A few questions before I invest..

[Nazgull2k1]

I was digging around on the website, reading forums etc etc. I realized I had some questions regarding the system.. and some of them really concerned me, and I figured if anyone would know the true answers, it would be here.


#1 - I saw some posts about tech sloshing and license agreements and such.. saying that the license agreement prevents all but certain ships to be used.. true?

#2 - So basically, we're never going to see the most iconic ships in Star Trek history.. the Bird of Prey, Romulan Warbird etc etc?

#3 - Apologies in advance, but the Romulan ships are just plain ugly, or are copies of Klingon ships. It was only later that the Romulan Empire really began fleshing into a true empire.. none of these ships will ever be made?

#4 - If #1 is in fact true, there really isnt *that* many designs they can make, going straight off memory, they've pretty much covered everything in initial release. What does that hold for the future of ACTA:SF? With such a small, limited pool to draw on, how do you plan to keep customers purchasing? (Seriously, the Klingon ships are 99% identical in body style, releasing the same ship with a different name means you can simply proxy with a simple decal/base switch.. and nobody outside trekkies will really notice or care.)

I only want to see this game succeed. But as most people already know, Games-Workshop is constantly releasing new content for specific armies, new books for each faction etc etc. Yet they still retain the overall simplicity (I said overall.. dont eat me! lol ) of the main rulebook. The same can be said of Privateer Press w/ Warmachine. The same ships makes *any* game get stale quickly.

 

[billclo]

I was digging around on the website, reading forums etc etc. I realized I had some questions regarding the system.. and some of them really concerned me, and I figured if anyone would know the true answers, it would be here.


#1 - I saw some posts about tech sloshing and license agreements and such.. saying that the license agreement prevents all but certain ships to be used.. true?

#2 - So basically, we're never going to see the most iconic ships in Star Trek history.. the Bird of Prey, Romulan Warbird etc etc?

#3 - Apologies in advance, but the Romulan ships are just plain ugly, or are copies of Klingon ships. It was only later that the Romulan Empire really began fleshing into a true empire.. none of these ships will ever be made?

#4 - If #1 is in fact true, there really isnt *that* many designs they can make, going straight off memory, they've pretty much covered everything in initial release. What does that hold for the future of ACTA:SF? With such a small, limited pool to draw on, how do you plan to keep customers purchasing? (Seriously, the Klingon ships are 99% identical in body style, releasing the same ship with a different name means you can simply proxy with a simple decal/base switch.. and nobody outside trekkies will really notice or care.)

I only want to see this game succeed. But as most people already know, Games-Workshop is constantly releasing new content for specific armies, new books for each faction etc etc. Yet they still retain the overall simplicity (I said overall.. dont eat me! lol ) of the main rulebook. The same can be said of Privateer Press w/ Warmachine. The same ships makes *any* game get stale quickly.

I'm not an ADB employee, but as far as I understand it basically:

1) Correct, they can only use certain ships due to the license. But there are new races that were never in the original series like the Lyrans, Hydrans, ISC, Andromedan, Wyn, and more.

2) Also correct - they don't have the license to do these. BUT you don't have to worry about the license expiring in 5 years either - it's a forever license as long as they stick to the boundaries set by the license. So nothing like Mongoose selling Babylon 5 for 5 years and then not being able to afford to renew the license either. ADB has been doing Star Fleet stuff since the late '70s...

3) It's a matter of aesthetics. Some like the designs, some don't.

4) You're comparing apples and oranges when you talk about ADB versus Games Workshop. Games Workshop doesn't have a huge mega-corporation keeping an eagle eye on them to make sure they stay within some artificial boundaries. Again, there are plenty of new races that have been added over the years.

There are plenty of races that have yet to see inclusion in ACTA:SF, including the Lyrans, Hydrans, ISC, Wyn, Andromedans. So it's not as if what is available now is all you're going to see.

Plus there are major components of the SFU that haven't even been done yet, like carriers + fighters, Scouts, Maulers, Escorts, Tugs/transports, planetary defenses, etc.

By the way, the next wave of Klingon ships are being shown and discussed over at the ADB website, and most of them are much more non-standard than the ships just released (okay, the F5W looks much like the F5).

 

[Da Boss]

as a non SFU person:

My thoughts on your questions.

1 and 2) yes - there are large restictions on what you can and can not do in two catergories:
Nothing that was not in both the Original Series and then used in the SFU - so you can use the D7 and the Constitution class but not the Bird of Prey or a Borg cube - or even the Mirror Universe version of the old ships
The SFU has a established universe and lots of precedent on what inhabits that universe - so the official ships are very likely to follow that pattern.

3) yes and no - the SFU has its own Romulan advanced vessels which IMO - apart from the Condor are quite cool.

4) hmm It is an interesting point about the designs for the SFU - dpeends if you see it as a strength of weakness - I would personally like more varied designs but that seems highly unlikely. On the positive side there are many more races - however many of these have, IMO fairly unexciting or ugly designs I do have fingers crossed about the Lyrans in the hope they will be more like my Centauri carriers......

