User:Peregrine Falcon

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The History Of The Klingon Empire With Cryptic Studios
As the memory of launch day fades into history I've started to see more and more misinformation being posted about the Empire, its past, and things that were supposedly said. In an effort to set the record straight, and see that it remains that way, I present this timeline of the Klingon Empire during its time with Cryptic Studios.

Pre-Launch - The Mesospeculative Era (2008)
This era was notable primarily by the lack of information about the Klingon faction. While the devs spoke often about Federation (Starfleet) game play, in the forums and in an IRC chat room, they consistently refused to speak about the KDF. Toward the end they actually hid the fact that the KDF was going to be PvP only, until Jack Emmert finally revealed that information less than two months before the game launched.

July 28th, 2008 - Cryptic officially announces Star Trek Online

August 10th, 2008 - At Gen Con Jack Emmert, CEO Cryptic Studios, said: "Starfleet and Klingon. Yeah. So two factions, full PvE content."
 * Between that statement by Jack Emmert on August 10th, 2008, and his announcement on December 15th, 2009 that Klingons were a PvP oriented faction, there was nothing that led us to believe they weren't going to have full PvE content.

August 25th, 2008 - ASK CRYPTIC - Craig Zinkievich (Zinc), STO's Executive Producer: "The universe of Star Trek Online is shaped and changed by the actions of the players. The Federation and the Klingon Empire will be competing for influence and resources throughout the galaxy and players can influence the results through PvP battles and a system we're calling Competitive PvE."
 * Star Trek Online launched without, and still does not have, any competitive PvE content.

September 16th, 2008 - In an interview in Game Informer Magazine Craig Zinkievich said that no matter which faction you're in, you don't have to "go and get owned by somebody else."
 * Star Trek Online's Executive Producer said you won't have to PvP, no matter which faction you're in.

December 9th, 2008 - Infogrames, which later renames itself Atari, purchases Cryptic Studios.

April 30th, 2009 - ASK CRYPTIC: "...for example if you’re Klingon and your friend is Federation and the Borg are attacking, you’re probably going to form an alliance against them. You’re going to see all kinds of weird alliances within the game."

May 30th, 2009 - Craig Zinkievich: "There will be PvP in STO. PvP will be consensual. If you don't want to do it, you will never have to."

June 23rd, 2009 - ASK CRYPTIC: "In general, there’s more PvP involvement on the Klingon side of the game."
 * Klingons have "more PvP involvement." Implying that there's at least some PvE.

July 21st, 2009 - ASK CRYPTIC: "No one ever said Klingons don’t have scientists or engineers; somebody built those ships. Klingons will probably have a few distinctions in skills and certain other areas, but the classes will be the same."

''In September of 2009, barely five months before game launch, we started getting some hints, in IRC chat and on the forums, that Klingons would be "PvP focused." This was finally confirmed in this interview with Eurogamer.''

October 9th, 2009 - Craig Zinkievich: "Yes! We plan on shipping with the ability to play as Federation and play on the Klingon side. The Klingon game play is going to be drastically different to the Federation game play. It's going to be a lot more focused on PvP; their advancement is a little bit different - it is not a full-on story-driven game like the Federation."
 * He then went on to assure us that; "It's a lot more than Monster Play." Later that same day, in response to a thread about that interview, is when we first found out that the KDF wouldn't have a tutorial at launch.

October 9th 2009 - Rekhan (Cryptic Community Manager): "We opted to create a single tutorial due to time constraints."

October 22nd, 2009 - CLOSED BETA was officially announced.
 * Some people were a bit worried because Klingons weren't in it. Towards the end there were quite a few threads demanding the devs release detailed info on the KDF, almost all of them were locked and/or deleted.

Nov 9th, 2009 - Klingon Testing - The Grand Nagus: "Seeing as its now official the game will be launching in less than 3 months, maybe its time we start testing the Klingon faction?"

Nov 18th, 2009 - IRC Chat:  "More info on Klingons and PvP is coming very soon."
 * In thread after thread the devs still refused to say anything about the Klingon faction.

Nov 30th, 2009 - So, About Those Klingons
 * If only Trent Solace had known how right on the money his prediction was going to be.

December 1st, 2009 - StormShade (Cryptic Community Manager): "You'll be hearing lots of Klingon info this month."

December 7th, 2009 - ASK CRYPTIC: "Even so, Episodes are just one of the ways to progress in the game. You can gain similar rewards by engaging in PvP or exploring Star Clusters."
 * A mere week before Jack Emmert broke the news to us and still no mention of Klingons being 'PvP only' or 'PvP oriented' or 'PvP focused.'

December 15th, 2009 - Jack Emmert (Jackalope): "Believe it or not, December was supposed to "klingon" month. I have zero clue why it's Dec. 15th and still nothing, but I can tell you this WILL change (I just saw the threads yesterday)."

December 15th, 2009 - Dan Stahl (dstahl) posts on the Closed Beta forums that the ability to test Klingon characters will be added on the December 17th patch. 

December 17th, 2009 - Cryptic announcement on Massively: "Your Klingon Captain can be a Science, Engineering or Tactical officer. However, they must advance through PvP, as they will not have access to the same amount of player-vs.-environment content as Federation players at launch."

December 17th, 2009 - Jack Emmert speaks to MMORPG.com about why Klingons are "PvP-centric" at launch.

January 11th, 2010 - CLOSED BETA ENDS

January 12th, 2010 - OPEN BETA - until January 26th, 2010

January 29th, 2010 - HEADSTART - until February 2nd, 2010

GAME LAUNCH
February 2nd, 2010 - GAME LAUNCH
 * The Klingon Empire has no storyline PvE missions - only some "Empire Defense" space PvE madlibs.
 * No Joined Trill. Despite the fact that people paid money specifically for them and were told that they would be useable in the KDF faction.
 * No personal armor visuals. All Starfleet personal armor has visuals.
 * No kit visuals. All Starfleet kits have visuals.
 * No Tricorders. All Starfleet personnel have Tricorders.
 * No ship customization. All Starfleet ships have at least 3 customization options.
 * No buff pets. Starfleet has Tribbles.
 * No crafting. All Starfleet characters can craft and they have an entire planet dedicated to crafting (Memory Alpha).
 * The KDF "TOS uniform" consists only of the male shirt, which only males can wear. No pants, no female uniform.
 * Only 7 races to Starfleet's 14. Of those, 2 aren't available as bridge officers, and 3 are available as male only.
 * Computer combat audio and transporter visuals are the Starfleet ones, not KDF.

