This is the best thing that could have happened to Star Trek Online. Perpetual were a bunch of talentless, lazy hacks. They couldn't even finish their own game, and they were set on destroying what could have essentially become the de facto continuation of the Star Trek universe.

Cryptic says that they are simply hiring Perpetual's staff, that makes sense. I think it's too early to assume that they will be developing STO.

Where ever it goes, STO will be in far, far better hands now. Lets hope that the new company is willing to make this game to it's full potential, the way it should be.

It's a relief we won't see that half-assed piece of crap Perpetual was making.

Originally posted by Hardas

Perpetual is nowhere even close in legue of Bioware and Blizzard..... Its like comparing Yugo to Porche or Mercedes

More like comparing Leonard da Vinci to some 5 year old who hangs his art on his mom's refrigerator.

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Originally posted by Enigma

i think the artwork should reflect the image of star trek itself.
Star Trek was designed as a serious set of television shows that showed the viewer a sense of realism in a world of military order.
Everything was clean...while not looking sterile like some of the Flash Gordon episodes or cheesy like the "Attack of the Three-Headed Martian Man," Star Trek to the most absurdly sci-fi technology and made it very realistic by discussing the principles of why it works and the people who invented it.
With that said, the pictures should reflect the same way. I'm sorry, but when I look at STO screenshots I can't help but to think of World Of Warcraft runs into Captain Picard and they decided to have children. I think we should have bright colors and such but I think they need to be incorporated into the "old" style PE was looking for.
Old:

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When I saw these concept renders I was very excited about STO. These renders look very cool! They're realistic and immersive, I would totally feel like I was in Starfleet with graphics like this or better. I thought STO would be an awesome game

Then we were given this:

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New:






They should have stuck to the conceptual screenshots and went from that. But then, who really cares. In about 8 months the company will be out of business because of their lawsuit.

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Wow... PE took Star Trek, ripped out its heart, shoved it down its throat, put it through a meat grinder, ate it, then barfed it out onto this screen shot.

STO will suck.

Originally posted by Vrazule

 

Originally posted by Xondar123

 

Originally posted by Vrazule

Methinks people keep throwing around KOTOR in the hopes that it will somehow force Bioware to comply.  Personally, I doubt their first MMO will be sci-fi based as it's a genre that has yet to ever make any real money.  Whatever they make, it will most likely be fantasy based.

That statement is not true at all.

 

 

First of all, go to the game list on this site and compare genres. There is a glut of fantasy type MMOs and maybe 4 or 5 space/sci-fi MMOs. The market for fantasy MMOs is overburdened, there isn't much more room for any expansion into the fantasy MMO market, especially with such a huge game as World of Warcraft.

 

Second, there hasn't been much opportunity for a heavy hitter space/sci-fi MMO to attract customers. As I said in my last point: there are very few sci-fi MMOs out there, a dozen compared to the hundreds of fantasy MMOs. We haven't yet seen what could be called the big name sci-fi MMO.

 

Third, relating to my second point, there hasn't been a big name sci-fi MMO yet. As soon as some company come out with the sci-fi equivalent of World of Warcraft then we'll see a glut of new sci-fi MMO on the market.

 

Who's to say Bioware isn't developing a sci-fi MMO? If they did, it certainly has the potential to be as big as WoW currently is. We will also probably one day see a "Worlds of Starcraft" from Blizzard, and there are many more sci-fi IPs that are being made into MMOs, or very well could be made into MMOs. Stargate Worlds is an example of the former, and a Babylon 5 MMO is an example of the latter.

 

Whatever the sci-fi WoW MMO will be, Star Trek Online is not it.

 

I don't find any more truth in your statements than you found in mine, guess that makes us even.

So you deny the glut of fantasy MMOs and the lack of sci-fi MMOs? Interesting...

Originally posted by Stellos

Bioware has already stated in a round about way that they will not be producing a SW based MMO.  STO is still to immature to make any valuable speculation, I'd take a back seat for now if I was you and just wait and see how things go with development.  But Bioware is not making a SW MMO and even if they did it is impossible to have something that is not even in the earliest stages of development to be released in 1 year.

