Because ST:O has esentially been "rebooted" there are many opportunities left for the gaming community to help shape the future and path of ST:O. While the level of interactivity with the Devs might not be the same as it was on STOnet, I can't imagine the Devs not keeping an eye on boards such as these for unique ideas that could become part of the game.

So, I want to launch this thread as a one-stop shopping point for the devs as a breeding ground for new ideas for ST:O.

Here are the rules I'd like to set forward for this thread.

1. This thread is about ideas. We all have them, no matter if they are good or bad. Please respect your fellow posters.

2. If you do not agree with an idea, that is ok, however, others may think it is a great idea. If you object, simply don't post. This thread is about the collection of ideas, not the debate of the ideas themselves.

3. If you find an inherent flaw in an idea, or wish to expand on an idea submitted by someone, feel free to do so, but please refrain from debating the idea or trashing the previous poster of the idea.

4. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If something in a post doesn't make sense or your require clarification, then ask!

Ok, let's post some ideas and see what forms from this collection!

If I may just jump in here randomly, I did want to say that this is a great idea but at the same time a weak idea. I agree in all reality to our knowledge STO has just been scraped and started over by who knows who. I would say that a thread isn't realy the way to go in my mind, but rather I would say the Admins should consider creating a whole forum within this STO area based just around topics of speculation.

The reason I say having a thread like this isn't realy a great idea is that with so many ideas flying around its going to be hard to site them, catalog them and heck just keep track of where you heared some of the ideas you like.

With a whole forum area dedicated to speculation people can create threads based on an idea like some of the stuff we saw at STO.net, threads like "Whats insider her", "Hull breach" and "Space is huge, keep it that way". This way you can sift through all the ideas like a table of contents and the following discution wouldn't be a tangled mess. I could just see this thread getting massive and people constantly miscommunicating because they refer to a past idea but not the last idea that was talked aobut. Well thats just my 2 cents :P

what I really want to see, as it says "Star Trek Online" as opposed to "Starfleet Online" is different paths.

of course there will have to be the ever popular Federation Starfleet path, but I would say also include the basic 2 others, Klingons and Romulans as paths. on top of that I would use a skill based ssytem as opposed to what PE had, which was class based. In otherwords, do something similar, but not as intense, as EVE. where a player chooses a Template through character creation, and would get basic skills from that and then can train up in various other skills. Therefore a Player could start off as an engineer, but at some point decide he wants tactical or command skills as well, he could just train them. Along with the three basic races versions of Starfleet, there should also be the a civilian path for the player as well, this would entail merchants, free exploers an other things we've seen in Star Trek along the years.

This set up would allow for easy controlable expansions to the galaxy, for instance the first expansion could the Orion pirates, Cardasians, and ferengi has playabl races, the next could add the Tholians, Gorn and some other as playable. along with adding playble faction races, they could add new ships, and sub races within each Faction Empire (so feds could start off Human, Vulcan, Andorian, but then add bajorian, tellaxian, ect in the expansions). this also allows for lateral grow, as opposed to the vertical grow other games do. instead of trying to foce more "end game" content in, this would allow for more "main stream" content and more areas for seasoned playersto explore, but their skills might not be right for a new border, so they would have to learn more skills for that. imagine having to learn bajorian energy systems, cardasian sub neutronic relays, ect after you've hit the so-called "end game". so basically expansions add new playable "main stream" content as well as new skills.

anyways, that's what i envision and would like STO to be like.