Post-Launch - The Golden Age (2010)
The Golden Age pretty much consisted of bug fixes, and game functionality being added that many felt should have been in at launch.

February 5th, 2010 - Romulan "Empire Defense" missions added. 

February 11th, 2010 - The Borg Return: "level 43+ Klingon players now have access to repeatable Borg related Klingon Defense missions."

February 13th, 2010 - Jack Emmert: "Yes, there are definitely things on the table for Klingons. I'm a die hard Klingon player and I wanted them in no matter what. Believe me, we'll get more in. Otherwise, I'm going postal."

March 4th, 2010 - Infected goes live and the KDF is now able to enter Gamma Orionis. 

SEASON 1
March 24th, 2010 - SEASON 1 - The 45 day patch!
 * K’Tanco Battle Cruiser added.
 * Some minor customization for some Birds of Prey & Raptors added.
 * KDF can now play Crystalline Entity, Big Dig, Breaking the Planet and The Cure.
 * KDF exploration missions added.
 * Bat'leths made available to Federation characters at Battle group Omega.
 * Shanty Town ground PvP map added.
 * Fed vs. Fed PvP (Wargames) was added, which reduced available PvP matches for Klingon characters to almost none.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.

''There was a lot of forum flamage after this patch went live, because players had gotten the impression that the "Mythical 45 Day Patch" was going to fix all of the KDF's problems. To be fair, it's important to note that the developers never actually said that this patch would add anything to the Klingon Faction. During the height of the rage-fest, Jack Emmert made this post:''

March 30th, 2010 - Jack Emmert: "Trust me, we'll continue to add PvE. I'm a die hard Klingon player and I'm constantly on the EP to add more."

April 13th, 2010 - Khitomer Accord goes live. 

SEASON 1.1
April 29th, 2010 - SEASON 1.1 - Death Penalty!
 * Joined Trill (that we paid for and were told we'd have) finally join the Klingon Faction.
 * Klingon ship replicators work now (Feds always had them).
 * Klingons get ground auto-fire (Feds worked earlier).
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.

May 13th, 2010 - Terradome goes live. 

SEASON 1.2
June 3rd, 2010 - SEASON 1.2 - Accolades & Squad Support!
 * Major space powers revamp and a ton of bugs added to the game.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.

July 1st, 2010 - Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich (Zinc) leaves Cryptic Studios. Producer Daniel Stahl (dstahl) is promoted to Executive Producer. 

July 10th, 2010 - Revamped Gorn coming possibly at the end of August 2010. 

July 16th, 2010 - Engineering Report - Klingon costume updates and revamped Gorn being worked on. 

SEASON 2
July 27th, 2010 - SEASON 2 - Level cap increased from 45 to 51
 * Kar’Fi Battle Carrier added.
 * Feds get Tactical Escort Retrofit, so now they have a cloaking device.
 * Federation Diplomatic Corps added - so Feds can now get Orion Slavegirls.
 * 200 day Veteran Rewards include a Fed only jacket, nothing for KDF. Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * 8 New Klingon-only missions are available!
 * Some uniform customization options added and bugs fixed.
 * Females now allowed to wear the MALE TOS Klingon shirt. Still no female TOS uniform.
 * "Congratulations, Captain!" audio finally added to Klingon side.
 * Klingon game UI finally has the remaining Starfleet icons and symbols removed.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.

August 1st, 2010 - KDF players are now able to get Efficient Impulse Engines - not listed in any of the patch notes. 
 * Federation players have been able to get this special reward since launch.

August 3rd, 2010 - Dan Stahl: "Gorn, Orion, and Nausicaan ships are on the way!"

August 5th, 2010 - Several Orion and Klingon costume pieces added. 

August 17th, 2010 - Cryptic announces that Bill Roper has left the building. 

August 26th, 2010 - Dan Stahl on where he sees the KDF in 5 months. 

August 28th, 2010 - First of the "Weekly Episodes", later renamed to "Featured Episodes", Cold Call goes live. 

September 1st, 2010 - Dan Stahl on new code branch with revamped Gorn coming in November. 

September 2nd, 2010 - Dan Stahl: "The Gorn customization and UGC are both in the code branch that is scheduled go to live pre-December."

September 7th, 2010 - Dan Stahl posts a screenshot of the revamped Gorn and says: "you'll still be able to make old-school Gorn."

September 7th, 2010 - Dan Stahl says no Kzinti for the KDF: "we are investigating what other feline-like species might be allied with the KDF."

September 15th, 2010 - State of the Game - Dan Stahl discusses the state of the KDF. 

October 15th, 2010 - KDF ship wings now move and Starfleet gets the Nebula class, which has a Universal Bridge Officer Slot. 
 * The Federation now has access to all of the formerly unique Empire items, except for carriers, but they do have other space pets (saucers & fighters).

October 22nd, 2010 - The Empire gets a Tier 5 Vor’cha. 

November 12th, 2010 - The Empire received three new ships - the Varanus Fleet Support Vessel (Gorn), the Marauder Patrol Cruiser (Orion), and the B'rel Bird-of-Prey Retrofit (Klingon). 
 * Multiple threads explaining how and why the Varanus doesn't work as a science ship because of the low turn speed are ignored by Cryptic.

November 16th, 2010 - Dan Stahl talks about the 200 day Veteran reward: "The character art team was asked to make some cool rewards for Klingons and they proposed this "it gets better over time" approach and I endorsed it because it sounds cool they way they have it planned out." - AND - "You're probably also going to not like all the new KDF patrols I asked the team to make..."
 * Except that the 200 day Veteran reward doesn't scale or improve or "get better over time."
 * And, over three years later, there are no KDF patrols in game.
 * The KDF Fleet Action that he wrote about is also not in the game.

