFIRMED) that it will be to lvl 60. Today, as some of you already know, I managed to crack open the .hogg files for Holodeck. VERY interesting. Don't worry, scroll down and you will find some screenshots and info. But, it is looking like there will be item increases to Mk XIV gear, both regular, special sets and Fleet gear. So, you are asking "But Mara, what is gonna happen to all this MK XII Fleet gear that I have grinded months and months on???" Well, at this point, I do not have an answer for you. I can only speculate. Seeing as how they are doing "Trade-ins" on the Fleet Kits, I am HOPING that something similar will be implemented. HOWEVER, I do not really see that happening. More likely, to keep the masses happy and at bay, I THINK (AGAIN, Not confirmed or even hinted at.) what will happen is that we will see the current Mk XII Fleet Gear bumped to Mk XIV Fleet gear and new Mk XII gear takes it's place. That would be the logical thing to do. There will be MASSIVE rage if they did anything else since Cryptic has swore for years now that there would be nothing more powerful that Mk XII. However, their own update files have proven those statements as a lie. Again, I have ZERO idea what will happen when these new Mk XIV equipment hits Tribble, then Holodeck. We will just have to hope for the best. So, scroll on down to the post and check out the images I ripped from the .hogg files and I even took a screenshot of the files open on my computer with the date/time at the bottom
UPDATED 3/23/14
Found some more interesting items in the .hogg file.
UPDATED 3/28/14
I have added 2 new videos, one of the new Space PVE Undine Assault Normal and one of the new Ground PVE Undine Infiltration Normal. I hope that you enjoy!
UPDATED 4/13/14
I have added a screenshot of the upcoming Summer Event Swimsuits and Powerboards from the store. I had no Favours to buy any, but at least you can see what is available and for how much