Star Trek Online: Here We Go Again!

[Mrbloodworth]

"Kill 10 tribbles."

Also, this is what combat should have been.

[Malakili]

I don't think those pictures will have a positive effect.  I wasn't impressed.  Too generic.   

Every "engage" screenshot or video I've seen looks like total crap, specifically.



Frankly, the scenery looks ok, but anything with a character in it makes it look vaguely 

[Numtini]

Gamestop preorders get a unique ship(constitution class)

So to play the Enterprise, you need to preorder at Gamestop? That sounds unwise.

[Nebu]

Frankly, the scenery looks ok, but anything with a character in it makes it look vaguely 

I look at the pic that you posted and it doesn't even look like the guy is standing on the floor.  It also looks similar to EQ2 at release... which isn't saying much about a title that's 5 years newer. 

So much potential here.  I fear it will be wasted.

[Triforcer]

Gamestop preorders get a unique ship(constitution class)

So to play the Enterprise, you need to preorder at Gamestop? That sounds unwise.

The ship will be available for 10 cryptic bucks a month after launch.  You forget, these are the people who STILL haven't let the 6 month and lifetime sub CO people into closed beta.  If their legal department allowed them to do that, they aren't going to be held to a fanboy's definition of "unique starship" as it says in the ad. 

[fuser]

I'm such a muppet, put down $5 on a CE preorder. I'll be there for the launch wreckage.

[tmp]

alleged list of preorder bonuses.

- GameStop: Exclusive ship: The USS Enterprise from the original series
- Best Buy: A faction specific pet. A Tribble for the Federation, or a Targ for the Klingons.
- Wal-mart: Bonus Skill Package, which gives you extra points which let you improve faster than normal.
- Target: The exclusive TR-116 ground weapon, which beams the projectile to the target, so you can hit enemies without a line of sight.
- Amazon: A "Liberated Borg" (think Seven of Nine) Bridge Officer who levels up with you and possesses unique nanotech augmentations.
- Direct2Drive: Multi-Spatial Personal Shield, which regenerates shield and health for the player.
- Steam: Chromodynamic Armor, brought back by Voyager from the Delta Quadrant, this armor improves energy weapons.

it's like they have a contest going to find new ways to shit on their own business, or something.

[Teleku]

Haha, holy crap that whole thing is hilarious.

Best Buy:  We'll give you a pet!

Walmart:  We'll let you fucking power level!

[Malakili]

Haha, holy crap that whole thing is hilarious.

Best Buy:  We'll give you a pet!

Walmart:  We'll let you fucking power level!

Yeah, the pre-order bonuses trend lately is getting out of hand.  Cryptic did this with Champions Online as well, although the only one that seemed non-cosmetic was flight at level 1, which was basically pointless, because you can take a travel power at level 5.   So, either they are leaning more towards game-changing stuff through pre-orders, or they are overstating how useful this stuff will actually be playing the game.  I'll lean toward the later, just because I can't imagine they are actually THAT stupid. I could be wrong of course.

Then again, this seems to support the hypothesis that Cryptic is just magic low budget MMOs with the intent of selling as many boxes as possible to make their money back, and then the subscriptions are gravy.  I'm sure the goodies will entice a few extra folks into buying it that might have waited for reviews or something.

[Ingmar]

Yeah those sound both ridiculous from a power level standpoint, and also totally uneven between retailers. I'd hope they're not nearly as good as they sound.

[taolurker]

Don't forget, they'll be selling all of those pre-order items on the Cryptic store to make additional money as well.

[Malakili]

Don't forget, they'll be selling all of those pre-order items on the Cryptic store to make additional money as well.

This doesn't actually bother me so much, microtransactions are going to become a norm, even Blizzard has been slowly introducing elements of it.  Trying to bribe people to buy the actual game box me strikes a more negative chord with me though.

[Nevermore]

alleged list of preorder bonuses.

- GameStop: Exclusive ship: The USS Enterprise from the original series
- Best Buy: A faction specific pet. A Tribble for the Federation, or a Targ for the Klingons.
- Wal-mart: Bonus Skill Package, which gives you extra points which let you improve faster than normal.
- Target: The exclusive TR-116 ground weapon, which beams the projectile to the target, so you can hit enemies without a line of sight.
- Amazon: A "Liberated Borg" (think Seven of Nine) Bridge Officer who levels up with you and possesses unique nanotech augmentations.
- Direct2Drive: Multi-Spatial Personal Shield, which regenerates shield and health for the player.
- Steam: Chromodynamic Armor, brought back by Voyager from the Delta Quadrant, this armor improves energy weapons.

it's like they have a contest going to find new ways to shit on their own business, or something.