November 16th, 2010 - Dan Stahl: "We are instead looking into other Feline species that might be allied with the KDF."

SEASON 3
December 9th, 2010 - SEASON 3 - Sector Space Fixed and Episode Replay
 * Klingons get stolen Federation Tricorders which actually work.
 * The KDF can now get anomalies.
 * Klingons can now craft.
 * Sortie missions in Pi Canis added - buggy and broken.
 * The KDF finally gets the 200 day Veteran Reward shoulder pads. Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.

December 16th, 2010 - Dan Stahl: "We are planning to release the Gorn no later than the end of January."

December 23rd, 2010 - The Guramba Siege Destroyer hits the C-Store. 

January 7th, 2011 - Dan Stahl is getting tired of the all the KDF complaints: "If you don't like the speed at which the car is moving - your options are to jump out or watch the DVD in the back seat and eat some cheerios." AND: "Overnight armchair quarterbacks aside, the dev team is constantly improving the KDF for the 12% of our player base who play them."

January 13th 2011 - This patch broke Cloaking Devices, causing ships to be decloaked by every pop-up. 

January 26th, 2011 - Five months later and none of the things that Dan Stahl wanted to add the the KDF are in the game. 

January 27th, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "...a heap of work left to do on the Gorn..."

January 27th, 2011 - Cryptic_Gozer: "The community ASSUMED that meant that both factions would have full PVE content."
 * He's immediately corrected, and never again mentions his attempt to rewrite history.

January 28th, 2011 - To be fair though, Dan Stahl did discuss Gozer's comments. 

January 28th, 2011 - Vulcan D'Kyr Science Vessel, an exact copy of the Gorn Varanus in all but looks (on the test server the ship's shipyard data entry actually said Varanus instead of D'Kyr), is released to Tribble for testing. 

January 29th, 2011 - Cryptic has ignored issues KDF players have with the Varanus for over 2 months. But when Federation players request an increase in the turn rate for the Vulcan D'Kyr, for the exact same reasons that Klingon players wanted an increase in the Varanus' turn rate, Al Rivera (CaptainGeko) responds within 24 hours of it hitting the test server saying they'll increase the turn rate of the D'Kyr. 

January 30th, 2011 - In an interview with Computer Ed, Dan Stahl says: "The Klingon faction ... first it was going to be PvE then it became PvP..."
 * This proves that it originally was their intent to make the Empire a full PvE faction just like the Federation. From the mouth of the executive producer himself.

First Anniversary - THE YEAR OF HELL (2011)
This year was most notable for an 11 month long content drought, long lists of promises that went unfulfilled, the launch of Season Four that was almost as buggy as Season Two's launch, the removal and 'releveling' of most of the KDF PvE content with Season Four's launch, and the worry and uncertainty among the player base caused by Atari putting Cryptic Studios up for sale and increased by the lack of communication during the game's transformation to the free-to-play model.

'''February 2nd, 2011 - One Year Anniversary! -''' Earth Space Dock has received an overhaul to its interior. We're told that Qo'noS will get an update too, sometime in the future. 

February 3rd, 2011 - Four Foundry missions are ported from Tribble (test server) to Holodeck (live server). 
 * Despite multiple KDF missions being suggested in StormShade's official thread, and in other threads, they decide to port 3 Starfleet and only 1 KDF mission to Holodeck.

February 16th, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "The Gorn are already scheduled for their own feature episode series, I just can't give you a specific timeframe yet."
 * Later that same day he implies that the Gorn Featured Episodes will be the first one after Season 4. It wasn't.

February 24th, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "The KDF is getting pretty much a big overhaul of early content." AND: "As far as Kerrat and KDF content in general, the big update is coming with the launch of Season 4."
 * The executive producer promising KDF content at the launch of Season 4.

March 25th, 2011 - Starfleet captains can now craft their own Delta Flyers! The KDF doesn't get anything to craft. 

March 25th, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "More than half of the team is working on Klingon content for Season 4 at the moment, so I can assure that I remain committed to improving the KDF faction and have done so with every release."
 * The executive producer again saying that Season 4 will be big for the KDF.

March 28th, 2011 - The Foundry goes live on Holodeck. 

April 8th, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "The team continues to release Klingon improvements with every major update, and Season 4 will be no different. KDF costume customization options, new Gorn, new KDF tutorial, Start as a KDF with your first toon, KDF Duty Officer Assignments, releveleved KDF PVE content, opening up more KDF sectors - its all in the works. As I've said in numerous interviews - don't take me at my word - just look at my track record for making the improvements that I said we would with the KDF and judge by that."
 * Once again promising more KDF content in Season 4.

April 11th, 2011 - Dan Stahl said, in an interview on STOked episode 77: "So in general, in addition to making more ships and just having more costume options for Klingons we think that anyone who's been sort of holding off on creating a Klingon because they didn't want to play PvP we think in Season 4 it's gonna be that's the time that you want to create a Klingon and we're going to have a path for you to get to higher levels."

May 6th, 2011 - ASK CRYPTIC - talks about the KDF getting attack targs and a "Targ Breeding Game."

May 13th, 2011 - S_Wall (Cryptic developer): KDF tutorial - postponed, Klingon Academy - postponed, Updated Qo'noS - in Season 4, Qo'noS side missions - postponed.
 * That's a sudden change from Dan Stahl's posts on February 24th, March 25th, and April 8th.

May 16th, 2011 - Dan Stahl posts that Gorn Customization and a reworked Qo'noS will be in Season 4. 

May 17th, 2011 - Atari announces it's selling Cryptic Studios.

May 21st, 2011 - Salami_Inferno (Cryptic developer) announces that, as part of the remastered missions, Starfleet will get a special mission reward that lets them summon a bank in sector space. Only after KDF players start asking about it does he announce that the Empire will get one as well. 

May 23rd, 2011 - Mhighison (Cryptic devloper) posts that the devs aren't even planning on making the Swordmaster Greatcoat available to players. 

