With the forthcoming launch of the Odyssey and the Bortas as well as the 2nd anniversary events, we thought it would be a good to have tour guide. Al Rivera, STO Lead Designer, will be joining us Thursday evening to answer some questions about this weekends events, the new ships, what we have to look forward too, and your questions!

Please post your questions for Al here, and on the STO Forums, then tune in Friday morning to see if your questions were answered.

Any news on new KDF missions or uniforms coming up?

Why do we have to wait till lvl 21 to start a KDF char? Why not be able to start either a lvl 1 fed char or a lvl 21 kdf char from the start? This feels alot like you don't want people to start kdf chars, because then the pressure for more kdf content would increase.

Would Al mind going in depth on the design philosophy of the New BortaS and Odyssey cruisers being released for the 2 year anniversary event ? Why did they decide on the BOff layout, console layout, Power distribution, and so on ? What are their goals for the free anniversary ship, and how do they expect players to respond to the ships ? What does Cryptic expect players will do with these ships ? How did community feedback influence their design decisions on these ships ?

Also, can he spill the beans on any features the future +1 versions will have ? For instance, will they have any changes to their base configuration, such as being given back their universal ensign slot ? Or, will they have extra console slots for their +1 abilities such as the Saucer Separation and the Auxiliary Vehicle on the Odyssey, or will these abilities be integral to the ship itself, with no need for extra slots ?

Will the Mk XII Elite ground MACO and Omega gear be available for purchase with salvage or EDCs? Say 100 EDCs and 50 rare salvage for 1 piece of gear? Or an Accolade achievement?

At least something to make players feel like they WILL eventually obtain the Elite ground gear, even if it takes an X amount of STF runs.