A "wait-and-see" attitude won't really work for a project that was doomed from the beginning.

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Originally posted by Fitzle

 

You folks are using pictures of 20th century tourist ships. These ships are so far removed from the long voyage working vessels of 300 years ago that it's not even funny. Of course these ships are going to be pretty and painted. That's so the tourists from Iowa can take nice pictures on their cell phones. You'd at least be more in the ballpark if you took pictures of modern iron freighters, tankers, and barges. Ships thet are heavily worked 365 days a year, rather than pleasure tourist ships that are brought out of port by their millionaire owners once a summer at the annual boat show.

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It would be more akin to modern naval vessels. Have you seen pictures of modern naval vessels? They are also pristine as well. Just because you see some ugly old Exxon oil tanker on the news doesn't make it the norm. Vessels in that condition are usually poorly maintained and fly flags of convenience. They aren't a source of pride for their crew and their commanders don't gain anything by keeping the ship clean. They aren't the ship's master, some huge multi-national corporation that cares more about profit than anything else owns those ships.

The Exxon Valdez was repaired, renamed, and put back to work after her infamous oil spill. No one noticed or even cared. In 1720, when the game takes place, no self respecting crew would ever sail in a ship with such a horrible reputation. It would be bad fortune.

Stop thinking like a modern person living in a world of mass production and factories. These ships took years to construct and they were built by shipwrites out of living wood. Also consider what happens to a wooden vessel when you neglect her: the wood rots! You HAVE to keep the deck scrubbed and the hull painted or your ship will rot from under you. Also consider that these are ships built for fighting. You HAVE to repair and fix your ship up after every battle.

The Pacific Swift (the ship who's image I posted earlier) had to have her deck planks completely replaced every year. Her deck would be rotting and moss would be growing on it after she was pulled out of mothballs for the winter.

P.S. The Pacific Swift isn't a tourist vessel. She's a training ship meant to train young people how to sail. She's out on the water all summer as they take her from Victoria Canada to Europe, the Carribean and Hawaii every summer on voyages that last longer than 8 weeks.

Originally posted by Vrazule

Methinks people keep throwing around KOTOR in the hopes that it will somehow force Bioware to comply.  Personally, I doubt their first MMO will be sci-fi based as it's a genre that has yet to ever make any real money.  Whatever they make, it will most likely be fantasy based.

First of all, go to the game list on this site and compare genres. There is a glut of fantasy type MMOs and maybe 4 or 5 space/sci-fi MMOs. The market for fantasy MMOs is overburdened, there isn't much more room for any expansion into the fantasy MMO market, especially with such a huge game as World of Warcraft.

Second, there hasn't been much opportunity for a heavy hitter space/sci-fi MMO to attract customers. As I said in my last point: there are very few sci-fi MMOs out there, a dozen compared to the hundreds of fantasy MMOs. We haven't yet seen what could be called the big name sci-fi MMO.

Third, relating to my second point, there hasn't been a big name sci-fi MMO yet. As soon as some company come out with the sci-fi equivalent of World of Warcraft then we'll see a glut of new sci-fi MMO on the market.

Who's to say Bioware isn't developing a sci-fi MMO? If they did, it certainly has the potential to be as big as WoW currently is. We will also probably one day see a "Worlds of Starcraft" from Blizzard, and there are many more sci-fi IPs that are being made into MMOs, or very well could be made into MMOs. Stargate Worlds is an example of the former, and a Babylon 5 MMO is an example of the latter.

Whatever the sci-fi WoW MMO will be, Star Trek Online is not it.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Pristine huh? Rofl. You've obviously never been on a wooden sailing vessel. They don't look that good fresh out of drydock. Certainly not after two weeks at sea.  It was a style choice nothing more. No realism justification required.