The thread "welcome to the Universe" at the top of this section of the forum is also a useful read

 

[scoutdad]

#1) The license ADB has covers only the time period of the original series (plus any new content they themselves develop). So there will be no Borg, Cardassians, Bajorians, or Romulan ships from TNG and the later series. But ADB have created a galaxy full of empires to combat: The Lyrans, The Hydrans, The Vudar, The ISC, etc.
Tech sloshing simply means that Federation ships are armed with photons, Klingon ships with Disruptors, Romulan ships with Plasma torpedoes, etc. This helps keep each empire distinct and provides separate but discrete tactics for each empire. Why go to all the trouble to design ships for 6 differnet empires if they are armed with the same weapons, fly the same way, and use the same tactics? Better to design 60 differnet ships for one empire and then buy two sets, paint one red and one blue, and have at it.

#2) Actually, all of the iconic ships from Star Trek are in the base game. The Federation Heavy Cruiser (i.e. The Enterprise), The Klingon D7 battlecruiser (seen in multiple episodes), and the Romulan Warbird (seen in Balance of Terror), as well as the Tholian PC (seen in the Tholian Web), the Kzinti battlecruiser (the Slaver Weapon), and even the Orion Pirate Raider.

#3) In the Star Fleet Universe, the Romulan have several classes of ship (from frigates to dreadnoughts) based on the Eagle series that were designed as sublight vessels and later converted to warp technology - what you call the "ugly" Romulan ships. Then they bought / were given several Klingon ships from frigates to dreadnoughts, and finally they developed their own class of warp capable ships, the 'Hawk series.
So in actuality, the Romualns have three entire fleets to choose from.

#4) Here's the big one.
The Star Fleet Universe has 30+ years of development history. It currently contains over 50 space faring empires and at last count well over 2500 different starships.
I have seen the preliminary plans for future releases. At the current rate, ADB / Mongoose intend to release a new product every year with 60 new ships in each one theough 2017. And that just where the plan went... there are 1000's more ships that can be added.

The great thing about the ADB license is that it's non-expiring. It will continue as long as ADB wants it to (and doesn't violate its terms). This means that there won't be new releases for five more years and then nothing (the length of the typical Star Trek license from Paramount). As long as the Mayans were wrong and we continue to buy, none of us alive today will be around when the last SFU ship is published for ACTA.

 

[MongooseMatt]

And the official answers

1. Not exactly - we are really only limited by imagination!

2. You won't see the Next Gen ships any time soon (and with a seperate licence), but all the really iconic ships (Warbird, Federation Heavy Cruiser, D6 & D7) are already there.

3. Take a look at the 'Hawk' series of ships - very different from their pre-warp and Klingon ships.

4. It isn't true, so will not be a problem

 

[Nazgull2k1]

Ty for all the positive replies! peace of mind is now ensured, and I can begin planning purchases!

Good to see a forum community that *isnt* loaded with flaming trolls! I like it already!

 

[Totenkopf]

Ty for all the positive replies! peace of mind is now ensured, and I can begin planning purchases!

Good to see a forum community that *isnt* loaded with flaming trolls! I like it already!

Welcome to the nerd side

 

[IraShaine1972]

As everybody has pointed out there are a tremendous number of ship models that can (and hopefully will) be released. I recommend looking over some of the already existing products and the older line of metal models. That will probably help you get a clearer picture on what this line is really based upon. There can literally be years worth of releases just with already existing designs before anybody has to sit around and come up with anything new. The ones that I really want are probably a couple of years off.

 

[Sgt_G]

yes - there are large restictions on what you can and can not do

Well, as has been talked about before, there's a difference in what YOU can do and what ADB/Mongoose can do. There are no restrictions on what you do with the game in your own home or game group. If you want to play races with cobra-necks or bumpy heads or people that have been turn half-way into machines, feel free. However, comma, you'll have to come up with the stats yourself because ADB/Mongoose doesn't have license for them (at this time -- who knows what the future holds).

 

[eldiablito]

As another fan of the "Old Trek" show and movies, I too was saddened when I heard that there would be no Klingon Birds of Prey (as seen in Star Trek III, IV and VI... was there one in V? I try to put that film out of my memory) and no film styled Miranda class Federation vessels (IOW, no Reliant... "KHAAAAAANNNN!")

Well, that doesn't stop me from making my own scratch built version, nor does it stop me from using my Micromachine versions of those ships (too bad those toys are out of print). Then, with my opponent's permission, proxy the toy as a different class of ship. I could easily see if my opponent would let me use the Klingon Bird of Prey as a Romulan Warbird and then re-enact scenes from Star Trek VI (well, change the movie a little as it would be unfair to shoot while cloaked). Likewise, I'll use the Miranda class Federation toy I have to proxy as the 160 point Federation ship. No one is going to bust in the windows of MY house and stop me (a 30+ year old nerd) as I play with MY toys. :lol:

The only time I could see a problem is if I tried to take them to an official tournament (Bah! I never liked that sort of scene as it always brings out the worst, IN ME).

 

[Captain Jonah]

Ty for all the positive replies! peace of mind is now ensured, and I can begin planning purchases!

Good to see a forum community that *isnt* loaded with flaming trolls! I like it already!

Welcome to the nerd side

Excuse me. No excluding the Geeks, the Gnurds and the Neeks. :lol: