On Sunday, Cryptic Studios Chief Creative Officer Jack Emmert officially unveiled Star Trek Online to a Trek convention in Vegas. Fortunately for those of us not in attendance, the event was available for viewing online. During the presentation, Emmert revealed some details about the highly anticipated upcoming MMORPG.

On Sunday, Cryptic Studios made their very first public presentation concerning the recently announced Star Trek Online. The presentation was made in Las Vegas appropriately, at a Star Trek convention. This was smart for a number of reasons including the fact that in a crowded MMORPG market, the core fans of the IP are an important demographic for the upcoming game. Then, or course, there’s the fact that at a Star Trek convention, you can have your game introduced by Leonard Nimoy, the original Mr. Spock.

Before continuing, I should make it clear that the full presentation has been made available via www.startrekonline.com if you’re interested in watching the whole 43 minute long presentation. For those of you who aren’t, I’m going to try to cover the most important bits:

Check it out here.

i m not a great space combat fan and i ve thought that the trek franchise has been past its best for over a decade but some of this sounds like its heading in the right direction at least . it also does nt sound like its overly aimed at the hard core fans ( it might upset a few of them but who cares after all treks demise were due to its becoming so stagnent ) .

The direction choosen for this game doesn't really excite me.  I would of liked more cooperation within a ships crew and for the game to of really stressed social/guild/ship management. the Star Trek IP could of been a very strong genre for a guild centered realm vs realm game. I think Cryptic really missed the potential with the direction they have choosen. Trying to over cater to the casual players (notice how I said OVER cater and not cater), which has always been a problem with Emmerts game philosophy.

I strongly dissagree.

My fears have now been confirmed!

This whole game is becoming almost totally solo geared!

- You cannot form a crew with other players.

- You are not going on away missions with other players.

Basically. Cryptic is going awfully wrong in this.

I am not against NPC crew. But they should do it differently.

I.e. Crew should be PC, but when difficulties getting player crew together, you can complement your crew with NPC's. Basically how Guildwars has done it.

This way guilds would become a lot more fun. Plus away missions will be more fun too as you can do it with fellow players.

As why they think EVERYONE wants to be Captain of their own ship only?

Ofcourse I like that too, but there are days that I wouldn't mind to be an officer at the helm or combat tactician or engineer or whatever else on a ship.

MMORPG's are about cameradie, coorperation and teamplay.

Sure fleet battle is tactical and teamplay as well. But it shouldn't be the only aspect you be able to play together.

Having only NPC crews on your ship becomes boring real fast as it's just not like the real thing aka Real player teammates!

Shame! Real shame!

This sounds like the same shit as Perpetual. Once again, the Star Trek IP has been screwed.

Face it, there will never be a good Star Trek game.

Ever!

I personally on the other hand think it sounds awesome.  I will be keeping my eye on this game, I love everything he talked about. 

Originally posted by Guillermo197

I strongly dissagree.

My fears have now been confirmed!

This whole game is becoming almost totally solo geared!

- You cannot form a crew with other players.

- You are not going on away missions with other players.

Basically. Cryptic is going awfully wrong in this.

I am not against NPC crew. But they should do it differently.

I.e. Crew should be PC, but when difficulties getting player crew together, you can complement your crew with NPC's. Basically how Guildwars has done it.

This way guilds would become a lot more fun. Plus away missions will be more fun too as you can do it with fellow players.

As why they think EVERYONE wants to be Captain of their own ship only?

Ofcourse I like that too, but there are days that I wouldn't mind to be an officer at the helm or combat tactician or engineer or whatever else on a ship.

MMORPG's are about cameradie, coorperation and teamplay.

Sure fleet battle is tactical and teamplay as well. But it shouldn't be the only aspect you be able to play together.

Having only NPC crews on your ship becomes boring real fast as it's just not like the real thing aka Real player teammates!

Shame! Real shame!

Too bad if you watched the Webcast Jack said "You can even have you and your friends, all as captains of your own ships, beam down for ground missions."

Also he said "Your freinds can go onto your ship with you, as a social aspect of the game, just not as gameplay."

So yes you cant have player crews but the game is going to have groups and be social.

-Jive

I think Cryptic is making this game perfectly.  I don't want to have to depend on other people to man my ship, you wanna know why? Becuase nothing will get done right or the way I want it.  I prefer being in control of my own crew I don't want to have to depend on some sucky gamer to man the shields, or fire the weapons.

I love all the details that Jack has stated about the game and believe they will make it perfectly.  I will be watching and praying I get  a beta invite when the time comes.  Keep up the great work Cryptic.

