On the test server now for STO is the forthcoming patch that adds the much requested (and much needed) Death Penalty and Difficulty Slider option into the game. While the Difficulty slider is optional, the Death Penalty is not.
Difficulty Slider: It is what it sounds like, the ability to change the game through three levels of difficulty – “Normal” (The games current difficulty factor, and the default), “Advanced” and “Elite”. As difficulty goes up, rewards increase and the random dropped loot has an increased chance of being green/blue/purple. I’ve messed around with it a bit on Tribble, and for space missions “Elite” is the way to go.. Hard (could probably stand to be bumped up just a bit more), without being impossible. I haven’t had the opportunity to do any ground missions with the slider set to “Elite, but from what I hear… that’s a guaranteed trial of the Death Penalty currently (Cryptic is looking at it).
Death Penalty: Cryptic is going with what I think is an interesting implementation of the Death Penalty, instead of going the flat ‘durability’ route like WoW does (for example). STO is going to have an ‘injury’ system. When you die there is a chance you will receive an ‘injury’ (or ship damage).. injuries come in multiple levels of severity. Injuries can be ‘repaired’ by using the appropriate ‘cure’ pack that matches the level of severity injury you received. Or by visiting a vendor and getting them to repair you.
As your difficulty slider goes up, the frequency of the injuries (and, to an extent) the severity goes up as well.
I like the Death Penalty, and I think it should have been in the game since the beginning, so it will be nice to get it in and working.