Star Trek Online: Here We Go Again!

[WayAbvPar]

Is it too late to make advancement something other than levels? PLEASE?

No problem.  Now you advance by ranks!

:inserts smiley with gun in its mouth:

[Ghambit]

How could you NOT have levels in a game representing the ST IP?  Everything about the Star Trek verse revolves around "levels."  Whether it's the political ranks of the Klingon High Council, the Federation rank system, Dominion, Obsidian Order, even the gadgetry (there are different levels/classes of torps, engines, phasors, etc.)... ALL of this stuff has inherent leveling.  In a universe where money largely means nothing, you'd HAVE to have levels to actually have the need to strive towards anything.  Hell, even the "Q" have levels.

[WayAbvPar]

:smiley hanging self while guzzling poison:


Maybe I have outgrown MMOGs. If all they are going to be is a bunch of 'Must be this tall to ride' signs, I will pass.

[Merusk]

:smiley hanging self while guzzling poison:


Maybe I have outgrown MMOGs. If all they are going to be is a bunch of 'Must be this tall to ride' signs, I will pass.

They will be.  We were saying as much in 2004 before WoW's amazing results cemented it in place. :wave:

Your best bet for "worlds" will be myspace and social site apps like Raph's since those are based around social systems instead of traditional game play features like combat.

[Ghambit]

:smiley hanging self while guzzling poison:


Maybe I have outgrown MMOGs. If all they are going to be is a bunch of 'Must be this tall to ride' signs, I will pass.

They will be.  We were saying as much in 2004 before WoW's amazing results cemented it in place. :wave:

Your best bet for "worlds" will be myspace and social site apps like Raph's since those are based around social systems instead of traditional game play features like combat.

Funny thing is, those social sites are some of the worst/best around at pandering their Rank structures to their users.  Every little thing has a damned ranking; from how many friends you have to how "cool" your space is.  If you want to be social, you first have to be "popular" to be successful at most of those sites... otherwise people will never find you.

So, "must be this tall to be popular" is the new norm. I guess.

[UnSub]

Size matters.

[UnSub]

Win a lifetime sub to STO. Valued at $550. Only if you live in the NA region, though.

Seems a little bush league to me - "win a sub to a game that hasn't been released yet!" - but it raises the idea that Cryptic might offer lifetime subs on STO. About 4.5 days left until the webcast of in-game footage.

[Trippy]

I thought 18 months was the standard. How did 36 months suddenly become the norm?

[Goreschach]

That, or maybe Cryptic has already realized the game is going to suck, so they're planning on charging a 30 a month sub to milk the early multi-month subscribers for all they're worth.

[UnSub]

For a game like STO, where the fans are rabid, charging a premium for a lifetime sub could work out very well. Throw in an exclusive bonus pet - Ensign Crusher with a cowering emote or something - and that group would lap it up.

[naum]

[Montague]

We now see where the development budget is going:

Leonard Nimoy to appear with Cryptic at Star Trek Convention

[Nebu]

What's the going rate for a Spock with a walker and a nasal cannula?

[Oban]

What's the going rate for a Spock with a walker and a nasal cannula?

~550

[Draegan]

What's the going rate for a Spock with a walker and a nasal cannula?

Tree-fitty.

[Ghambit]

What's the going rate for a Spock with a walker and a nasal cannula?

Tree-fitty.

nuh uh.  tree-fitty strips of gold-press latinum...

[UnSub]

Some early press about STO.

Of note:

Jack Emmert, Cryptic Chief Creative Officer, said players will begin "Star Trek Online" as the captain of a small Starfleet or Klingon Empire ship. They can customize their characters from pre-existing "Trek" species — from Klingons to Gorn — and can create entirely new alien races. As they progress through the game, players can increase in rank and gain larger vessels and more crew.

"You'll venture through space exploring new civilizations and life-forms," said Emmert. "You'll also beam down to planets and have adventures inside your ship. It's a galactic-wide game. There's going to be tons of space to investigate. We have a great system for exploration, which will allow for almost infinite possibilities."

[...]

Players will also be able to battle against other vessels in laser-blasting, missile-firing deep space scuffles reminiscent of "The Wrath of Khan" and the Dominion War in "Deep Space Nine." Because the game will be set a few generations following the last "Trek" film, players shouldn't expect to run into James T. Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard.

"There might be a ship called Enterprise flying around, but it's probably not the same ship anymore," said Emmert. "Most of the characters will have either retired or passed on, but you'll definitely be going to all the places you know and love from 'Star Trek.' Expect to see oldies like Vulcan and Bajor but also fan favorites like Andoria and Qo'noS."

