The Romulans...

They're obviously going to be the next faction in the game, but what does that actually mean? There's been a lot of talk about them being fractured, that there could be a civil war, and even that there could be sides that lean towards the Federation and the Klingon Empire (though I honestly don't see that happening without some huge event to do away with centuries of hate and distrust). For the faction itself, though, I think certain things need to be considered:

1. The home base (akin to Qo'nos or Earth Space Dock). For me this absolutely HAS to be something like Romulus. Losing that planet, as much as it helped the storyline and the like, was a loss to the Star Trek universe, and honestly, playing a game as a Romulan and not being able to visit some grand Romulan City (akin to the planet from "Cutting the Cord", though with more) would be something that would hurt. People are still clamouring to this day for Earth to be included, and I honestly believe it's a necessity.

2. The races. I'm a perfectionist that will only have a Klingon crew on a Klingon ship (and once we get more PVE content, will have a Gorn ship with Gorn crew and so on), and as such with the Romulans will most likely be the same route. That said, three starting races does seem a tad small. The Romulans, Remans and Hirogen are great, but I can't help feeling that they could do with a little more just for variety's sake.

3. The ships. For me, this is the most important part of the entire thing. Yes, obviously we'll get the D'deridex (T5 cruiser hopefully), and the Mogai (T5 escort), but what of the others? Yes, we'll get the Hunter Escort (Hirogen ship), and the Bird of Prey, but there are still going to be massive holes in the tiers. To that end, I'd like to see the ships used in TNG episodes like "The Defector", "The Next Phase", and the shuttle seen in the DS9 episode "In The Pale Moonglight". If we get those added to what's in the game already, I think we'll be fine.

4. The Eras. People are going to want their TOS ship patterns and their TNG/DS9 uniforms and weapons (though thankfully as of the latest series, we have the disruptor), and my bet is that Cryptic will of course use the C-Store for such things.

5. The missions. By no means the least important part of the whole thing, people are going to want missions involving subterfuge and sneaking around rather than diplomacy or blunt force. Thankfully Cryptic being Star Trek fans themselves means that the odds are good for such a thing.

That's how I feel about the Romulans as they are: There's a good foundation already laid, and as long as the Klingons get their content issues sorted during the year, there should be little to no problem getting the Romulans out in to the game, and their faction, if it's even half as good as people are hoping, will make a lot of people very happy.

Links:

The Defector - Romulan Scout Ship
The Next Phase - Romulan Science Vessel

^ As you can see, both ships are quite similar, so a tier one ship might be the answer for those designs.

In The Pale Moonlight - Romulan shuttle