May 26th, 2011 - Mhighison: "The skirts and badges I've mentioned here are indeed Fed only, because they are Fed Uniform parts. Getting a Klingon faction skirt is on my list of extras I want to squeeze in before for Season 4."
 * Starfleet, which already has a wide selection of comm badges and skirt options, is getting a bunch more. The KDF, which has none, might get some squeezed in for Season 4.

May 27th, 2011 - The Remastered Doomsday Machine episode goes to Holodeck. 
 * Starfleet players are able to wear the KDF Swordmaster Greatcoat and get a KDF Hargh'Peng torpedo. KDF players do not get either of these things.

May 31st, 2011 - Perfect World agrees to purchase purchase Cryptic Studios.

June 7th, 2011 - ASK CRYPTIC - Q: Will the KDF get "anything" in 2011. A: "The KDF are getting a remade starting Hub, a new KDF only Daily Ground and Space Fleet Action, Remade Gorn, exclusive KDF level 51 gear set (space and ground), their own form of assignments, their own unique duty officers, several new ships, and a releveled mission experience. Anything else is possible, but those are the tasks at the top of my priority list for KDF right now. The KDF slowly improves, but not as fast as the feds. The future could change this."
 * The KDF did get a remade starting hub and remade Gorn.
 * In response to the 100 day veteran reward question, Dan Stahl said: "My schedule shows that we'll resolve it before the end of the year."
 * Over two years after he said this there is still no KDF 100 day veteran reward.

SEASON 4
July 7th, 2011 - Season 4 - New Ground Combat
 * Despite being told that "More than half of the team is working on Klingon content for Season 4 at the moment" by Dan Stahl, back on March 25th, there is no new content.
 * New Qo'noS map for the KDF. Bugged so that many players can't leave the first room with their new character. This was reported while it was on Tribble, but allowed to go live anyway.
 * New Gorn (that were originally supposed to go live in November 2010 as part of Season 3), but the old Gorn are no longer available, despite Dan Stahl saying that they would be.
 * Cloaking Devices, bugged since January, are still broken despite patch notes indicating they're fixed.
 * No new KDF tutorial.
 * No skirts added.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * No ability to start as KDF without having a Starfleet character.
 * All sector blocks except for Sirius are opened up to the KDF. There's nothing to do in them though. Starfleet characters can enter Omega Leonis however.
 * Foundry shut down.
 * No update to, or rework of, Ker'rat.
 * Fleet Actions inaccessible due to broken PvE queues.
 * Featured Episodes were "releveled", but only for the KDF, thus taking them out of the hands of lower level characters.
 * So instead of being a big content update like Dan Stahl said, Season 4 actually removed most of the PvE content from KDF players. And it certainly does not have a path for KDF players to get to higher levels, as Dan Stahl said on STOked episode 77.

July 13th, 2011 - The pop-up decloaking bug is now six months old.

July 20th, 2011 - The Federation gets Starfleet Academy, the Empire gets nothing. 

August 11th, 2011 - Perfect World's acquisition of Cryptic Studios is complete.

August 18th, 2011 - Release Notes: "Klingon players may now craft the Rare Hargh'Peng Torpedo launchers at odd marks."
 * Three months after the Federation got them.
 * Except that they're bind on pickup, so the only way to get them KDF side is to have max crafting on the character that you want them on, whereas Starfleet characters can simply run the Doomsday mission repeatedly and get as many as they want.

August 19th, 2011 - Engineering Report by Dan Stahl: "In Design Discussions - KDF Episode conversions (converting FED episodes to a KDF playable version)"

August 19th, 2011 - Dan Stahl posts about Perfect World and their desire for better PvP, a better KDF, and a Romulan faction. 

August 23rd, 2011 - Heretic (Cryptic developer) posts that improvements to the Kar'fi carrier due out before the end of 2011. 

August 24th, 2011 - Dan Stahl posts that Perfect World wants to bring the KDF up to par with Starfleet. 

August 26th, 2011 - Heretic: "Marauding (KDF counterpart of Starfleet diplomacy) comes out with the duty officer system."

August 30th, 2011 - People have complained that the Hargh'peng torpedoes are extremely overpowered since they were added to the game. Twelve days after the KDF get them they are nerfed. 

August 30th, 2011 - Klingon Academy uniforms become available on the C-Store. 

September 1st, 2011 - Official Announcement that Star Trek Online is going Free-To-Play.

September 6th, 2011 - Free-To-Play features announced, the KDF will be changed to a levels 25-51 "mini-faction" when STO goes free-to-play, but more content will be added and the KDF will become a full faction at some unspecified later date. 

September 6th, 2011 - StormShade posts several times about upcoming KDF content: "...this means that the Klingon Faction has a very large update coming to it later on down the line so that it can finally be a full fledged faction, as The Empire was always meant to be." AND: "On top of this, we plan on putting quite a bit of work into the Klingon side of the game in order to bring them up to par with what the Federation experience is." AND: "PWE's games all feature a very good amount of PvP in them. They're not happy with the current state of the Klingon Empire, much like you aren't. They WANT to fix this and make the Klingons a full fledged faction."

September 9th, 2011 - ASK CRYPTIC: "it does open up the opportunity to create a Romulan faction that also starts at higher level, but the goal is to have all factions be on equal ground."
 * Also: "Part of our F2P model will definitely involve adding more KDF specific costumes and accessories so save those stipend points! Also, I’ve been talking with the character artists about the possibilities of cloaks as upcoming veteran rewards (700 day or beyond)."

September 12th, 2011 - Again StormShade posts about KDF content: "Meanwhile, the development team has begun work on new content for the KDF, which, once completed, will allow new players to start at level 1, as a Klingon Player, experiencing the faction as a full, and complete faction, the way that both us at Cryptic, and our Players, have always wanted it to be." AND: "...we intend to bring the KDF up to par with the Federation."

September 13th, 2011 - StormShade: "I really do acknowledge the shape The Empire is in, as does the rest of Cryptic and PWE. We also really are working on remedying this situation."

