Original thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/sto/comments/rwcdr/ask_cryptic_april_2012/

Warning: a lot of this is based on limited info from Cryptic, and my speculation based on past experiences with other games that have done the same thing.

Cryptic has mentioned (without giving specific details) that there are going to be three major additions to the game related to fleets:

1. Fleet starbases
2. Fleet shipyards (part of fleet starbases)
3. "Fleet Advancement System" (FAS)

I'm not sure what the FAS is going to do other than make getting MK12 costumes easier, but it has all been confirmed that they are going to allow fleets to have a shipyard capable of refitting ships. Remember that old T2 cruiser that's sitting in your inventory doing nothing? Available info indicates that you would be able to refit it and use it in STFs, or better yet, refit any ship and customize it into a ship that is unique to you.

All of this, of course, is speculation on my part. But, one thing is almost for certain: the fleet starbase and shipyard is probably going to cost a fair amount of EC. This isn't a huge problem as we have a little over 18 million EC, which is enough to buy 16 fleet bank tabs, but I don't want to deplete the entire fleet treasury and have nothing leftover for newbies to buy mission items and combat supplies.

Also, developer dstahl has mentioned that new sets will be partially craftable and will be implemented after S6 (probably early- to mid-July), so a low priority goal is to gather rare particle traces, as well as boost our surplus of crafting materials. Use those multiphasic events to your advantage, as well as the Explore Strange New Worlds, Explore the B'tran Cluster, and Diplomatic Investigation daily missions to get dilithium in the process.

The last point I want to address regarding S6 is what to name our starbase. I will be posting a reply to this topic, where people can submit their name ideas. Please submit them as a reply to my comment, not a reply to a reply. The most upvoted ones will likely be entered into a pool where all members of Reddit Alert will vote for their favorite.

What we need to do:

• Donate EC to the fleet bank. We are in pretty good shape now but we could always improve. Don't feel pressured to donate if you can't afford it or want to buy things for yourself.

• Gather rare particle traces and boost our surplus of samples.

• Submit starbase name ideas (below).

Finally, a quick update on the status of the fleet: we are nearly at 500 members again, and I will begin removing inactives sometime in the next week or so. If you're planning on leaving for vacation or just want to take a break, please put something in your fleet comment or otherwise let a fleet officer know what you're up to. Other than that, RA is as healthy as ever and we're always looking for new members.

One of my main concerns at the moment is the lack of fleet events. Someone mentioned having STF races to see who can complete STFs the quickest while still completing the optional objective. We are also not very good at PvP as a fleet. If you want to make fleet events, I will start promoting more people and giving them the ability to manage fleet events so that there is always something going on.

I also reorganized the fleet bank so that it's in a more sensible order. We have a small surplus of MK11 consoles but we could always use more. Please donate them if you have extras from STFs.

That's all for now; LLAP.

Update for officers:

Leland came up with the brilliant idea of making a Reddit fleet on the Tribble test server (TTS). If you are a fleet Lieutenant or higher, feel free to help us test the new features when they become live on TTS.

• How to sign up for TTS: http://forums.startrekonline.com/showthread.php?t=134794

• TTS release notes: http://forums.startrekonline.com/forumdisplay.php?f=228

They have not made the new fleet features available yet and they probably will not be available for another few weeks or so, which we will use to get ourselves ready. All that's required at the moment is that you sign up for TTS and copy one of your characters over, then send a mail to me in-game on TTS to Saber@captainsnorlax. I will keep an eye on the release notes and inform all the testers when to start playing on Tribble.

EDIT: fixed the original topic link

EDITT: added info and instructions for fleet officers to join Tribble to help test these new features.