Managing Editor Bill Murphy is finally going where lots of men (and women!) have gone before. He's taking the plunge into Star Trek Online to see for himself what the game is all about. As Bill says, "you either love it for what it is, or hate it for what it isn’t." Find out where Bill landed in his latest article for MMORPG.com. Let us know which side of the spectrum you land on in the comments.

I’ve never really put much time into Cryptic’s Star Trek Online. I dabbled here or there, but when the game launched it was Jon Wood who fell in love with the title, and I was busy writing other stuff on the site. Now, with the recent changes to ground combat, and the future move to F2P I decided that it might finally be a good time to take a look and see what all the fuss is about.

Read more of Bill Murphy's Star Trek Online: A Noob’s First Impressions.

Glad you found something you liked, Bill. I think you'll get ragged on for the comment on depth, but you are correct. There are tons of different ways to kit out your ship and crew and the upcoming Duty Officer system should add a whole new level of possiblities, not to mention some micro-managing for those who are so inclined.

The overwhelming word of mouth about how shallow and incomplete this game is was enough to keep me from trying it.  Not only that, but Cryptic doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for putting out polished AAA titles.

I think developers need to put in that extra time before releasing a game so that the launch isn't a huge anger ridden complain-fest.  Once that bad launch happens they will never dig themselves out of the hole that they ended up in.

It's shaped up some since launch and isn't the "horri-bad" title some painted it as in the begining now. It can be a lot of fun but the real problem crops up end game where the base expectation seems to be for you to roll an alt.  It's good for a couple of months but then you'll be looking once more... Still has some of the same bugs in place that existed at the start, lol. But I don't regret my small entry fee for the fun had as a subscriber. IDK about the cash shop direction though. Its a bit worrisome for me while observing what they do.

Originally posted by Raventree

The overwhelming word of mouth about how shallow and incomplete this game is was enough to keep me from trying it.  Not only that, but Cryptic doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation for putting out polished AAA titles.

I think developers need to put in that extra time before releasing a game so that the launch isn't a huge anger ridden complain-fest.  Once that bad launch happens they will never dig themselves out of the hole that they ended up in.

 

I dis-agree about never digging yourself out. Anarchy online had a epically bad launch, and did manage (after a few years) to redeem themselves. But definitely yes, these deveolpers need to stop being slaves of the money-men (who are always the ones responsible for the dsaster launches), and do it right from the get-go! From things I'm reading I think these people may be close to redeeming this game, cautiously hopeful here. Will wait for the ftp launch see if they're on the way finally...

It seems that about 86% of the people who rag on this game haven't played it since launch. It's far improved from what it was.

I think that my biggest problems with the game were not the system or any small bugs. It was the direction of the theme that got me. Its not even as good an exploration game as say EVE or the now defunct Earth & Beyond. Space does not awe me in STO and frankly for a game that takes place in space, that is very disappointing. The same can be said for the Borg, while a bit overused in the TNG-verse they should still retain some measure fear and loathing, but they don't. Borg drones are mobs now, which was very disappointing.

The issue that ultimately drove me from the game and showed me that Cryptic did not understand the scope of their IP however, was the way Federation characters loot. Yes, I understand the dynamics of traditional MMO's but the point of an IP like Star Trek is to be able to take things in a different direction and have the IP carry along those who might be a bit skeptical until they see great gameplay. Instead, I was 'greyhawking' (pen n paper RPG term we used in the RPGA) bodies and bins, which the Federation cast members only ever did in desperation, not as a matter of course.

A Klingon storyline about honor and treachery and proving yourself as a warrior: sure Klingons and their allies / oppressed slaves should loot. Its part of their schtick. Members of the Federation are at their best when violence is the last resort and the Federation storylines and quests should reflect that, and they don't.

It was poor planning and a poor understanding of what they had that has made STO a lackluster title.

The game has definitely got better with a ton of added content.  Anyone who has any interest in a Star Trek game based on conflict should give this a try when it goes free, after all what do you have to lose but a little time! :)

cant really agree that the ground combat is like Mass Effect 2 , which had smooth and very satisfying combat. combat in STO even after over haul is still clunky and laggy , space combat though is good

The game has improved and a lot of things have been changed/added for the better.   When first starting the game, it is very interesting to learn the lore and the customization is nice and some of the episodes are frick'in awesome but then things start to change...  You wait in PVP queues for 30 minutes or more, you cant find anyone to do STF's unless you are in a bigger/active fleet and you run out of content so you run your favorite episode again and again and again. 

The Featured Episodes (FE's) were awesome but there were only 4 or 5 of them and nothing new like that for a long long time.  I think Cryptic has moved in different directions and has an issue deciding which way to go.  If they had stayed with the FE approach, people would have come back every now and then to try them, they were very well done and a lot of fun.  What about Klingon?  They got a little love but then nothing and now the move to F2P. 

If Cryptic could just stay the course, release a new FE every two months and get the klingons up to par closer to the fed side, there would be no need to go F2P.  After the Klingons content, they could add the Romulans and then the game would be where it should have been at launch and be much closer to an actual AAA title.

I have been playing the game for almost 2 months, love the space fight, specially if you get together with a group of fleetmates. Ground combat still have some bugs to be worked out. But the graphics are bneautiful. Again this is not a game where you go like WoW 1,1,1,1,2,2,2,1,1,1,1 the ones who have played WoW know what I am talking about, before you start a ground combat you must use the members of your crew, create a protective shield, medical shield, enhance your characters, buff them etc. Tle earning curve is steep but quick to manager to allow you to get to Rear Admiral pretty easy (around level 50). The game is going F2P and the F2P version is in its beta stage and has a lot of new changes that make this game worth trying. At least until GW2 comes out :)

Originally posted by Renko

I can't help thinking this was an incredible bad time to do a first impression article with the F2P conversion already on the test servers, /Picard facepalm.

Exactly what I was thinking when I saw the article on the main page. LOL.

Between this and DCOU, there is a puff piece praising them every other day.

MMORPG, Cryptic, just get a room already!

Why didnt you wait for the F2P launch and all the updates that will be a part of that? I cant help but remember how the last re-review was done just before Season 4. What is the logic in doing articles on games right before they get a big update?

Originally posted by Grand_Nagus

Why didnt you wait for the F2P launch and all the updates that will be a part of that? I cant help but remember how the last re-review was done just before Season 4. What is the logic in doing articles on games right before they get a big update?

LOL!  Excellent point Nagus!

I take reviews here with a grain of salt, since they have a knack for doing them with horrendous timing.  They seem to wait for major updates (in more than one title) and release a re-review before anything has been patched or changed.  I don't really get the logic behind their review's timing.  Why wouldn't you just wait to review the F2P launch?  They did the same thing with Season 4, as well as a few other titles that escape me at this point.  Having opinion posts or nothing at all seems to serve better where there is nothing new in the games, and for the love of god... do reviews AFTER big patch or re-release events, not a week or two before.

On another note, word of mouth seems to indicate the game is growing and getting better.  I'll give it another shot when F2P rolls out.

i play STO off and on i still like it