September 20th, 2011 - Dan Stahl announces that he is leaving Cryptic Studios. CTO Stephen D'Angelo becomes the temporary executive producer. 

September 29th, 2011 - Tribble server reopens with the free-to-play build. 

November 16th, 2011 - StormShade: "...we really are laying down some serious plans for a great deal more KDF content to be released post F2P."

SEASON 5
December 1st, 2011 - Season 5 - The Search For Content
 * KDF characters now unlock at level 25 and start at level 21.
 * The Marauding system added as a part of the Duty Officer System.
 * KDF Academy with lore missions and particle gathering event.
 * KDF officers can now board Deep Space 9, and join Starfleet Officers in the revised STFs.
 * KDF officers can also beam down to Defera and fight in the Borg invasion event, but cannot team with Starfleet in this zone.
 * Fighter commands added for carriers.
 * Guramba, Kar'Fi, Marauder and Varanus have been updated.
 * 9 KDF ships released to the C-Store
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no attack targs or a "Targ Breeding Game."
 * Still no female TOS uniform.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * The Fleet Action to allow the KDF to blow up ESD is still not in the game.
 * Still waiting for that Gorn Featured Episode series.

December 1st, 2011 - Dan Stahl: "yes I am back at Cryptic Studios!"

January 13th, 2012 - The pop-up decloaking bug is now 1 year old today.

Second Anniversary - The Silver Age (2012)
This year didn't start well for the Klingon Empire. With the launch of free-to-play, Cryptic has abandoned all pretense of trying to do right by the Empire, having reduced it to a 21-50 'mini-faction' with a grand total of 23 story missions. Only 8 of those are Empire exclusive missions, the rest being Starfleet Featured Episodes that have been converted for KDF use.

'''February 2nd, 2012 - Two Year Anniversary! -''' The Empire gets the new Bortas class flagship. The new Odyssey class is on display in the shipyard at Earth Space Dock. We're told that the Bortas will also be displayed at Qo'noS shipyard, sometime in the future. 

February 13th, 2012 - Cryptic Studios announces that Dan Stahl has returned to the executive producer position. 

March 1st, 2012 - Dan Stahl: "In the meantime the content team IS working on more KDF only content, and you should some of that soon."

March 5th, 2012 - Dan Stahl, on STOked episode 113 says that we might see some Klingon content before next year. 
 * That's quite a change from his post in August claiming that Perfect World wanted to bring the KDF up to par with Starfleet.

April 3rd, 2012 - Dan Stahl, on Gates of Sto'vo'kor podcast, says: "They (KDF players) see the KDF as the Horde in WoW and wonder why it is doesn’t have its own zones with an entirely separate content track unto itself. The game was just not made to be that at launch. The only way we’ll ever get there is if we spin up an entirely separate team of content designers to go back and make a few years’ worth of content and release it as an expansion."

April 5th, 2012 - A single KDF mission, "Alpha", is added to the game. 

April 30th, 2012 - Previous dev statements that "The Federation will never get a carrier" are thrown aside when they announce the Caitian Atrox Carrier.
 * The Klingon Empire no longer has anything unique to offer to players. The few unique items it had have been looted and turned over to Federation players.

May 17th, 2012 - Ferasan Playable Species and Bridge Officers added to the C-Store. 
 * Instead of adding a canon race to the game they chose to create the Ferasons, which are just a cut-and-paste of the Caitains with darker colors.

May 24th, 2012 - The rerun of Cold War begins. Federation characters can get the Breen bridge officer special reward, but Klingon Empire characters cannot. This is fixed a week later. 

June 14th, 2012 - Starfleet receives their second carrier, the Armitage class. Meanwhile, still no word on the Hegh'ta Refit, Negh'Var Refit and the Qin Refit that former executive producer Stephen D'Angelo told us were coming back in October 2011. 

June 14th, 2012 - Executive Producer Dan Stahl, hosts an in-game Q&A session in the Red Alert channel. He even answered a few questions about the KDF:
 * "re: KDF Content - we are focused on all faction end game content for the foreseeable future - no plans to do KDF levels 1 -18 at the moment"
 * "RE: New KDF Uniforms - yes a new fleet uniform (which is awesome) is coming in S6"
 * "re: Kits for KDF - this is a bigger issue with how KDF costumes were made - there is a long term goal to make this happen and it goes along with the kit revamp we want to do"
 * "re: Re-unification and end of KDF war - this is a possible future storyline - but no spoilers yet"
 * "re: KDF Season - not currently. We are instead focusing on more KDF content for max level players intead of levels 1-18 because 90%+ of all players are max level"
 * "RE: KDF version of Armitage - that is a possibility - there are quite a few ships coming with the Starbase progression - so if you don't see something you like when S6 hits, then we can consider it..."

June 14th, 2012 - On Priority One, 55 minutes into episode 85, when asked about "further KDF development" Dan Stahl says: "Well, this is a dead Targ."
 * 90% of all characters are a max level so they will not be making any KDF content for levels 1-18.
 * Any additional KDF content will be "mixed faction content."
 * He goes on to say: "We've done tests over and over again, it's going to be 16% of the player base. Cause that's what it is at Star Trek conventions, that's what it is in every other Star Trek game. It's a constant."

June 19th, 2012 - Perfect World completely revamps the Star Trek Online forums, archiving every post made before today and stripping the names off of each post. 
 * This, in conjunction with their removal of the Calendar and the Path to 2409, shows that they're trying to wipe the slate clean.

June 29th, 2012 - On Priority One, 1 hour and 8 minutes into episode 86, when asked about new KDF ships, Al Rivera (CaptainGeko) says "So they'll still keep getting them, but in general you're gonna see more come out for the Fed than you are gonna see for the Klingon."