This is the ship I sailed aboard:

Notice how white her hull is compared to the sails? (She was green and yellow when I sailed in her.) This is the exact same way the ships look in PotBS. Pristine hull, dirty sails.

YOU have obviously never sailed aboard a sailing ship before.

(By the way, her name is Pacific Swift and she's a wonderful ship.)

Originally posted by dragon733

 

Originally posted by Coward92

Indications are BioWare will produce a Star Wars MMO replacing SWG by 2009 is a HORRIBLE SIGN for STO. Just the indications of a new Star Wars MMO has created more buzz than STO is now.

There is hardly any indication at all that BioWare is producing a Star Wars MMO...

"October 30, 2007 — LucasArts and BioWare Corp. today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product." <- Since when does that mean they're making an MMO? For all we know, it's just another RPG.

And regardless of whether or not another Star Wars MMO will be released in the same time frame, it is fairly apparent that STO seems to be becoming nothing more than vaporware anyway.

At this point, it seems that PE is not capable of creating a decent MMO worthy of competing on the market.

If you think about it, does it really matter? No matter what MMO Bioware is making, it will be in competition with every other MMO on the market, STO included. They could make a Jade Empire MMO and it would compete for subscription numbers with STO as much as with WoW.

Bioware is know for making excellent game, good graphics, innovative mechanics, excellent story lines. Their MMO is pretty much a sure win in my book. Just as Blizzard spawned the behemoth that is WoW, Bioware will spawn their own market gobbling monster. That is, of course, assuming EA doesn't screw with the company.

Is STO going to be a major player in the MMO market? Will they be able to accomplish what WoW has done and compete in an ever more crowded market? No chance. Even their attempt at ripping WoW off is looking cold and hollow. The more I see on this game, the worse it looks. I'm downgrading it from "going to be another Star Wars Galaxies" to "disaster of epic proportions that will gain it's own place in history."

I don't know if even hard core Trekkies/Trekkers will even touch this one (maybe except the cheerleading squad over at startrek-online.net. PE, meat your ONLY future subscribers.)

There is so much to do in City of Heroes/Villains. First of all, you can be a hero and do stuff in Paragon City, or you can be a villain and cause mayhem in the Rogue Isles.

Then comes the character creation. There are literally hundreds of unique options to choose from when creating a character. You will NEVER see two characters that look alike in the game. Unlike other MMOs out there (coughWoWcough.) You can gain new costume slots at level 20, 30, 40 and the Halloween event, so you can even have multiple looks to your character! They're always adding more costume pieces to the game. The two new sets look really neat!

You can also earn badges. This is a fun and very addictive part of the game. You earn them by exploring, killing a certain amount of certain  types of enemies, finishing specific missions, etc, etc. There are currently 575 badges in the game to earn.

You can do trials and task/strike forces. You earn badges from these and character respecs. They're good challenges and you do them with teams.

This game is also well known for it's very fun holiday events. The Christmas event is coming very soon and there will be new badges, temporary powers, costume pieces and missions to do. I loved last year's Halloween event but I missed this years. I heard it was really great. One of my costume slots still has last years Valentines costume.

There is the new things they are constantly adding to the game, like the auction houses, the invention system, and the brand new flashback system. This game has the most free content added out of any MMO I've ever seen, and the future looks very bright. There's speculation of a new space/the moon zone coming out in a future issue.

The community is also very good. Find an active SG with a very god SG base and you're set. I find most people to be mature and fun to play with. Much better than the antagonistic WoW community. I feel good picking up random groups in CoH/V, and I still meet some really great people.

Anyway, I love City of Heroes/Villains. You should try it out. 14 day free trials are currently available.

Originally posted by starman999

yeah Im sure a bunch of dirty smelly unwashed pirates had ships that gleamed in the sun from spit and polish.........

 

Get real man this wasnt the royal friggin navy. It was pirates.

 

 

 

Yes, they would. If they didn't, then that means their captain ISN'T a good captain and he doesn't keep his crew in line. That means that a little after the ship starts looking "weathered" he's gonna have a mutiny on his hands.