This sounds like an interesting single-player game.  MMORPG?  Not so much.

I suspect purists (and who has more than Star Trek?) will balk at customizable ships though, or the idea that you can build your own bases between you and your "fleet".  I can see that working for Klingons who may be more factionalized, but not for the Federation...unless things are really different at that time period and the "Federation" is more mercenary.

You people going on about your player crews are just nuts.  Sure, it sounds cool in theory.  But in reality it would bore everyone to tears.  There will be more than enough teamplay through ship grouping and fleets, so those thinking this is just a solo game are off their rocker as well.  Think for a change people.  Player crews would be BORING to the average player.  You know it just as well as I do.

As usual, lots of negative comments because people fail to read and think.

Can any of you naysayers even imagine the mess you would have if everyone is a crew member instead of their own captain?   First place, you spend spend forever crewing your ship.  Nothing worse having a party sit around waiting for one or two slots to fill because they need a certain class.   This game will probably have a bunch of needed classes too, some less desirable than others, good luck finding a crew member to fill that particular slot.  Then you better hope you have a decent captain and hope that everyone follows orders.  In a MMO, not going to happen.  Sorry if you want to go play EQ, then go play it.  The vast majority of us don't want to be forever sitting around waiting for others to play.

Cryptic has done the only thing they could do, make the crew attached to you as NPC's.  That is the ONLY way to make a game like this.

At least you can walk around the ship, something Perpetual was refusing to do.

I think Cryptic is on the right track.

I hope Daron Stinnett is reading all this and realizing how wrong he was with his design.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

As usual, lots of negative comments because people fail to read and think.

Can any of you naysayers even imagine the mess you would have if everyone is a crew member instead of their own captain?   First place, you spend spend forever crewing your ship.  Nothing worse having a party sit around waiting for one or two slots to fill because they need a certain class.   This game will probably have a bunch of needed classes too, some less desirable than others, good luck finding a crew member to fill that particular slot.  Then you better hope you have a decent captain and hope that everyone follows orders.  In a MMO, not going to happen.  Sorry if you want to go play EQ, then go play it.  The vast majority of us don't want to be forever sitting around waiting for others to play.

Cryptic has done the only thing they could do, make the crew attached to you as NPC's.  That is the ONLY way to make a game like this.

At least you can walk around the ship, something Perpetual was refusing to do.

I think Cryptic is on the right track.

I hope Daron Stinnett is reading all this and realizing how wrong he was with his design.

There are other/better ways to deal with the issues you present. Having NPC red shirts isn't a bad thing but they should be used as fillers, not the whole team. 

It's not because I fail to read or think, it is because I am able to think beyond what is just presented me that I see the wasted potential.
 

What makes Star Trek engaging hasn't been the awesome effects, or ships it is in the charcters stories and progressions. It's the exploration of humanity and the embodiment through the characters stories that makes Star Trek Iconic. Reducing that to a bunch of boys with their toy ships totally fails to represent the communinal dynamic which made Star Trek popular.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

As usual, lots of negative comments because people fail to read and think.

Can any of you naysayers even imagine the mess you would have if everyone is a crew member instead of their own captain?   First place, you spend spend forever crewing your ship.  Nothing worse having a party sit around waiting for one or two slots to fill because they need a certain class.   This game will probably have a bunch of needed classes too, some less desirable than others, good luck finding a crew member to fill that particular slot.  Then you better hope you have a decent captain and hope that everyone follows orders.  In a MMO, not going to happen.  Sorry if you want to go play EQ, then go play it.  The vast majority of us don't want to be forever sitting around waiting for others to play.

Cryptic has done the only thing they could do, make the crew attached to you as NPC's.  That is the ONLY way to make a game like this.

At least you can walk around the ship, something Perpetual was refusing to do.

I think Cryptic is on the right track.

I hope Daron Stinnett is reading all this and realizing how wrong he was with his design.

  I have to agree, having PC crews sounds cool and all, but when i think about it i would just like to be in 100% control of MY ship. And be able to LVL/upgrade the crew where i see fit, rather than relying on others to carry out the tasks that i want. NPC crews/pets sounds to me the best way to start having fun right off the bat IMO..

One minor correction for you -

Starship interiors were confirmed during the Q&A that followed the formal presentation. Players will be able to invite other players onto their ships - holodecks were mentioned, though Jack didn't go into if or how the holodecks actually function.

We do not yet know if boarding actions will be a part of the PvP experience, but this certainly opens the door for it, as well as opportunities for roleplayers and social players.