SEASON 6
July 12th, 2012 - Season 6 - Starbases To Nowhere
 * More cross faction events: No Win Scenario, Colony Invasion and Tholian Invasion.
 * Many space FX changed.
 * Ground cone and AoE powers broken.
 * C-Points changed to Zen.
 * Fleet Starbase system added.
 * Fleet Ships added - Since the KDF doesn't have any Tier 5 C-Store ships they all cost $20 to upgrade to fleet versions, whereas many of the Federation ships only cost $5 to upgrade to the fleet version.
 * And the KDF shipyard is bugged so that KDF players must pay $15 in order to access the free ship customization options.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no attack targs or a "Targ Breeding Game."
 * Still no female TOS uniform.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * The Fleet Action to allow the KDF to blow up ESD is still not in the game.
 * Still waiting for that Gorn Featured Episode series.

July 13th, 2012 - The pop-up decloaking bug is 18 months old today.

August 11th, 2012 - At the Star Trek Las Vegas Convention STO devs are asked "Can you tell the people out there what kind of a character can they play?" Jessie Heining answers, "Well as you saw in the trailer we focus on the Starfleet experience." Later he says, "The gameplay also allows you the ability to unlock Klingon characters and there's a significant section of the story arc that's devoted to playing a member of the Klingon Defense Force as well."

September 6th, 2012 - Dan Stahl does a Q&A session on Raptr. When asked about the future of the two factions he says: "I believe strongly in a strong two faction game, so that means my bets would be on beafing up the KDF and making it so that players could play from level 1 as a KDF toon with the philosphy of "if you build it, they will come" to increase KDF numbers."

September 7th, 2012 - Dan Stahl talks about the decloaking bug. 

September 22nd, 2012 - ASK CRYPTIC - Q: Could Season 8 maybe be dedicated to the KDF? Dan Stahl: "This is being discussed and nothing definite has been announced yet. If we were to add more KDF-exclusive missions, Season 8 would be the earliest it would happen."

October 10th, 2012 - Starfleet gets the Chimera class Heavy Destroyer and the KDF gets the Peghqu' Heavy Destroyer. 

October 24th, 2012 - Dan Stahl: "There will be new Klingon specific content in Season 8 along with a bunch of other stuff."

SEASON 7
November 13th, 2012 - Season 7 - Rep Grind Activated!
 * Tau Dewa Sector Block.
 * More cross faction events.
 * STF: Into the Hive.
 * Even More Currencies Added!
 * Starfleet gets 5 new ships! - KDF gets none.
 * Still no personal armor and kit visuals.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no attack targs or a "Targ Breeding Game."
 * Still no skirts or female TOS uniform.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * The Fleet Action to allow the KDF to blow up ESD is still not in the game.
 * Still waiting for that Gorn Featured Episode series.

November 13th, 2012 - Captain's Log interview, Dan Stahl says: "In 2013, we feel that PvE KDF experience is going to get even better with the addition of new Feature Episodes, new Adventure Zones, and more KDF specific missions. Once we feel that there are enough PvE missions for the KDF to go from level 1-50, we will open up the ability for anyone to create a Klingon as his or her first character."

November 20th, 2012 - Dan Stahl: "The anniversary event will also offer a new special free ship for both Fed and Kdf players much like we gave away the Odyssey during last year's event."

November 23rd, 2012 - ASK CRYPTIC - Dan Stahl: "Personally, I’m still very committed to ensuring the KDF has levels 1-50, more so than I can even publicly talk about because it would involve going into details about all the internal conversations I’ve had within the company about this topic. It is my goal as EP to make this happen and the only thing that I can give you is that I’m fighting for it and want to do it."

December 19th, 2012 - On PrimetimeUGC, 53 minutes into episode 18, Dan Stahl talks about using user created missions from the Foundry to fill out the Klingon faction. 

January 11th, 2013 - ASK CRYPTIC - Dan Stahl: "The KDF are getting some love in Season 8 but I can’t discuss the scope of it yet. As we get closer to the release, more news and specifics will be released along with some previews of what we have been working on. I personally believe that Season 8 will be a positive release for the KDF."

January 13th, 2013 - The pop-up decloaking bug (that causes a KDF ship to decloak anytime anyone talks to you for any reason) has now been in the game for two full years, despite Season 4's patch notes indicating that this had been fixed. 

January 29th, 2013 - On Massively Speaking, 19 minutes and 40 seconds into episode 234, Dan Stahl (talking about Season 8) says: "We're gonna see us answer some of the questions about what are we gonna do with factions in game. What's gonna happen with the Klingon Empire and any future factions."

January 31st, 2013 - In an interview with Terilynn of Captain's Log - Q: "You've stated that you thought that the upcoming Season Eight release would be big for the Klingon faction. Do you have anything you can add to that?" - Dan Stahl said: "We've stopped calling it a season for starters. When we look at all the time and energy being put into this next update, it feels like it's shaping into something much larger. While we haven't shared specifics yet, we will be detailing our plans for the Klingon faction in the coming months."

January 31st, 2013 - In an interview with Chris of MMO Reporter, at 17 minutes in Dan Stahl says: "You know a lot of people might not realize that we initially wanted to have a full-fleged, two faction game where the Federation and Klingon side of things were pretty much both PvE factions all the way up through maximum levels."
 * And later, at 19 minutes, 45 seconds in he says: "But now what we're trying to do is find a ways to go back and add those little bits of unique content that give you your story. And so that's sort of our next goal is to figure out... you know we've got the Klingons to where you can get up to max level playing PvE content that wasn't there at launch. And now we just have to go back and add those moments where you truly do have a little bit of a story that makes you feel like, ok this is different than the Federation side."

February 1st, 2013 - Dan Stahl held a Q&A session in game on the REDALERT channel: "KDF updates are coming this year - not going to share details yet" AND: "It is a personal goal to get factions to where they need to be - I've said this for years and you'll just have to wait and see"

Third Anniversary - The Bronze Age (2013)
Despite the large number of KDF bugs that have been ignored since launch, which were fixed Federation side back in 2010, this year seemed promising. The dev team is up to nearly 50 people and Dan Stahl made the interview circuit hyping up Season 8, later renamed 'Legacy of Romulus'. The launch of Legacy of Romulus brought us even more bugs, but saw the decloaking bug fixed (mostly). It also turned the Klingon Empire into a full faction. Finally.

