Food Buffs +

Originally Posted by Krindorf:
It would be interesting to have your health and stamina deteriorate when on long away missions, which would require the use of consumables or buffs from your team medic. I agree with food to replenish lost hit points and stamina, but not to buff you beyond your base stats, enhancing your attributes in the process...no thank you!

I wouldn't go so far as to equate healing damage with loading up on buffs.

That said, I'm in complete agreement with this:

Originally Posted by Saturn:
As long as they don't create another game where in order for me to enjoy any of the so called content, I have to first look up a medic to tag along with me.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see a Star Trek MMORPG that treated members of groups like characters in the Star Trek shows, where each of the major personnel from time to time got an episode that was about them?

Instead of every mission in Star Trek Online always being the same thing over and over, so that other members of the group are never anything but supporting cast, what if ST:O were designed so that everybody gets a chance to shine on a regular basis?

Mission 1 might be a combat mission; the Tactical officer runs the show while the Medical, Science, and Engineering characters in the group do fun things that support tactical operations.

Mission 2 might then be a medical mystery; the Medical officer is the star (and not just a vehicle for some useful support skills) while the other characters in the group help out.

(Mission 3 could be a diplomacy mission for the group's Command character; mission 4 an "alien artifact" challenge to the group's Engineer, and so on.)

By creating missions that highlight the abilities of characters in each of the major departments, and by creating incentives for groups to not take the same darn type of mission over and over and over again, Medical officers in ST:O wouldn't be relegated to being mere buffbots (or healbots).

The point being that, with some imagination, I believe there are ways to make Star Trek Online fun that don't create a BuffQuest environment. Food and drink that have no gameplay effects wouldn't be a problem, though.

I just really don't ever want to see "tea, Earl Grey, hot" delivering a +5 boost to Diplomacy for three minutes....