[Ratman_tf]

"We had a friendly relationship with them," Emmert said. "As it became apparent they weren't going to continue to function, they decided to sell off the license. We swooped in and grabbed it. We took no assets. There was nothing to be had, to be honest. We're building everything from the ground up."

"You're going to see the actual game working and functioning," said Emmert. "This isn't renders. This isn't concept art. Everything that people will see on Sunday is going to be taken right from 'Star Trek Online' as it stands today, so hardened people should know that a release date might be closer than they think."

So they didn't knick any assets from Perpetual... but have something to show after... 7 months maximum development time. That's some snappy work there.

[Soln]

I call bullshit.  It will be 5 classes, 5 races, 5 skill trees, whatever.   Everything will be tied down.   If anything there'll be a barber chair for horn styles etc.  But there will be no sand box at all.

[Venkman]

Crazy idea for all current and future MMOs based on a major IP (Trek, SW, whatever):  Make it an alternate reality.  Make it clear to your fanbois that none of the old canon necessarily applies.  Star Trek Bizarro world.  Star Wars Eternities.  Kirk is a virgin, and Luke turns to the Dark Side.  No expectations and no promises.

It doesn't. The only thing that piqued my interest in this latest iteration of the cursed IP was this line from yesterday's press release:

"Because the game will be set a few generations following the last "Trek" film"

Two things:

1) Boldly going to the future is something we've wanted from the IP since they, well, stopped at the Janeway/Picard/DS9 stage.
2) For even the uncreative, there's just so many possibilities with better everything (transporters, holodeck, etc).

All of this requires the project not be doomed in the same way all predecessors have. And the jury's out until late Alpha. But at the very least, they're starting right.

[TripleDES]

We now see where the development budget is going:

Leonard Nimoy to appear with Cryptic at Star Trek Convention

I thought he's done with Star Trek? Guess he needs money.

[Trippy]

We now see where the development budget is going:

Leonard Nimoy to appear with Cryptic at Star Trek Convention

I thought he's done with Star Trek? Guess he needs money.

He has some sort of cameo in the upcoming Star Trek movie so no he's not done with it yet.

[Signe]

He should release another album.   

[Ratman_tf]

As William Shatner learned, you may be done with Star Trek, but is Star Trek done with you?

[Ratman_tf]

It doesn't. The only thing that piqued my interest in this latest iteration of the cursed IP was this line from yesterday's press release:

"Because the game will be set a few generations following the last "Trek" film"

Two things:

1) Boldly going to the future is something we've wanted from the IP since they, well, stopped at the Janeway/Picard/DS9 stage.
2) For even the uncreative, there's just so many possibilities with better everything (transporters, holodeck, etc).

All of this requires the project not be doomed in the same way all predecessors have. And the jury's out until late Alpha. But at the very least, they're starting right.

This doesn't hearten me at all. Regardless of timeframe or setting, later day Star Trek was telling stories in circles. (With a few notable exceptions, mostly coming from DS9 and the later seasons of Ent, and Voyager being the dead fish of the franchise) Going boldly into the future with boring stories (and a boring setting for a MMOG)  is hardly something I'd look forward to.

[Ghambit]

Crazy idea for all current and future MMOs based on a major IP (Trek, SW, whatever):  Make it an alternate reality.  Make it clear to your fanbois that none of the old canon necessarily applies.  Star Trek Bizarro world.  Star Wars Eternities.  Kirk is a virgin, and Luke turns to the Dark Side.  No expectations and no promises.

It doesn't. The only thing that piqued my interest in this latest iteration of the cursed IP was this line from yesterday's press release:

"Because the game will be set a few generations following the last "Trek" film"

Two things:

1) Boldly going to the future is something we've wanted from the IP since they, well, stopped at the Janeway/Picard/DS9 stage.
2) For even the uncreative, there's just so many possibilities with better everything (transporters, holodeck, etc).

All of this requires the project not be doomed in the same way all predecessors have. And the jury's out until late Alpha. But at the very least, they're starting right.

You're right as it pertains to the TV series.  But the movies (and the impending movie) always hearkened to a future not portrayed on the TV shows.  You also forget the endless torrent of novels and short stories written by ST writers, both licensed and unlicensed.  There's oodles of literature that goes way beyond Voyager.  So Cryptic may think they're in the clear setting it a few generations in the future, but fact is they aint... they still have some homework to do.

[Tannhauser]

Just say it's an alternate timeline, Trek has those in spades.