My ideal Star Trek MMORPG would allow me to be a security officer, or engineer on a starship filled with 100s of other players all assigned to one task or another. To do well I'd have to actually study and learn how to control the ship and monitor its systems, and when I logged off another player would take my shift. Unfortunately this kind of game will not exist for a long time. Right now, the direction STO seems to be going in, is the best I could ask for. I have my doubts about a couple of their choices so far, but I also have confidence that nothing is set in stone yet. I love a highly customizable character creation process as much as anyone, but I honestly didn't see how they could implement one for a Star Trek game. Sure all the faces could be somewhat unique, but beyond that, I see a lot of limitations on both the clothes(uniforms) and even the hair. I had never thought of a species customization option, but it seems almost perfect. Not only will it give a player the chance to truely be an individual, but it also allows the players to really flesh out the Universe they will be playing in.

  I am also very happy to hear that a single massive server is the goal for the dev team. If the game was released this year, despite the dev's assurance that the technology exists, I am quite sure the game would contain many servers like most or all the other MMORPGs out there. Luckily STO won't be released for a good 4-5 years which means that a single server will be much more likely. Recently I have become aware of how important population is in an MMORPG, and I feel that having absolutely everyone playing together will truely make this a "Next-Gen" MMORPG.

I am also very satisfied with the fact that PvP will not be an after-thought or only be found in simulator Duels like PE was suggesting. After many years of playing MMORPGs I have also recently come to the realization that PvP isn't everything, but that it absolutely makes the game better for both those who enjoy it as well as those who don't like to participate in it.

The lack of a level system, as well as their approach to the way we play the game is a big step forward in my book. I strongly feel that MMO Devs need to finally move forward in this department. Since UO was my first MMO and really also my first RPG I saw the Level-System as archaic and limiting. Who said the only two choices were between twitch and click anyway? Cryptic seems to be moving toward more of a RTS/MMORPG Hybrid. Avatar combat seems to be more FPS(which is the way it should be), ship combat seems more "Point and Click"(which is the way it should be, for Star Trek anyway) and both of these are heavily influenced by an RTS-like strategy mechanic involving your NPC Crew. This seems very ideal to me, and I am very interested in seeing how it shapes up. The fact that your character is almost a Jack of All Trades with a few chosen specialties seems both very real and very true to Star Trek.

Lastly I am very happy with the way he described the NPC Crew. I had an idea very much like this a few years back when thinking about a possible Firefly MMORPG: (www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm). The key to my idea was to have the NPC crew be made up of your own character alts(when logged off them), but with much better AI and the ability to improve your crew members individually I am still quite happy to see Cryptic go this direction. Oh, and up until a few months ago I was always very angry when I heard a player say or write that he was a casual gamer, and that he wanted a game he could pick up and play for a only a few hours a day or a week. I used to get upset that people like this were trying to turn games that I was interested in already, into games they would be interested in. I used to believe MMORPGs were so much fun because of all the effort and time needed. Now, however, I realize that the games I enjoy most(FPS Games) can be picked up and played fairly well immediately, but that there is always room for improvement for those who get in the practice. MMORPGs are not like this, and truely the only way to dominate in them, or even have fun, is to put a lot of time into them. Now I am the mid-20s+ guy getting the crap kicked out of him by the 15 year olds who play 6-8 hours daily. Now I get it.

Now for the bad. The only question I really wanted answered from the presentation was whether or not we would be able to board other players' ships. Luckily the dev answered this as part of the very last question he was asked. Unfortunately, his answer was not exactly what I wanted to hear. I never assumed an all-player crew would be in the cards for STO, but I had always hoped that the option would be available for at least a few Co-op ships. At the very least, I wanted having more than 1 player on a ship to make some sort of difference. Whether that included combat, or engineering, or even FPS benefits during enemy invasions aboard your ship. The dev implied that the only reason to have someone aboard is social. I am happy this will be an option, but I think that leaving out the ability for two players to work together on even PVE goals is very poor judgement. But again, I think the long development period will turn this around, and that by the time the game is released there will be some option for more cooperative play.

The other feature I didn't quite care for was the fact that there are only 2 faction choices: Either Federation or Klingon. I think these choices are poor by themselves, and that there should at least be a 3rd more Independent choice. Maybe a faction a little more neutral, and a little less restrictive (kind of like the Maqui). I think that adding a third more independent faction really turns the whole negative around. In fact, I think that the Federation vs Klingon Empire is an excellent background for the game. I just feel like it would be a negative if there were only the 2.