That list is hilarious.  Also, with the pet (meaning Tribble or Targ, not the Borg bimbo) I thought I read something in this thread about Klingons not even being available at launch.  Or was that just speculation?  If I cared more about the game I might go back and look but since this game is a complete train wreck I just can't be arsed.

[Malakili]

[ I thought I read something in this thread about Klingons not even being available at launch.  Or was that just speculation?  If I cared more about the game I might go back and look but since this game is a complete train wreck I just can't be arsed.

They've said that Klingons will be playable at launch.  I think the "not available at launch" rumors started when they said something like "You won't be able to play them right away."(paraphrased, it was even more ambiguous than that).  However, they've since clarified that Klingons will be unlocked after a short amount of time playing.  I think they  said in a recent IRC dev chat that they will definitely be in as a playable race, as well, as a way of avoiding more confusion. The article I linked is a couple months old, which is why I mention that.

Anyway based on that it looks like you can play them, but there is a certain amount of Starfleet play that needs to be done first.  However much is anyone's guess.

Source

[tazelbain]

Don't forget, they'll be selling all of those pre-order items on the Cryptic store to make additional money as well.

This doesn't actually bother me so much, microtransactions are going to become a norm, even Blizzard has been slowly introducing elements of it.  Trying to bribe people to buy the actual game box me strikes a more negative chord with me though.

Nope, box + subs + RMT is a no go.  Just pile that on the list reasons not.  Funny, but all the signs is not going to stop so many people.  "I want to believe!" is the only reason they need.

[Malakili]

Don't forget, they'll be selling all of those pre-order items on the Cryptic store to make additional money as well.

This doesn't actually bother me so much, microtransactions are going to become a norm, even Blizzard has been slowly introducing elements of it.  Trying to bribe people to buy the actual game box me strikes a more negative chord with me though.

Nope, box + subs + RMT is a no go.  Just pile that on the list reasons not.  Funny, but all the signs is not going to stop so many people.  "I want to believe!" is the only reason they need.

Blizzard is already starting to see whats possible , I'm telling you, I think the writing is on the wall for this to become a common practice.  If you don't like it, no problem.  Hell, I don't intend to play STO anyway, so I don't care, I'm just saying the combination of those isn't going to stop me from playing a good game.

[Ingmar]

I'd be *extremely* surprised if Blizzard ever makes the choice to step over the 'gameplay advantage' line for paid stuff as this does. Although I guess you could maybe argue race change does that, in practice its just a 'pay to avoid rerolling' thing.

[tmp]

I'd be *extremely* surprised if Blizzard ever makes the choice to step over the 'gameplay advantage' line for paid stuff as this does.

Why not, it's not like these people who get offended at such concept have anywhere else to go.

[Malakili]

I'd be *extremely* surprised if Blizzard ever makes the choice to step over the 'gameplay advantage' line for paid stuff as this does. Although I guess you could maybe argue race change does that, in practice its just a 'pay to avoid rerolling' thing.

I'm not saying you are going to be able to deck yourself out in the latest tier of gear or whatever, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the sale of vanity items, like the holiday items that require the achievements, but you can buy them after the fact if you didn't do them, or something.

[Murgos]

- Target: The exclusive TR-116 ground weapon, which beams the projectile to the target, so you can hit enemies without a line of sight.

Good thing it's not a PVP game.

[Lantyssa]

I'm thinking a Borg bimbo equipped with a TR-116 and a Tribble companion would be great for Klingon hunting.

[Triforcer]

I can say with absolutely 100% confidence that none of those items will matter.  The Walmart "skill points" will turn out to be letting you spend talent points at 1 that you'd normally spend at 10 (but it won't increase the total number of skill points, its just accelerating availability).  The various armors and blasters, etc. will probably be outstripped by lvl 15 quest gear.  Isn't that always how it works with these sort of things?

On the other hand, the Gamestop hover boots in CO actually matter, because they enable someone to take teleportation and something like Super Jump or Burrow as their 2nd power- but the boots give them the ability to hover in midair when they wouldn't have had it otherwise, so that's big.  I don't play CO anymore- can hoverboots be crafted/looted, or are the preorder boots truly unique?


Either way, I love a train wreck so I'm pre-ordering.  Will probably just take the Borg bridge officer or the targ, as those would actually stay with you through the whole game (as opposed to junk gear).  But I'm getting my cloaked Klingon PvP ganker ship ASAP, so fuck the USS Enterprise. 

[Azaroth]

I think I'd get the armour, but I assume it's far more likely that someone is looking to punish everyone who watched Voyager than it is the armour would actually be as useful as you'd think it'd be.