'''February 2nd, 2013 - Three Year Anniversary! -''' The Federation gets the Ambassador Support Cruiser and The Empire gets the Kamarag Battlecruiser. 

February 15th, 2013 - Brandon addresses a bug (that's been in game since Season 6) affecting some of the KDF $20 C-Store ships that requires a player to pay another $15 to access the normally free customization options: "This is a bug that the team is aware of. I don't have an ETA for resolution, unfortunately."

February 22nd, 2013 - On STOked Radio, 43 minutes into episode 30, Dan Stahl, when asked when the next KDF exclusive missions will appear in game said: "May."

March 4th, 2013 - In an interview with STOIC, Dan Stahl says: "Early on in the game when Jack and Craig were talking about the game we fully expected to have two full factions, the Klingons and the Federation. But as we got further along we just hadn't had time to even get to that content and so we had to switch Klingons to be a PvP faction."
 * Once again dispelling the myth that the Klingons "were always intended to be a PvP faction."

March 21st, 2013 - The Legacy of Romulus page now shows that the update formerly known as Season 8 is going to allow people to start a KDF character at level 1, and also includes an entirely new faction: The Romulan Republic. 
 * Which makes one wonder, if 18% of the player base wasn't sufficient to justify making KDF content, how 0% of the player base (which is how many people currently play Romulans) can justify making Romulan content.

March 29th, 2013 - Dan Stahl: " We're in the process of readjusting all of the Klingon levels, moving episodes around, adding in the ships, and then adding in the new KLG episodes including the Nimbus adventure zone."

April 5th, 2013 - Jheinig: "It is possible to set up an interaction, like a bridge officer popping up to tell you something or a mission area or item that you click to examine, in such a way that it does not interfere with cloaking devices. I'll just say that it takes some serious work and it's the result of a recent update, so it's not the sort of thing to expect in general across the board."

April 24th, 2013 - Brandon Felczer: "We also have a Dev Blog planned to discuss and share information about the KDF changes, but things are still being finalized so it can't be posted just yet."

May 17th, 2013 - Legacy of Romulus Dev Blog #20 reveals the new KDF storyline, coming fixes to the decloaking bug, and new KDF C-Store ships. 

Legacy of Romulus
May 21st, 2013 - Legacy of Romulus - The update formerly known as Season 8
 * Players can now start a KDF character at level 1 without having to first play a Starfleet character.
 * A tutorial and many KDF exclusive missions have been added, turning the KDF into a complete faction.
 * Nimbus adventure zone added.
 * The KDF have their own tricorders once again.
 * The decloaking bug has been resolved for most missions. KDF captains need no longer live in fear of their bridge officers' voices!
 * Still no KDF space patrol missions despite being told, by Dan Stahl, that they were being made.
 * No update to, or rework of, Ker'rat.
 * Many of the voice overs for the new cutscenes are missing.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no attack targs or a "Targ Breeding Game."
 * The Gorn bulk and physique sliders were removed from the character creator and replaced with the standard sliders. So it is no longer possible to create enormous Gorn, like the ones that are still seen wandering around Qo'noS.
 * Still no longer possible to create an old style Gorn character, despite Dan Stahl saying we would be allowed to do so.
 * Still waiting for that Gorn Featured Episode series.
 * Still no female Gorn, Letheans, or Nausicaans. All Starfleet races have both male and female options.
 * Starfleet personnel have 3 free skirts, and another 3 that cost between $5 - $20, while the KDF has just one, the warrior's skirt, which costs roughly $25 through the Lobi vendor.
 * The bug (that's been in game since Season 6) affecting some of the KDF $20 C-Store ships that requires a player to pay another $15 to access the normally free customization options is still there: "This is a bug that the team is aware of. I don't have an ETA for resolution, unfortunately."
 * Only now, it is no longer possible to customize any KDF ship. This was reported while on the test server, but allowed to go live anyway.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.
 * KDF ground exploration missions are still filled full of invisible holes through which bridge officers will fall. This was fixed for Starfleet back in 2010.
 * Warriors Rejoice! The Klingon Empire is no longer unlockable Federation content!

May 22nd, 2013 - In an interview with Massively's Terilynn Shull, Dan Stahl said: "We feel that what we've done for the Klingon faction is give them the PVE starting experience they've always needed. It is the unsung feature of the Legacy of Romulus update, but those who choose to roll a Klingon for the first time will find that we've added in the level 1-20 experience in a way that is just as compelling as the new Romulan story. We hope Klingons everywhere will rejoice at this news."

June 13th, 2013 - On the Gates of Sto'vo'kor podcast, Dan Stahl talks about the KDF content in Legacy of Romulus, and about future plans for the KDF faction. 
 * New KDF C-Store ship coming.
 * Future PvE content will have story and dialog more appropriate for the KDF.
 * Character artist recently hired. More character costumes coming.
 * Season 9 will be much like Season 7 in scope. New enemy from the IP coming.
 * Season 10 will see more Undine. It might be another "expansion."

August 22nd, 2013 - The console on Qo'noS, where you used to claim your 300 day veteran reward from, which quit working when Legacy of Romulus went live, is now working again. 

September 20th, 2013 - Captain Geko: "There is a new T5 Klingon ship planned. It’s actually already designed and partly made. We had hoped on releasing it before the end of the year, but that may not be practical anymore. The ship artists are feverishly working on some epic Voth ships and other Season 8 content at the moment."

October 8th, 2013 - Introducing Starfleet's new Avenger class, their first Battlecruiser! 
 * So they're too busy to finish a KDF ship that's already half-done, but they can push out a brand-new Starfleet ship.
 * Oh yeah, and it cloaks too.

October 24th, 2013 - On Priority One, 1 hour and 2 minutes into episode 146, Al "Captain Geko" Rivera said: "We'll absolutely release a Fleet Guramba when we release the, at the same time we release a Fleet Galaxy Dreadnought."
 * A Fleet Marauder will come, and he wants to make a Ferasian ship.
 * They're going to focus on making Klingon ships, allied race ships unlikely to happen.
 * Captain Geko also said: "Bottom line is that I want to make new ships for Klingons, even though we have more Klingon players now playing than ever before, still don't sell a lot of Klingon ships and they're expensive to make."