So far everything looks really good. However, with 3 to 4 more years to go, I really hate to get too involved with the game. I might just check in every 6 months or so.

I'm really excited with this announcement, finally Star Trek is going to be done right!  Having factions was a necessity in my opinion and I agree with those that having bridge crews made up of other players would never have worked.

Originally posted by buegur

I'm really excited with this announcement, finally Star Trek is going to be done right!  Having factions was a necessity in my opinion and I agree with those that having bridge crews made up of other players would never have worked.

Yup, Emmert snowed many into believing that an open power system wouldn't work in COH either, and then he includes it into Champions. Not because of any change in technology, but because his veiw changed and the absence of as narrow of a time line.

Originally posted by Guillermo197

I strongly dissagree.

My fears have now been confirmed!

This whole game is becoming almost totally solo geared!

- You cannot form a crew with other players.

- You are not going on away missions with other players.

Basically. Cryptic is going awfully wrong in this.

I am not against NPC crew. But they should do it differently.

I.e. Crew should be PC, but when difficulties getting player crew together, you can complement your crew with NPC's. Basically how Guildwars has done it.

This way guilds would become a lot more fun. Plus away missions will be more fun too as you can do it with fellow players.

As why they think EVERYONE wants to be Captain of their own ship only?

Ofcourse I like that too, but there are days that I wouldn't mind to be an officer at the helm or combat tactician or engineer or whatever else on a ship.

MMORPG's are about cameradie, coorperation and teamplay.

Sure fleet battle is tactical and teamplay as well. But it shouldn't be the only aspect you be able to play together.

Having only NPC crews on your ship becomes boring real fast as it's just not like the real thing aka Real player teammates!

Shame! Real shame!

Actiually, you can go on away missions with other players. Emmert mentions it in the :43 minute video that's up. I'm not sure where it is in the video (and I'm not going to go watch it again to find it), but I know he says it.

Either way, what he describes overall is not what I wanted to hear, lol. No, I'm not a card carrying member of the "PC crew" craze, in fact I hate that idea personally. I could see how people in large guilds or that have a greater tolerance for stupidity might like it, but I've played a few MMOs in my time and interacted with alot of people. Some were good, but the majority not so much. I don't want to be in a large guild and would rather not have to depend on 6 random players (group size in most games) much less more than that number to run a ship.

No, I wanted to see a little more lattitude other than "you begin the game a ship captain of Ensign rank (or the Klingon equivalent) and you (summarizing here, this wasn't said verbatim) grind combat and explore missions to "rank up" (we just called it promotions when I was in the army) to get bigger ships, grind more and OBTW you can pimp your ride.

I can just see some of the [sarcasm] "creative" [/sarcasm] names that will be given ships too. Anyway, I hope they attract their target audience with the direction they plan to go. I just got a feeling that this one is gonna turn out worse that SWG (NGE) from a PR standpoint. Star Wars fans are tough, but they don't hold a candle to Star Trek Fans.

It seems people are just too solo and egocentric minded these days then the people were back in the old days of UO and EQ1 when people liked to team up and accomplish goals together through teamwork.

I never said ships should be ONLY PC crew! People always fail to read, just read one line and hit the quote button and start their rant! Sad!

I said, that NPC's should be a filler to complete a crew if not enough players are available to fill up the needed slots of the crew of a ship.

That would be a LOT better solution that will apeal both the solo minded player as the social group-oriented player.

- Solo players can fill their crew with NPC's.

- Group minded players can fill their crew with other players / friends.

So like I said. There are more ways that lead to Rome. Not just one!

Because if you think that EVERYONE wants to be a captain of their own ship? Then you are SO SO WRONG!

It's same like saying that in a standard MMORPG EVERYONE wants to be the Main Tank.

There are a lot of (the more social) players that like to be a support class and operate more on the background (like the healers or ranged classes in standard MMO's).

Those type of players would love to be on the Helm or being the Engineer or being the Tactical Officer or the Science Officer for that manner on a ship and have not even the slightest interest in the responsability that comes with being a Captain.

But then again. Maybe it's just me and me imagining those players no longer exist and fooling myself as every MMO to date is filled with Main Tanks only running around solo'ing RAID bosses.

Have a nice day.

Why can't Cryptic allow players to be part of the bridge crew OPTIONALLY? That would hurt no one and satisfy everyone.

Originally posted by bverji

Originally posted by Ozmodan

As usual, lots of negative comments because people fail to read and think.