No self respecting sailor, pirate, Royal Navy or otherwise, would ever let their ship look anything but her very best. The crew might stink to high heavens, have scurvy, and scare the hell out of the ugliest tavern wench, but their ship WILL look pristine and beautiful.

Reminds me of WoW the very first day of launch. For the first month + that game was unplayable.

Originally posted by Viramor

The ships are pristine looking models that have just come out of drydock. I would like to see ships with weathering, some character, not some wooden model that looks like it's never touched water.

I've been on a tall ship, every day you have to polish all the brass till you can see your reflection in it, scrub the deck, and the crew were even giving her a paint job on the open sea. They couldn't stand for her to look less than her best.

The vast majority of people do not subscribe to more than one MMO. Those 8 million plus WoW players, most of them do not subscribe to another MMO or else we'd see more multi-million user MMOs out there.

Think about this logically: you have two competing MMOs, both offer space flight, space combat, avatars, planetary exploration, etc, etc. These MMOs are competing in the sci-fi/space genre. No matter the IP, no matter what, these games are in competition.

Saying "oh Star Trek fans won't play a Star Wars MMO" and vice versa is not true. MMO players will not retain loyalty based on IP. If this was true, the LotRO would have a huge number of players and WoW would only have players who played the past Warcraft games. MMO players will always be attracted to the better, and in many cases, most innovative game.

Star Trek Online is in direct competition with every sci-fi/space MMO out there. They will have to compete with a KOTOR MMO if it's being made, Star Wars Galaxies and even EVE Online when they come out with their ambulation system.

No one should be deluded into thinking that STO will be propped up by Trekkies/Trekkers. From what I've seen, this game is going to be as far from Star Trek as Star Wars currently is, there is nothing familiar to me in this game. Look at Star Wars Galaxies, it's barely hanging on, but it certainly isn't flourishing. Right now, it seems that STO will share SWG's fate.

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Originally posted by korvass

Dubious as to whether it's faked or not, but any Trek nerd will tell you (me I guess) that a warp-capable starship cannot have hull between the warp nacelles. The nacelles require empty space between them in order to properly form a warp field bubble. ;) Otherwise those poor people standing on the decks when the warp field forms will get sort of squished, vapourised, etc..
Back to the drawing board PE..

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How do you explain the Defiant class then?

It looks to me like this game will be even MORE cartoony than WoW, if that's even possible. The alien looks like he came straight from the computer game Gazillionaire.

The starship is one of the ugliest starships I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of horrible kitbashed fan attempts. It looks out of proportion because the secondary hull is truncated, or squished together. It's like a model with really long legs, perfect breasts, and a really squat torso. Compare the refit Enterprise from the first six movies to see what I'm getting at.

I think now, more than ever, that this game will be a hideous disappointment. There are a lot of hard-core fanboys of this game (go to StarTrek-Online.NET, you can't say a single negative thing about the game or you'll get beaten down) and I think they're in for disillusionment and bitter disappointment.

Originally posted by TheFirst109

I really want this game to be good as I have gotten for the most part sick with what is available at the moment. Tabula Rasa is okay for now, it offers spurts of fun in its action based combat, but we need something more.

So far after trying this stress test I went in thinking it may not live up to my standards yet due to the lag etc.; however, it didn't seem lag was the problem more with the lack of things that I would consider fun. The ship was cool for maybe the first 20 minutes then it's like ok I'm ready for something else to happen zzzzZZZZZZZ.

If crafting is available to be tested who would know cause it is a headache to even find where to do it. I don't know I am looking forward to seeing other peoples opinions on what they liked / didn't like.

 

Thanks!

You are aware that the current stress test is under a NDA that you agreed to right?

Good for AoC! Even the Arnold Conan movies had nudity in them, and I'm glad to see an MMO marketed toward an adult audience.

It seems to me that sex and nudity is a part of life. They exist all around us all the time. Any MMO that is a true representation of the real world would be hollow without them.