Welcome to the 23rd century.

In StarQuest Online, you can assume the persona of a character living, exploring, fighting, and possibly dying in this future world. As an intrepid fleet officer, swashbuckling pirate, devious smuggler, deadly bounty hunter, or ordinary civilian you and players like you will shape this world and its history into whatever you make of it. The designers of StarQuest Online have created the starting point, it is up to you to bring the world to life.

StarQuest Online takes place beginning in the dawning years of the 23rd century in our own Milky Way galaxy. At the time this manual was written, the StarQuest game year was 2212 A.D. Time passes in the StarQuest universe approximately four times as fast as time in the real world, therefore one year in StarQuest time is three months of real world time. These numbers are of course based on the Terran (Sol III) calendar, other civilizations may have differing calendars. For example, in the Therataan Protectorates the current year is 11679, and the Therataan year is 277 Terran days long. A Therataan day is 29 Terran hours long. The Terran calendar has been adopted for general use in the UNITED SYSTEMS ALLIANCE (see below) and will therefore be the system most encountered by players.

Currently the known galaxy is dominated by three major powers. The THERATAAN PROTECTORATES, the KLINSHAYA EMPIRE and the UNITED SYSTEMS ALLIANCE are all located with 200 light years of one another and have been interacting in one form or another for centuries.