Can any of you naysayers even imagine the mess you would have if everyone is a crew member instead of their own captain?   First place, you spend spend forever crewing your ship.  Nothing worse having a party sit around waiting for one or two slots to fill because they need a certain class.   This game will probably have a bunch of needed classes too, some less desirable than others, good luck finding a crew member to fill that particular slot.  Then you better hope you have a decent captain and hope that everyone follows orders.  In a MMO, not going to happen.  Sorry if you want to go play EQ, then go play it.  The vast majority of us don't want to be forever sitting around waiting for others to play.

Cryptic has done the only thing they could do, make the crew attached to you as NPC's.  That is the ONLY way to make a game like this.

At least you can walk around the ship, something Perpetual was refusing to do.

I think Cryptic is on the right track.

I hope Daron Stinnett is reading all this and realizing how wrong he was with his design.

There are other/better ways to deal with the issues you present. Having NPC red shirts isn't a bad thing but they should be used as fillers, not the whole team. 

It's not because I fail to read or think, it is because I am able to think beyond what is just presented me that I see the wasted potential.
 

What makes Star Trek engaging hasn't been the awesome effects, or ships it is in the charcters stories and progressions. It's the exploration of humanity and the embodiment through the characters stories that makes Star Trek Iconic. Reducing that to a bunch of boys with their toy ships totally fails to represent the communinal dynamic which made Star Trek popular.

"Other ways in dealing with the problems"  Oh, and what might those be?   If the play was just on planets it could be done, but since ships are such a big part of this, it creates too many problems to make a team up.  How about you get your ship started on a mission after finally filling all the needed skill slots and all of a sudden you someone in an important position has to leave.  Explain how you fill that position when you are out in space?  Bzzt.  I could spend all day listing countless problems with doing a team approach on a ship.  I am sure Cryptic did the same. 

While some players would actually put up with all the problems of such a system, developers would find that they are catering too a very small niche audience.  MMO's are expensive games to develop and aiming for such a small audience is like setting out to swim the English channel with lead weights attached to your feet.

So, when you get down to it, what you propose is a situation any developer is going to go to all lengths to avoid.  Hence, my original comment about sitting down and actually thinking about it, it is pretty obvious to anyone that a game with space ships will just not be designed like that.

Maybe someday, when highly advanced and productive tools allow quick coding of a MMO, something like you want will be possible, but not in this day and age. 

Originally posted by katriell

Why can't Cryptic allow players to be part of the bridge crew OPTIONALLY? That would hurt no one and satisfy everyone.

Well, the one thing i can say about Cryptic is, that if enough people bitch about it long enough, they will more than likely put it in, if they can. They have a pretty good track record for that.  

A crew based ship would be interesting, however I can't see a way to make it fun for a long period of time. Even though it wouldn't be hard to implement a team feature (NPCs taking over as people leave and join) I can't really see a way to make for example shield terminals fun for a long period of time. Obviously you could create an advanced mini game or similar, but it would only keep the player occupied for a few hours before he would be bored. Who pays 15 dollars a month to play a mini game? It's a great concept for sure, but I doubt it would be possible to implement.

Originally posted by Dreamstrider

A crew based ship would be interesting, however I can't see a way to make it fun for a long period of time. Even though it wouldn't be hard to implement a team feature (NPCs taking over as people leave and join) I can't really see a way to make for example shield terminals fun for a long period of time. Obviously you could create an advanced mini game or similar, but it would only keep the player occupied for a few hours before he would be bored. Who pays 15 dollars a month to play a mini game? It's a great concept for sure, but I doubt it would be possible to implement.

You underestimate the different crew tasks. If you watched the series and movies you wouldn't have posted this!

The Security Officer that controls the tactical station controls weapons AND shields, so on a mission or in a fleet battle this station is highly critical and can actually be very interesting and fun.

As you put it, its the same saying like who in earth wants to be a priest in a MMO. It's hitting spam heal buttons all the time. Must be getting boring really fast. Reality is that people actually like it and find ways in making it interesting to play that character.

And if this game is Skill based and not level-class based, then people can switch and train to another profession/class easily.

So I really don't see a problem in this. That's why Star Wars Galaxies was one of the best MMO's ever before it got destroyed with the NGE update.

Cheers

No, you are correct in that I have not watched much of the series. I think I have watched three or four episodes in my short lifetime. I meant no offense by saying it would be boring. But think for a second however: Maybe the tactical position would be fun, but what about the others? As I said, it might be doable, but it would probably be extreemely hard to implement.

On the other hand I could imagine it being quite cool to have a ship you could controll with maybe one or two friends, but entire guilds would be quite hard. Again, not impossible, but very hard :)