[UnSub]

"We had a friendly relationship with them," Emmert said. "As it became apparent they weren't going to continue to function, they decided to sell off the license. We swooped in and grabbed it. We took no assets. There was nothing to be had, to be honest. We're building everything from the ground up."

"You're going to see the actual game working and functioning," said Emmert. "This isn't renders. This isn't concept art. Everything that people will see on Sunday is going to be taken right from 'Star Trek Online' as it stands today, so hardened people should know that a release date might be closer than they think."

So they didn't knick any assets from Perpetual... but have something to show after... 7 months maximum development time. That's some snappy work there.

Cryptic did take the artwork, given that the picture behind the counter was from Perpetual.

However, yeah, 7 months is a pretty short time.

[Oban]

Is it just me or does Zangarmarsh look weird in this screenshot?


ZangarTrek

[WindupAtheist]

If I recall from my days as an even bigger nerd, Paramount has no particular "canon policy" regarding the Trek novels.  They're not obligated to stick with an overall continuity, and in fact contradict one another in various places.  This was often compared with Star Wars, where they tried (with varying degrees of success) to keep all the books and comics and cartoons part of one self-consistent timeline.

STO trying to keep continuity with much of anything outside of the movies and TV would be a mistake.  For one, the continuity is bound to be muddled as all hell.  For another, fuck being bound by continuity.  See SWG.

[Venkman]

You also forget the endless torrent of novels and short stories written by ST writers, both licensed and unlicensed.

Feh, I've read most of that stuff. Some of it is pretty good. I particularly like the near future of Imzadi II and the far future as portrayed in the epilogue of Federation. However, Paramount is no more likely to force Cryptic to any novelized definition of a future than LA would for the SW stuff. Novels and graphic novels are a good way to present alternate future histories or provide detail to an established line. But major IP does not define themselves by what was written in mere one-off or trilogy series.

There's no telling what they'll follow though, not at this stage. I am curious to see how this lines up with the next movie though. Unless there's some tie-in?

And yea, as Tannhauser wrote, ST is nothing if it doesn't abuse temporal displacement as a lazy-man's plot device.

Regardless of timeframe or setting, later day Star Trek was telling stories in circles

Agreed. It's getting harder these days for me to even sit through even the better ones. But I'm not concerned by this because it's an MMO first. There will be no ongoing story arc. There'll be a bunch of quests in whichever environment gets released for launch* from a bunch of NPCs and no real PvP. Just the usual MMO stuff either with their insane adherance to grind-for-revenue from CoX, or them changing that tune, wrapped in somewhat familiar Trek theming. So there won't be much example of the clean episodic recursion that has been the series... outside of the quest text we're all going to skip anyway 

We're not talking Bioware here.

* I really doubt both ground and space will be there at launch, not when either is a compelling expansion.

[Aez]

Great trailer - Cryptic is a solid studio

[Ghambit]

Great trailer - Cryptic is a solid studio

I tell ya, I like the ideas lined out in the Vegas Webcast.
1)  You have a ship w/crew ala Starflight
2)  There are redshirts
3)  Space Combat is more slow and strategic, ala Bridge Commander (resource management is important as well)
4)  CREATE YOUR OWN RACE
5)  Design your own SHIP
6)  Infinite real-time exploration (that actually matters)
7)  Eve-like economy and guild advancement
8)  ST Novels are used in lore (no need to make up some crap from scratch)
9)  There's Klingon-style melee combat (batt'leth anyone?)
10)  JUST enough Sandbox to keep the trekkie grognards happy; maybe

I.. like it.  Can they pull it off?  Probably.  But will they hit each of these points with quality?  Doubtful.  It'd be a wonderful achievement if they did though.  I think their design is a good one though; maybe trying to do a little too much, but since they've got the art assets and engine in place already, they're in pretty good shape.

[ahoythematey]

As a Trek fan, I will remain very cautious about this game.  The franchise always has potential to be some of the best sci-fi out there, but there is just so much that can, and often does, go wrong.  I like what they are trying to do, but I liked what Shadowbane was trying to do, and Darkfall talks a big talk too.  The best thing cryptic has going for them in my eyes is that they seem to be capable at building solid game engines.

Like City of Heroes I'm sure they can capture the "essence" of trek, the style of it, but my real concern is can they make it fun?  It was a hoot being able to build heroes and villains in CoX, but playing them?  Not so much.

[UnSub]

In some thread I read here recently, the comment was made that "no-one likes to be a minion".

Apparently the STO forums are filled with people who don't want to be Captain either. The people who want a ship to function with a fully player controlled crew has obviously never played with a PUG in a MMO before.