October 29th, 2013 - Dan Stahl tweets: "Mr. Dorn recorded VO for all the missions he already appears in, including the new FE. Will be rolled out soon"

October 31st, 2013 - New Feature Episode, "Sphere of Influence", added to introduce the Dyson Sphere and Season 8. Ambassador Worf has a new in-game model, that actually looks like Worf, and he's now voiced by Michael Dorn. 

November 6th, 2013 - Brandon posts: "KDF ship is in Dev now but I can't share the release date just yet."

November 6th, 2013 - At 1 hour, 12 minutes and 30 seconds into an interview with the G&T Show, Al "Captain Geko" Rivera said: "There are two Klingon ships planned. One for the near future, that's coming out. And one probably early next year or maybe spring next year."

SEASON 8
November 12th, 2013 - Season 8 - Dinosaurs in spaaaace!
 * Dyson Sphere space and ground adventure zones added.
 * Storming the Spire and The Breach PvE events added.
 * More Reputation grinds added.
 * Starfleet's tutorial completely redone a second time!
 * Still no KDF space patrol missions despite being told, by Dan Stahl, that they were being made.
 * Still no 100 day Veteran Reward for the KDF.
 * Still no pets that buff or heal like Starfleet's Tribbles.
 * Still no attack targs or a "Targ Breeding Game."
 * Still no longer possible to create an old style Gorn character, despite Dan Stahl saying we would be allowed to do so.
 * Still waiting for that Gorn Featured Episode series.
 * Still no female Gorn, Letheans, or Nausicaans. All Starfleet races have both male and female options.
 * Starfleet personnel still have 3 free skirts and the KDF still have no free skirts.
 * Still no female TOS uniform.
 * KDF ground exploration missions are still filled full of invisible holes through which bridge officers will fall. This was fixed for Starfleet back in 2010.

December 4th, 2013 - Bren Plesh Brek Heavy Raider available with flanking mechanic. "Our goal is to use the Plesh Brek's Flanking ability as a prototype to fine to tune it before eventually rolling it out to Klingon Raiders along with some other minor improvements to these ships."
 * Gorngonzolla: "Yes. Klingon Raiders will get the ability to Flank as well. Although Klingon Raider flanking will be slightly less powerful than the Plesh Brek Heavy Raider's Improved Flanking."
 * Adjudicatorhawk: "We have no plans to re-classify any existing Federation or Romulan ships as Raiders at this time. We also are not currently working on any Starfleet or Romulan Raiders. The new Raider mechanic will be exclusive to the Breen Raider at launch, and after testing and tuning it with this ship, we anticipate expanding it to all KDF Raiders in the near future."

December 12th, 2013- The Mogh class battle cruiser (the ship that was delayed so they could finish the Federation's Avenger class battle Cruiser) becomes available to the Empire. 

December 12th, 2013 - At launch the Federation had voice overs from Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto. Later, more VO from Chase Masterson and Denise Crosby were added. The Klingon Empire finally gets its own celebrity VO, from Michael Dorn. 
 * To celebrate, the Empire gives away free B'Rotlh Birds of Prey to its captains.

January 14th, 2014 - Dan Stahl has, once again, left Star Trek Online. Stephen D'Angelo, the Emergency Executive Producer Hologram during Dan's Zynga vacation from September 2011 to February 2012, is once again back online as STO's Executive Producer. 

January 27th, 2014 - On PrimetimeUGC, 34 minutes into episode 29, Captain Geko said: "We put... a huge investment in (Klingons). Did it move the needle much? Nah, not much. It was ok, it was worth doing. We'll probably continue to do little bits, but proportionally we'll always do more for Fed."

Fourth Anniversary - The Modern Age (2014)
Other than the release of Michael Dorn's voice over in December, development on the Klingon Empire appears to have ended nine months ago with the launch of Legacy of Romulus. Most of the bugs introduced to the Klingon Empire with Legacy of Romulus still remain, and Cryptic developers have not been shy about repeatedly stating in recent interviews that the Empire will continue to take a backseat to the Federation. So we enter the Modern Age wondering if anything more will ever be added to The Empire, other than the occasional cross faction zone and C-Store item.

SEASON 8.5
'''January 30th, 2014 - Season 8.5 - Space Garage! 
 * The Anniversary event, with Tim Russ doing voice over as Admiral Tuvok, goes live.
 * Unlike previous anniversary events, which lasted a week or so and gave away a free ship after doing one mission, this one lasts the entire month and requires weeks of grinding to get the free ship.
 * A dozen of the Federation starting missions have been remastered, again.
 * The hourly event calendar has been discontinued because metrics showed that (surprise!) very few people like grinding the same missions over and over again.
 * Shuttle PvP map added.
 * Ship switching, quick equip, and load-outs have been added. Space garage!

February 27th, 2014 - Back in October, Al "Captain Geko" Rivera, in an interview with Priority One, said "We'll absolutely release a Fleet Guramba when we release the, at the same time we release a Fleet Galaxy Dreadnought." Apparently Cryptic doesn't remember him saying that, because they just announced that they're releasing a Fleet Galaxy Dreadnought, but no mention at all of the Fleet Guramba Siege Destroyer. 

February 9th, 2015 - On Priority One podcast, 52 minutes into episode 208, Al "Captain Geko" Rivera said "We specifically ended the war between Klingons and the Federation so we didn't have to make content just for Klingons anymore."
 * So what we've got is all we're ever going to get. At least until they remove it. Is anyone really surprised at this point?
 * Needless to say the timeline ends here. I will not be updating it further.

"...just look at my track record for making the improvements that I said we would with the KDF and judge by that." - Dan Stahl

"Dan and Cryptic have spoken out the sides of their mouths so much I expect beads, whiskey and Polio blankets for the KDF any day now." - Roach

"We don't want what the Feds have. We want the equivalent. We want fairer treatment. Concern, desire, greed to some extent, and passionate belief that enough people would buy KDF items to make it worth Cryptic's while." - Drowrulesupreme