That is to say that since it's 40 years into the future or whatever, I'm probably going to get Chromodynamic Armour Level 2 by the time I'm out of the starting area.

[Malakili]

On the other hand, the Gamestop hover boots in CO actually matter, because they enable someone to take teleportation and something like Super Jump or Burrow as their 2nd power- but the boots give them the ability to hover in midair when they wouldn't have had it otherwise, so that's big.  I don't play CO anymore- can hoverboots be crafted/looted, or are the preorder boots truly unique?

Hover Boots can not be crafted.   Its not really that big a deal though, ot be honest.  You get 2 travel powers anyway, though the second one isn't til level 30something.

[ghost]

Oooh.  You could get a hover disk and the underground mole travel dealie.  Sweet! 

[Triforcer]

On the other hand, the Gamestop hover boots in CO actually matter, because they enable someone to take teleportation and something like Super Jump or Burrow as their 2nd power- but the boots give them the ability to hover in midair when they wouldn't have had it otherwise, so that's big.  I don't play CO anymore- can hoverboots be crafted/looted, or are the preorder boots truly unique?

Hover Boots can not be crafted.   Its not really that big a deal though, ot be honest.  You get 2 travel powers anyway, though the second one isn't til level 30something.

If your character concept doesn't include any kind of flight, I'd argue its pretty damn nice- there are times you just want to hover in PvP or above the zone, and with the boots you can have teleport, burrow, AND be able to hover after a teleport.  If I had stayed with CO, I certainly would rank that preorder item about 1000x better than any other bonus.

[Draegan]

I'd be *extremely* surprised if Blizzard ever makes the choice to step over the 'gameplay advantage' line for paid stuff as this does. Although I guess you could maybe argue race change does that, in practice its just a 'pay to avoid rerolling' thing.

I'm not saying you are going to be able to deck yourself out in the latest tier of gear or whatever, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the sale of vanity items, like the holiday items that require the achievements, but you can buy them after the fact if you didn't do them, or something.

That's fine with me.  I'd even spend money if I could buy a full set of Heirloom gear for my alts.  I'd clunk down $20 for shoulders/chest/weapons/trinket

[Malakili]

On the other hand, the Gamestop hover boots in CO actually matter, because they enable someone to take teleportation and something like Super Jump or Burrow as their 2nd power- but the boots give them the ability to hover in midair when they wouldn't have had it otherwise, so that's big.  I don't play CO anymore- can hoverboots be crafted/looted, or are the preorder boots truly unique?

Hover Boots can not be crafted.   Its not really that big a deal though, ot be honest.  You get 2 travel powers anyway, though the second one isn't til level 30something.

If your character concept doesn't include any kind of flight, I'd argue its pretty damn nice- there are times you just want to hover in PvP or above the zone, and with the boots you can have teleport, burrow, AND be able to hover after a teleport.  If I had stayed with CO, I certainly would rank that preorder item about 1000x better than any other bonus.

Well, sure its better than the action figures or costume pieces (though I do like costume pieces!), in terms of gameplay strictly speaking, but let me put it this way, I've yet to see it ever actually make a difference.   Its really not a game the min-maxers stuck with, so while it probably actually is better, in practice, it hasn't mattered.  

I don't see that sort of crowd sticking with STO either to be honest, so I'm not too worried about it.  I don't like it much, as a precedent though.

[UnSub]

This is kind of an interesting strategy by Cryptic. The cynic in me thinks it is all to increase box sales by about 50%, but it's also interesting in seeing where people pre-order and what they actually want in terms of bonus items. It offers choice, at least (to US people, anyway).

Also: yeah, I'm sure some of these (or equivalent) will start appearing in the C-Store as well.

[Numtini]

I never pay any attention to the "gameplay" aspects, but I am very easily swayed by a pet or a graphic option. I'm back to playing LOTRO and utterly bent that I don't have my pre-order cloak and beta/preorder titles as a friend took over my account. Likewise, I've never looked at the deluxe crap in the box for the WoW collector's editions, but I have the last two because I wanted the whelplings.

[Malakili]

Another new video "Starbase 24"

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/startrekonline/video/6242641?hd=1&tag=topslot;img;1

[stark]

The comments are hysterical:

  "That is the worst voice acting ever... i mean ever. Wow."
  "I am about as big of a Star Trek fan as you can possibly be, and watching that trailer just hurt."
  "Horrendous trailer. I think it actually made me sick."
  "it's like my dad got a hold of this video and is trying to make fun of it by overdubbing a cheesy naration"

[Soln]

that was awful

[NiX]

I thought a new voice could fix it, but as the video went on, I couldn't help but realize the game is just terrible looking.

[ghost]

I guess we'll just have to see if it's any fun.  I'm not holding my breath.